The Houston Texans had a chance at redemption against the New England Patriots last weekend and failed to cash in. Just four weeks removed from an embarrassing 42-14 loss at Gillette Stadium, the Texans were once again dominated in every facet of the game. Anyone who watched both games was left with one simple conclusion — the Patriots are a better team.
Johnathan Joseph does not agree. Despite the two beatings, the Houston corner feels that the Texans are still a better team than New England.
“Obviously we had the right guys in here to win 13 ballgames to get up to that point,” Joseph told CSNHouston.com on Monday. “For whatever reason, we didn’t advance. I still can’t put that over because I think we were a better team. I think we just didn’t make the plays at the right time.”
I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. The 2-14 Jacksonville Jaguars were a play or two away from beating the Patriots in Week 16. Does that mean they are a better team? New England outscored Houston 83-42 in their two match-ups, and a couple of late touchdowns made the playoff meeting seem closer than it actually was. However, Joseph doesn’t think the numbers mean much.
“Not at all,” he said when asked if New England is a significantly better team. “Just four or five plays. You take a few of those plays that they made and go the other way, it’s a different ballgame.”
Whatever helps you sleep at night. The not-so-athletic Wes Welker (according to Wade Phillips) caught eight passes for 133 yards. Tom Brady threw for 344 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against a typically solid Houston secondary. I can understand Joseph thinking the first beating was an outlier, but twice is not a coincidence. At the end of the day, the Texans handed the Patriots two of their easiest wins of the season. Considering some of the poor opponents New England faced this year, that certainly has to say something.
UPDATE: CSNHouston.com has since changed their headline after the Texans’ PR staff informed them that Joseph was simply speaking about the gap between Houston and New England, not saying the Texans are a better team.
