FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots rolled over Houston 42-14 on Monday night, stamping themselves once again as the team to fear in the AFC - and making the Texans look like pretenders.
Tom Brady threw for four touchdowns and 296 yards as New England manhandled the team with the league’s best record. The Patriots (10-3), who already own the AFC East title, won their seventh consecutive and moved one game behind the Texans (11-2) for the conference’s top seed.
“It’s a Monday night game,” Brady said. “We have played in a lot of big games in December.”
A match up of the top two scoring teams in the league was a mismatch from the outset. It took New England only one possession to start its scoring barrage as the Patriots surpassed their average of 35.8 points per game.
“It needs to come together now, this is the perfect time for it,” added Brady, whose wife, Gisele, gave birth to the couples’ third child, Vivian Lake, on Wednesday.
“She is doing very well,” Brady said. “It’s been a great week, a great way to end it.”
Wes Welker’s 31-yard punt return and 25-yard reception - the 107th consecutive game he’s had a catch - led to Aaron Hernandez’s 7-yard scoring catch. That gave Brady 45 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, the third-longest streak in NFL history.
It also set the tone.
Houston, which had won six consecutive, threatened on its next series, only to have Matt Schaub force a ball into double coverage in the Patriots’ end zone. Devin McCourty picked it off and returned it 19 yards, setting up another touchdown drive led by Brady, who finished 21 of 35.
Brady hit Brandon Lloyd for 14 yards, Danny Woodhead for 18, Hernandez for 13, then Lloyd for the 37-yard touchdown catch to make it 14-0. Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips shook his head in disgust at his players’ inability to challenge the Patriots.
It got worse. At the end of a 70-yard drive helped by a 26-yard pass interference call on Danieal Manning, no Texans were lined up to Brady’s left in front of Hernandez. A quick snap, a quicker pass and the tight end had an easy path to the end zone.
New England was headed for its 20th successive home victory in December, and its 21st consecutive victory in the second half of the schedule.
“These guys feel really good about the way they played tonight and they should,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said.
Houston headed home hoping it can hold off surging Indianapolis in the AFC South. The Texans have a two-game lead but face the Colts (9-4) on Sunday in Houston, then in the season finale at Indianapolis.
“We got our tails kicked,” Texans Coach Gary Kubiak said. “When you’ve got an opportunity to make a big play, you can’t miss it against a team of this magnitude. We turned around and it was 21-0pretty quick.”
Before the Texans finally scored, in the third quarter with an 88-yard drive capped by Arian Foster’s 1-yard run, Brady moved ahead of Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas for fourth all time with his 18th game with at least four touchdown passes.
The fourth one was a 63-yard pass to Donte’ Stallworth, who was re-signed last week to replace injured Julian Edelman.
Brady nearly had a fifth as Woodhead broke free on a screen pass early in the fourth quarter. Texans standout defensive end J.J. Watt forced a fumble, but the ball soared 11 yards into the end zone, where Lloyd fell on it for a 35-7 lead.
Stevan Ridley made it 42-7 with a 14-yard run. The Texans have allowed 42 points in both losses, the other coming against Green Bay on Oct. 14.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Minnesota 21, Chicago 14 Washington 31, Baltimore 28, OT Cleveland 30, Kansas City 7 San Diego 34, Pittsburgh 24 Indianapolis 27, Tennessee 23 NY Jets 17, Jacksonville 10 Carolina 30, Atlanta 20 Philadelphia 23, Tampa Bay 21 St. Louis 15, Buffalo 12 Dallas 20, Cincinnati 19 San Francisco 27, Miami 13 Seattle 58, Arizona 0 NY Giants 52, New Orleans 27 Green Bay 27, Detroit 20
MONDAY’S GAME
New England 42, Houston 14
THURSDAY’S GAME
Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 7:20 p.m.
SUNDAY, DEC. 16
Green Bay at Chicago, noon Tampa Bay at New Orleans, noon Minnesota at St. Louis, noon Indianapolis at Houston, noon NY Giants at Atlanta, noon Washington at Cleveland, noon Jacksonville at Miami, noon Denver at Baltimore, noon Carolina at San Diego, 3:05 p.m.
Detroit at Arizona, 3:05 p.m.
Seattle vs. Buffalo at Toronto, 3:05 p.m.
Kansas City at Oakland, 3:25 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Dallas, 3:25 p.m.
San Fran. at New England, 7:20 p.m.
MONDAY, DEC. 17
NY Jets at Tennessee, 7:30 p.m.
Sports, Pages 21 on 12/11/2012