Konsolen Treiber » Injuries prevented the Texans from finding out exactly

FOXBOROUGH Rashan Gary Jersey , Mass. (AP) —what their team could have been last season.Star defensive end J.J. Watt, linebacker Whitney Mercilus and quarterback Deshaun Watson were among 21 Houston players that spent time on injured reserve during the 2017 campaign. The season predictably imploded, ending with six straight losses.But before the avalanche of injuries, the Texans gave the eventual AFC champion New England Patriots all they could handle during a Week 3 visit to Gillette Stadium.Despite having a rookie signal caller in Watson, the Texans’ offense matched touchdowns with the Patriots. Houston was headed for an improbable victory before Tom Brady rescued his team with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks in the final minute to give New England a 36-33 victory.Now healed and with a revamped defense, the Texans return to New England on Sunday, hoping to put their misfortunes in the past as they open the 2018 season.That is particularly true in the case of Watt, who has had parts of the past two seasons derailed by injuries .He played just three games in 2016 before being sidelined with a herniated disc. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year then appeared in five games last season before having his year ended by a fractured left tibia.“I’m just looking forward to playing football again,” Watt said. “Obviously the last two years have been very rough for me. You want to play and everything that I’ve had to go through in the rehabs and the recoveries and all that it took and then, obviously, (Hurricane Harvey) as well.“But I’m just looking to getting back out on the field, playing football, flying around with the guys, doing what I love.”Meanwhile, the Patriots begin yet another season as the favorite in a conference they have dominated for nearly two decades thanks to Brady. He’s now 41 http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-darnell-savage-jr.-jersey , but has yet to show any signs of diminished capacity coming off an MVP season.He’ll have a new-look receiving corps following the offseason departures of Danny Amendola and Cooks, as well as the four-game suspension of Julian Edelman for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers.Though he’s already secured his place in the Hall of Fame and may possibly end his career as the most accomplished quarterback in league history, Brady reiterated this week in the final installment of his Facebook Watch series “Tom Vs Time” that he wants to play five more seasons .“I think I can do it,” he said. “It’ll be a challenge for me. I don’t think it’s going to be easy. It’s going to be hard to do. I think it’s going to be very hard to do. But I think I can do it. And once you stop you’re done. And I think I’m not ready to say I’m done, because I don’t feel like I am.”Here are some other things to know about Sunday’s matchup between the Texans and Patriots:CLOWNEY COMING: After having the best season of his career in 2017, Jadeveon Clowney is looking to do even more this year as part of a line that also features Watt.The top overall pick in the 2014 draft finished last year second in the NFL with a career-high 21 tackles for losses, and his 9 1/2 sacks, 21 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles were also career bests. He started all 16 games for the first time after struggling with injuries through the early part of his career, and his 59 tackles in 2017 were the most of his career.“My goal is to make more plays than I did last year … improving my sacks and tackles for loss and everything,” he said. “I just want to do that again. With everybody back this year the sky’s the limit for this defense and myself. I just have to come out and put it all together.”SPOTLESS RECORD: Houston is one of four teams New England has an undefeated regular-season home record against (4-0). The Patriots are 5-0 against Baltimore, 4-0 against Chicago and 4-0 against Jacksonville.The Patriots also have won the last five regular-season meetings with the Texans overall.HAVING HIS WAY: Aside from his late-game heroics last season, Brady has been equally steady against the Texans during his career. He has an 8-1 record against Houston, passing for 22 touchdowns and 2,565 yards (regular season and playoffs).CONTAINING WATSON: Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower will be playing in his first regular-season game since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last October. He said he’s excited about the challenge of trying to contain Watson, who had his way with the Patriots in their meeting last season Elgton Jenkins Jersey , passing for 301 yards and two touchdowns. Hightower said putting pressure on Watson early will be key to trying to slow him down.“I think that’s the biggest thing … just not letting those guys get comfortable inside the pocket,” Hightower said. “Hopefully we’ll do a good job this week containing him in the run and pass game.” GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals had hoped for the first winning streak of the season after a morale-boosting win at Green Bay in the snow last Sunday.But the Cardinals offense regressed in a 17-3 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, which dropped Arizona to 3-10.The Cardinals gave up three sacks and struggled to deal with the Lions’ pass rush, and they ran for just 61 yards as a team, averaging 2.9 yards per rush.In the end, their worn-down defense couldn’t keep the Cardinals close in the final minutes.“We didn’t create any movement up front on the offensive side of the ball to generate some positive plays on first and second down,” Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said.“We have to do a much better job protecting the quarterback, allowing him to go through his progression. And we have to protect the football.”Wilks said he was “extremely surprised” at his team’s performance coming off the win at Lambeau Field.“Great momentum, big win. We had a great week of practice,” Wilks said. “We have to learn how to finish. That’s what we didn’t do.”The Cardinals were able to avoid being blanked for the second time this season thanks to Zane Gonzalez‘s field goal in the fourth quarter.The offense sputtered with only five first downs in the first half and no points from its best drive, which ended in a missed 54-yard try from Gonzalez.“Sometimes when you go three-and-out early, it’s hard to get in any kind of rhythm,” quarterback Josh Rosen said.The second half was only slightly better, but saw the Cardinals booed after a three-and-out late in the third quarter.The fans cheered loudest for the continuation of longtime wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald‘s streak of games with at least one catch http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jace-sternberger-jersey , which is up to 224.Fitzgerald figured to be more of a focal point with Christian Kirk out for the season because of a broken foot.But Fitzgerald — who became the NFL leader for most receptions with one team at 1,286 — had one catch through three quarters.“Obviously we had an awareness on him,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “We know he is going to get the ball. We know he is going to get open in critical situations. You saw that as the game was going on and they got back to him and he was able to make great plays. You just kind of hold your breath the whole time because he can change the game in a second.”Down 3-0 in the third quarter, the Cardinals had three straight first downs on their second possession of the second half. Then Rosen was intercepted by the Lions’ Darius Slay, who returned the ball 67 yards for a touchdown.“It’ll be a frustrating Monday,” Rosen said, looking ahead to breaking down the offense on film, “but a Monday that needs to happen.”On the drive for the field goal, the Cardinals — looking for some way to get points — tried a direct snap to rookie running back Chase Edmonds on first and goal from the Detroit 8, but it resulted in a holding penalty that backed them up 10 yards.Arizona had to settle for Gonzalez’s 22-yard field goal with 8:14 to play. The Cardinals finished with eight penalties for 83 yards.Still trailing only 10-3, the Cardinals still had a chance. But the Lions handed the ball off to running back Zach Zenner seven times on a drive, the seventh carry was a 1-yard touchdown that sealed Detroit’s win.“We have to be able to muster up more than three points,” Fitzgerald said. “Converting more consistently on third downs and extending drives would be huge.”