{"id":128302,"date":"2026-01-18T19:59:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/128302\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T19:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:59:45","slug":"new-england-patriots-vs-houston-texans-live-updates-for-nfl-divisional-round-playoff-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/128302\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots vs. Houston Texans live updates for NFL divisional round playoff game"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

3m ago<\/p>\n

Zdeno Chara in attendance for Patriots game<\/p>\n

Fresh off having his No. 33 jersey raised to the rafters, Bruins legend Zdeno Chara is at Gillette Stadium for some postseason action.<\/p>\n

The Patriots shared a video<\/a> of Chara at field level before the game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

4m ago<\/p>\n

Patriots take field for divisional round game<\/p>\n

With a buzz inside Gillette Stadium, the Patriots took the field as the minutes tick down to kickoff.<\/p>\n

New England players ran out of the tunnel with “Crazy Train” by Black Sabbath blaring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

21m ago<\/p>\n

Randy Moss, Tedy Bruschi and Rex Ryan make picks<\/p>\n

The NFL on ESPN crew made their picks as pregame coverage began to wind down Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

To the surprise of no one, Patriots legends Randy Moss and Tedy Bruschi picked the Patriots, as did Alex Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Patriots nemesis Rex Ryan, who was previously head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, was greeted by boos outside of Gillette Stadium as he picked Houston to win, 21-17. Also picking Houston was Mike Greenberg by a 20-16 margin.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

31m ago<\/p>\n

Zac Efron at Gillette Stadium<\/p>\n

Actor Zac Efron is among those in attendance for the game.<\/p>\n

The Patriots shared a photo of Efron<\/a> with owner Robert Kraft, posing while wearing a Super Bowl ring.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

41m ago<\/p>\n

Snow falling during warmups<\/p>\n

With snow falling, the Patriots are on the field for warmups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Drake Maye had a simple message for his teammates earlier, telling them<\/a> on the field “Just be us.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

44m ago<\/p>\n

Medway house divided over Patriots-Texans<\/p>\n

A family of Patriots fans has one outlier – a young Texans fan.<\/p>\n

Four young siblings in Medway, Massachusetts root for the Patriots every week. But their brother is a loud and proud Texans fans.<\/p>\n

WBZ-TV’s Logan Hall spoke to the family<\/a> about how they’re feeling heading into the game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

50m ago<\/p>\n

ESPN’s NFL Live crew unanimously picks Texans<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week when it came time to reveal their picks, all of the NFL Live crew on ESPN picked Houston.<\/p>\n

In a clip that went viral<\/a>, all five panel members appeared uneasy to learn they’d all gone with the Texans, wondering if that was a sign of an impending Patriots win.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

54m ago<\/p>\n

Khyiris Tonga returns for Patriots, Christian Gonzalez active<\/p>\n

There were no surprises in the inactive list<\/a> provided by the Patriots, but there was a bit of good news that became official.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga returns to the lineup for the Patriots after missing several weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition, cornerback Christian Gonzalez<\/a> is active. He was evaluated for a concussion after the Chargers game but cleared protocol and practiced in full during the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated 58m ago<\/p>\n

Nico Collins, Trent Brown inactive for Texans<\/p>\n

There are a pair of key inactives for the Texans.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Nico Collins, who was previously ruled out with a concussion, will miss the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a bit of a surprise, right tackle Trent Brown is inactive as well.<\/p>\n

Also out for the game are quarterback Graham Mertz, running back Jawhar Jordan, cornerback Alijah Huzzie, and wide receiver Justin Watson.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated 59m ago<\/p>\n

What is the weather forecast for Patriots-Texans?<\/p>\n

It’s been a difficult storm to forecast<\/a>, but some snow is expected during the game.<\/p>\n

According to the WBZ-TV weather team, flakes will be coming down during the game, with more snow expected later in the game and while fans are driving home.<\/p>\n

A few inches of snow are expected to be on the ground by the time the game is over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated 60m ago<\/p>\n

Who will the Patriots or Texans play in AFC title game?<\/p>\n

Whichever team wins on Sunday already knows their fate for next week.<\/p>\n

The Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills played the first AFC divisional round game on Saturday, and it was a thriller.<\/p>\n

Despite Bo Nix suffering a season-ending injury in overtime, Denver advanced with a 33-30 win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result, the winner of today’s game in Foxboro will play the Broncos in Denver next Sunday with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback<\/a> in place of the injured Nix.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated 60m ago<\/p>\n

Ty Law to serve as “Keeper of the Light”<\/p>\n

Former Patriots cornerback Ty Law announced last week on WEEI<\/a> that he will be this week’s “Keeper of the Light.”<\/p>\n

Before each home game, a noteworthy figure rings the bell atop the Gillette Stadium lighthouse in order to get the crowd fired up.<\/p>\n

Last week, it was Patriots Hall of Fame defensive tackle Vince Wilfork who rang the bell before the Chargers game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated 60m ago<\/p>\n

How to watch the Patriots-Texans game<\/p>\n

The Patriots game is a Monday Night Football crew, despite the game taking place on Sunday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nationally, the game will air on ESPN, while in Massachusetts, the Patriots-Texans game will be broadcast on WCVB-TV in addition to ESPN. There are also streaming options<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will have play-by-play and color commentary for the game. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge will have sideline reporting duties. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 3m ago Zdeno Chara in attendance for Patriots game Fresh off having his No. 33 jersey raised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,79,10365,23510],"class_list":["post-128302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-houston-texans","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl-playoffs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}