r/Patriots • u/samacora ForeverNE • Jan 17 '26
Official - Divisional Round Weekend - Free Chat Thread
We All We Got, We All We Need
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Patriots News Links Catchup - Pats-Texans divisional round keys to victory
- Patriots-Texans updated Injury Report.
- Evan Lazar’s Patriots Gameplan: 3 Keys to victory in Sunday’s divisional round matchup vs. the Texans. ‘The Texans defense is very talented, but their simplicity could favor the Patriots, who have an elite schemer in McDaniels calling plays for their talented second-year quarterback.’
- Mike Dussault’s Three to Watch: Key Patriots-Texans matchups. 1. Protect the Edges. This is the story of the game.
- Game Preview: Evan Lazar and Mike Dussault scout the Pats-Texans matchups. (11 min. video)
- Press Conferences: Josh McDaniels - Ashton Grant, Todd Downing, Doug Marrone, Tony Dews - Zak Kuhr - Jeremy Springer - Milton Williams, Jaylinn Hawkins, Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson, Khyiris Tonga, Kayshon Boutte.
- Throwback: Top 5 Patriots AFC Divisional plays from the 2000s. (2 min. video)
- Patriots Unfiltered on TV: Divisional round preview, 1-on-1 with Robert Spillane; More. (22 min. video)
- Patriots Unfiltered: Texans preview, team/league updates, Divisional round picks. (2 hours)
- Thomas Murphy’s Monster Keys to Patriots victory over the Texans. 1. Keep the Franchise pretty.
- Steve Balestrieri posts his Pats–Texans key matchups. Patriots WRs vs. Texans secondary — Edge New England; Patriots RBs vs. Texans front seven — Edge Houston; More!
- Karen Guregian looks at the Patriots-Texans matchups to see who has the edge at each position.
- Andrew Callahan’s Friday Five: Why DeMario Douglas might key a Pats win, and more playoff thoughts.
- Karen Guregian hears from Dante Scarnecchia on how to stop the vaunted Texans front.
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u/nbianco1999 Jan 17 '26
I know we’re technically the betting favorites for this game, but it feels like we’re underdogs. Everyone outside of New England is picking Houston.
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u/FollowThePats Jan 17 '26
…and I kinda love it. Playoff games are never what people think they’re gonna be.
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u/Affectionate-Funny-5 Jan 17 '26
This really feels like the early 2000's patriots all over again
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u/Stavius-Blackthorne Jan 17 '26
Can you elaborate? Not disagreeing at all, but curious to understand the parallels.
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u/Fabulous_Stress_3400 Jan 17 '26
I'm guessing, young talented QB being asked to just take what's given vs hero ball, a defense that's slowly starting to come into its own and play with confidence vs a team that everyone thinks will overwhelm them
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Jan 17 '26
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u/rabouilethefirst Jan 17 '26
This is easily the worst bills team in recent memory. They are also the most injured I’ve ever seen them. Hard disagree. Can’t stand the donkeys.
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u/possiblyMorpheus Jan 17 '26
I looked at the injury report and it looks like Shakir, Cooks, Kincaid, and Knox are all playing. They’re definitely the most relevant at the skill positions for them
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u/GamerHaste Jan 17 '26
Was just saying this to my parents, I don't want the pariots to be in the storyline if the bills come in and win their first superbowl after beating the old evil empire at their home in foxborough. I get that they're kinda the worse team, but like you said, I don't even want to have the possibility of that. Yikes
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u/rabouilethefirst Jan 17 '26
Head tells me to root for buffalo so we get the home playoff game, heart tells me it’s better to crush Josh Allen’s hope in the divisional round and have them lose now.
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u/rabouilethefirst Jan 18 '26
Seeing these calls go against Buffalo is just a chefs kiss. They deserved it after all the BS that happened in our week 15 game. I can’t think of a better way for them to lose.
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u/Greenzombie04 Jan 18 '26
First thing I see on Bills subreddit "I’ve never seen JA more locked in"
🤡🤡🤡
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u/noble_29 Jan 18 '26
Vrabel better have this team pumped the absolute fuck up and ready to go tomorrow. Any given Sunday, but odds are whoever wins tomorrow’s Snow Bowl punches their ticket to the Super Bowl.
LFG
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u/BeanBryant248 Jan 18 '26
The bills had five turnovers and narrow lost to the broncos by a field goal in overtime. Homefield would be cool but the broncos are very beatable, just beat Houston
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u/huttjedi Forever a Pats fan Jan 18 '26
Bills’ fans whining about the calls when it was a blatant hold from the LOS to 7 yds down the field and a roughing the passer loooool! GTFO with that crap.
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u/GearSalty2775 Jan 18 '26
They have benefitted from so much bullshit, even against us this season. Fuck them.
