5 takeaways as the Patriots survive and advance against the Texans

It wasn't a clean game, but there are no style points in the NFL - especially in the playoffs. What went from an underdog to an upstart New England Patriots team is now AFC Championship Game bound and one win away from the Super Bowl, after hanging on to beat the Houston Texans 28-16 on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.

This was a sloppy game, well before the snow started to fall in Foxboro. There were a combined eight turnovers - the most in an NFL playoff game since the 2015 season - which account for only a fraction of the turnover-worthy plays. But just like last week the Patriots made a handful of plays late that their opponent didn't to clinch the win.

"It wasn't pretty. Defense kept us in there," head coach Mike Vrabel said postgame. "When we needed it, our offense was able to come through late in the game there in the second half with a touchdown, giving us a two-score lead."

How did the Patriots pull this one out? Let's go through it in this week's takeaways...

Based on his numbers from the regular season and how last week's game went, it was clear the Patriots were going to need to get pressure on Texans' quarterback C.J. Stroud. And pressure him they did.

Defensive play caller Zak Kuhr picked up where he left off in the second half of last week's game with an aggressive plan. The Patriots blitzed Stroud on 46.2% of his dropbacks, and pressured him on 44.2% of his dropbacks total. Against the blitz Stroud was 8-of-23 for 89 yards with two interceptions, and just 8-of-14 under pressure overall. He finished the game 20-of-47 for 212 yards with touchdown and four picks.

A Patriots' pass rush that has been inconsistent throughout this season found a groove and stuck with it. K'Lavon Chaisson led the way with seven pressures, including a hit on Stroud that led to the pick-six by Marcus Jones. Khyiris Tonga and Anfernee Jennings also had sacks while Milton Williams and Cory Durden were in the backfield regularly.

During the regular season the Texans were one of the best ball security teams in the NFL, with just 12 giveaways. They had three last week against the Steelers, which looked like it could be a blueprint. It may have been for the Patriots who forced five - nearly half of Houston's regular season total - in 60 minutes.

As mentioned above, the Patriots' pass rush has taken a step forward since the second half of last week's game. But, a chunk of that credit goes to the secondary, which has upped its game allowing the rush to have more time to get home.

That continued on Sunday afternoon. Early on Stroud looked unsure of what to do with the football, and held the ball in the pocket at times longer than he likely should have. Some of that is probably due to being without his top receiver Nico Collins for the game and losing second-leading pass catcher tight end Dalton Schultz early on, but there weren't many windows for him in the secondary across the board.

Carlton Davis was the most involved player in coverage, and simply refused to allowe catches. Some of that was because he committed two pass interference penalties, but that aggressivness paid off with four pass breakups and two interceptions. In total Davis allowed just three catches for 33 yards on eight targets, and his performance more than outweighed the penalties. Davis did leave the game late with a head injury, which will be something to watch for this week.

Jones also got his hands on the football quite a bit. In addition to his pick six he jumped two routes - including one in the red zone - forcing incompletions.

As for Christian Gonzalez, his improved tackling came up big in this game. The Texans seemed to make a point of throwing it underneath near him and forcing him to make the tackle, and he did just that. So, he allowed more completions than normal but it was just for 8.4 yards per catch (5.9 yards per catch outside of one play outside of the half), and he led the team with nine tackles and forced a fumble. He had a pass breakup as well.

Finally, a little recognition for Robert Spillane. On the final defensive play of the game Spillane ended up in coverage deep down the middle of the field in one-on-one coverage on wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson. That should have been a mismatch but Spillane was able to separate Hutchinson from the ball for the final fourth down stop. Spillane said after the game his main focus was just not committing a penalty, then making sure Hutchinson didn't complete the catch.

Offensively, the Patriots had to survive poor ball security to hang on in this one. The biggest problem was fumbles (the lone interception was on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half), as New England put the ball on the ground four times.

All four fumbles came out of the hands of quarterback Drake Maye. Maye was sacked five times in this game, fumbling on four and losing two of those fumbles.

The blame on those plays was split. On one hand Maye did hold the ball under heavy pressure at times, including big windups as rushers were closing in. At the same time the pocket collapsed on him more than it realistically should, with the all-rookie left side of Will Campbell and Jared Wilson struggling for the second game in a row. PFF's initial charting had Campbell allowing five pressures and Wilson two, with only one other pressure attributed to the offensive line (Mike Onwenu).

This is something the Patriots will need to clean up moving forward. The coaching staff has seemingly made a point of letting players play through struggles this season (such as Rhamondre Stevenson at the beginning of the year), so that might continue with the rookies with just schematic adjustments (maybe more help to the left side). However the possibility of a lineup change still looms, especially at guard where Ben Brown played well filling in for Wilson late in the season.

Case in point, those turnovers were the biggest reason the Patriots couldn't capitalize on Houston's sloppy play. The Patriots only scored seven points directly off of a Houston turnover, which came on the Jones pick-six. The offense's drives following turnovers resulted in a fumble and three punts.

For what it's worth, it was a rough game for rookie offensive linemen all around. Texans' left tackle Aireontae Ersery, a second-round pick, allowed five pressures and was called for a penalty as he struggled against Chaisson and others.

It's not fair to say "fumbles aside" with Maye in this game, because the fumbles are a major story from the game. It's something he and the team absolutely need to work on cleaning up.

That being said, when Maye didn't fumble he was able to make some plays. Just like last week it wasn't the dominant performance of the regular season but he managed to make a couple of big throws that the other team's quarterback couldn't.

Also like last week, Maye came up big for the Patriots in the second half. Over the final 30 minutes he was 6-of-8 for 62 yards with a touchdown, and just one fumble. For the game Maye was 16-of-27 for 179 yards with three touchdowns, the pick at the end of the half, and four fumbles (two lost) against the vaunted Texans defense.

"Credit to the defense. We knew they were going to be good, and they lived up to the hype and all the statistics, and all the ball hunting that we saw on film. They ball hunt. The edges are tough, got to do a better stepping up and, hit guys downfield when we had chances," Maye said after the game. "I have to be better with the football when I'm taking off and running. From there, just know that the football is the prized possession. And when we don't turn the ball over and put the team in the best spots, I like our chances."

This wasn't a volume game for any one receiver. Maye spread the ball out, finding holes in the defense where he could.

While it wasn't a big statistical game for Stefon Diggs, he made a major impact. He had four catches for 40 yards, but the catches came in big moments. That included his touchdown, which was an impressive hands catch through contact as Maye fit the ball in a tight window. He also made an adjustment on a third down throw to prevent an incompletion and move the chains late in the game on a drive that, while it didn't produce points, took a good chunk off the clock.

Speaking of strong catches, the catch of the day came from Kayshon Boutte early in the fourth quarter that just about put the game away. In a play very similar to Maye's first career touchdown pass, he hit Boutte up the right sideline over All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. for a score. Boutte went full-extension to make a one-handed grab. He finished the game with three catches for 75 yards and the touchdown.

Given the physical nature of this game though, it did feel at times the Patriots missed the size of Mack Hollins at receiver. Hollins is eligible to return from IR next week, although there hasn't been any updates to this point on whether or not he will be physically ready to go.