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Why The Texans Were Stupid In Their Loss To The Patriots

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots' 36-33 win over the Texans on Sunday was certainly one of the most thrilling regular season victories of Tom Brady's career. But as it often happens in Foxboro, Bill O'Brien's Texans could not execute down the stretch and essentially handed the game back to the Pats.

You could also say that the Texans were simply stupid.

98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand had plenty to dissect on Monday from the Texans' fourth-quarter performance alone, as they went over Houston's biggest mistakes at the end of the game. On first down with under eight minutes left in regulation and a good chance to bleed the clock, they instead ran off just 19 more seconds. DeShaun Watson threw three straight incompletions (one of which was a deep ball on second down) and punted back to the Patriots.

Houston ran the ball more on their final possession of the game, but had to settle for a field goal having left 2:24 on the clock for Brady to drive New England down the field for the win. Of course, he did just that, for the 50th time in his career. Like many who watched the game, Scott Zolak basically expected Brady to complete the comeback once he got the Patriots into Texans territory - which may not have been possible without some questionable play-calling by the Texans.

"You put the game in Tom Brady's lap, and how do you think that thing's gonna go?" said Zolak about the Texans' clock management.

Bill O'Brien - Houston Texans v New England Patriots
Head coach Bill O'Brien of the Houston Texans looks on during the second half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 24, 2017. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Marc Bertrand noted that O'Brien simply got too far in his own head with his fourth-quarter decisions, which is a common occurrence with coaches trying to hold off Brady and Bill Belichick at the end of tight games.

"[O'Brien] over-thought it in the fourth quarter is what he did. He got caught up in the moment and he over-thought it," said Bertrand. "Even the good coaches have this happen to them in New England, and he's a good coach."

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