The Patriots lead throughout and hold off a fourth-quarter Texans rally.
FOXBOROROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns as the New England Patriots opened the season with a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The Patriots opened a 24-6 lead and held off a Houston rally in the fourth quarter, aided by a 54-yard punt by Ryan Allen that was downed at the Houston 1-yard line with 43 seconds remaining.
The Patriots controlled this from the start, their defense setting the tone by getting after Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson every time he dropped back.
New England opened the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown pass form Brady to Rob Gronkowski with 11:50 left in the first on a third-and-12 play. It was a perfectly-thrown pass with two defenders on Gronkowski.
The Texans cut it to 7-3 but Brady threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to James White early in the second to make it 14-3. White was wide open in the right flat.
After another Texas field goal, the Patriots made it 21-6 at the half with a clutch two-minute drive, going 78 yards in eight plays in 1:14 seconds to score on a 4-yard pass from Brady to Phillip Dorsett. Dorsett had several big catches on the drive.
Houston tried to get closer in the third, but was stopped on fourth-and-5 from the Patriots17. But Watson threw incomplete.
The Patriots then drove down to get a 39-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski that made it 24-6.
Houston responded with a nice drive that ended with a 1-yard scoring run from Alfred Blue that made it 24-13 entering the fourth.
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