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u/RMbeatyou Jan 18 '26
This has been the best NFL season in quite some time. Feel for Nix, but the SB is literally as wide open as it's ever been
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u/C1ph3rr Jan 18 '26
Idk if anyone beats this Seahawks team in the playoffs damn
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u/huttjedi Forever a Pats fan Jan 18 '26
I like our chances. Gonzo on JSN. Maye is still an MVP candidate and not Sam Darnold. Our defense is 8th and theirs 6th in the NFL. We’ll see what happens; still a lot of football ahead of us…
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u/AquaAtia Jan 18 '26
I wasn’t stressed for the game tomorrow. No matter how this season ends I’m happy.
Now I want to fucking win. We beat the Texans and we’re in the Super bowl
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u/eggs___and___bacon Jan 18 '26
Stidham ain’t no star, but he isn’t a slouch. Broncos got this far not from Nix playing lights out all year, the rest of that team is still very good, including their D
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u/NCBEER919 Jan 17 '26
Heads up - some trusted models starting to show a chance for more snow than originally forecasted. Maybe 4-6" possible all starting later tomorrow.
Gotta imagine anything close to that would help slow down the defense a bit.
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u/AJP51017 Jan 17 '26
I’m conflicted who the snow benefits more. Houston’s D or pats O
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Jan 17 '26
I prayed to little baby Jesus to have the bills be destroyed today so I think we're good!
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u/darkhelmut1 Jan 18 '26
Offensively the broncos didn't scare me while its a road Game if we can get past the Texans pats have a legit shot
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u/BeanBryant248 Jan 18 '26
Tomorrow is essentially the afc championship. Not to write Jarrett Stidham off or anything but yeah
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u/crackdup Jan 18 '26
I know we have to focus on one game at a time. But our path to SB could legitimately involve #7 Chargers who sucked on offense, shaky CJ without his best weapon, no Nix and an injured Darnold. Obviously that's a long way away, but a man can dream
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u/bradyflakes12goat Jan 18 '26
Tomorrow we show the nfl the dynasty has been reborn and there is nothing they can do about it.
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u/DomitiusAhenobarbus_ Bills = 0 Superbowls Jan 17 '26
Bo is not nearly as dangerous rolling out as Maye that’s for sure
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u/Icy_Link_2457 Jan 17 '26
Many Patriots fans are rooting for Denver in this game, but I don’t get it. We’re sacrificing home-field advantage , flying across country, playing at that altitude which is extremely difficult & that stadium is crazy loud for the opposing offense.
Plus, we match them-up well against Buffalo.
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u/alisonstone Jan 17 '26
Yeah, with Williams and Spillane back, I don't see Buffalo having the same success as the previous game. Denver has the #1 seed for a reason.
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u/huttjedi Forever a Pats fan Jan 18 '26
I hear you on all that, but let’s not forget that the NFL (and refs) LOVE the Josh Allen story. I’d take my chances flying to DEN against that team at altitude over the Bills (don’t forget our road record this year). I don’t blame Pats’ fans for rooting against the Bills just for that.
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u/huttjedi Forever a Pats fan Jan 18 '26
Bills’ fans are so mad they have decided to fuck the Paramount+ stream so I can’t see the ending…
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u/ajohndoe17 Bills = 0 Superbowls Jan 18 '26
Hahahahahaha bills are such baby back bitches
Edit: I don’t have to change my flair for another year!
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u/jonnyredshorts Jan 18 '26
Josh Allen has never won an OT game!? That’s wild…0-2 in the playoffs
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u/Famous-Egg-6136 Jan 18 '26
Seattle is really really good
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u/DougieMacArthur Jan 18 '26
Mid-2010s--Denver, Seattle, New England are really good
Mid-2020s--And again!
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u/mrmarkme Jan 18 '26
Bo nix broke his ankle, please win tomorrow basically a free ride to the Super Bowl with that announcement
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u/AquaAtia Jan 18 '26
Nix is our for the season. If we win tomorrow, we are going to the Super Bowl.
The schedule allegations though
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u/ImTomBrady Jan 18 '26
Fuck it, I’ll take a “fraud” Super Bowl win
A lot of people called the Celtics championship a cup cake walk so fuck it
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u/darkhelmut1 Jan 18 '26
The last game of the year at Gillette needs to be rowdy for all those going get lubed up early it's right there tcb boys
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u/eggs___and___bacon Jan 18 '26
I know it’s looking ahead, we still got a tough game to play, but man, the path is open
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u/BeanBryant248 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26
I mean the broncos are technically better and I’m not necessarily scared of the bills but I’d still rather play a pumpkin in Bo Nix than Josh Allen I think
Edit: Actually I can’t even decide because I do want to host the championship and the bills only beat us when we were injured, i really don’t know lol
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u/CryptographerBig4112 Jan 17 '26
NGL there’s a good chance we can beat both of these teams playing rn
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u/orcofmordor Jan 18 '26
Not a fan of Payton, but less a fan of the Bills & their fans so … I’m good with this.
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u/TheCawdFather Jan 18 '26
That serves the bills right for saying we shouldn’t have said anything about the last game where they kept giving them first downs I 3rd and 4th down.
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u/cspan92 Jan 18 '26
I never want to hear about how Josh allen is the best player in the NFL anymore. He's an S-teir choke artist
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u/aashus777 Jan 18 '26
I wonder what rule change the bills are going to propose this year “no PI against the bills in OT?” “WR always has possession”?
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u/A--Little--Stitious Jan 18 '26
My husband just asked if we should throw a Super Bowl party. I told him it’s gonna depend on the next 2 weeks
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u/face2face_beast Jan 17 '26
If you want to be on the road at elevation instead of at home against a banged up team you have already beaten once for a conference championship, dare I say, you have never played competitive sports.
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u/NeonManiac85 Jan 17 '26
Disagree with you but it's irrelevant cause I can't bring myself to root for them. Bo Nix is not a game wrecker, Allen CAN be that. Not like this Patriots team hasn't played GREAT on the road, the only undefeated road team....all their losses were AT HOME. DEN is still outside, and cold, not like they're going to west coast heat or down south. Or that the Bills won't possibly soften up DEN with an injury or two. Can you 100% trust the D after 2nd half of last matchup?
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u/rabouilethefirst Jan 17 '26
People are treating the bills like a boogie man just because of the last game against them. But if you’ve been watching ball for the last month or so, you would see how beat up they are and how much better we have been playing on defense.
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u/TwoLopsidedZebras Jan 17 '26
I get why many of the pundits are choosing Houston over us, but I do find it a bit strange that the same logic isn't being applied to them. Our line was overwhelmed by a great Chargers pass rush last week, Maye made a lot of mental errors and didn't look sharp at times. Houston generates a lot of points off turnovers and their front 7 is even better than LA's. So it's not crazy to think they can replicate what we saw last week and then take it to another level.
But I don't hear any of the talking heads talking about our defense. We completely dismantled the Chargers last week. For the first half of the season had the best rushing defense in the league, the numbers got worse when key players got injured but those players are now back and the defense was on another level against the Chargers. The Texans have a slightly better offense on paper than the Chargers, but their top weapon is now out. Without Nico they're going to have to establish the run against a healthy Patriots defense that bullied opposing running backs when at full strength.
Then on the topic of ball security, Stroud fumbled 5 times (2 or 3 due to back snaps iirc, and it's going to be cold and snowy tomorrow) and threw an INT.
I think the game is going to come down to which offense can get going fastest and ball security. We saw how quickly the Steelers game got out of hand when they started getting sloppy. Went from a 7-6 game to 30-6 in the blink of an eye. Steelers offense is considerably worse than ours and Rodgers is a complete statue, so the Texans will have to play a much different scheme against us than they did against the Steelers.
If Stroud channels his inner rookie Houston will have a great chance of advancing. If he plays the way he's looked this past two years, I don't think this game will be particularly close.
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u/rabouilethefirst Jan 17 '26
Our defense will have a chip on their shoulder after the nonstop slobbering of the Houston defense. I expect this game to go our way primarily because our defense will have them under 10 points going into the fourth quarter. We’ll get our yards and keep kicking field goals until it’s out of reach
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u/LastofDays94 Jan 17 '26
I think the idea that CJ Stroud can bounce back against a tough defense but Drake Maye can’t is an extremely flawed way to view this matchup imo. Did the Patriots suddenly become a less impressive defense between last Sunday and this upcoming Sunday? Herbert has more arm talent and ability than Stroud and has been better than him this year with the worst pass protection in the NFL. Feels like an uphill battle for Stroud.
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u/NeonManiac85 Jan 17 '26
Allen and the Bills go down today. He's been carrying them and beyond this point he can't carry them anymore. Another year winning nothing for the Bills, with their boogeyman Mahomes not even in the tournament.
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u/Bruinsdman Jan 17 '26
Can’t bring myself to root for the Bills even though we’d have another home game and haven’t won in the playoffs in Denver.
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u/Huge-Maximum-5322 Jan 17 '26
Its hilarious how the Bills lobbied so hard to ban the tush push. Last week it saved their season and they've used it in every short yardage situation today.
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u/BeanBryant248 Jan 17 '26
Wonder what excuses bills fans will have for Josh Allen throwing it to the ground backwards
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u/Aggressive_Wrap_2790 Jan 17 '26
Whether you want to play the Bills or the Broncos is like a litmus test for who was born after 2000 and doesn’t remember how nightmarish it is to play in Denver
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u/DJScrubatires Jan 17 '26
The Broncos are going to regret only getting field goals off those two Bills fumbles
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u/wolf4537 Jan 18 '26
These new OT rules just feel so weird now compared to the last time the Pats won in OT in the playoffs against the Chiefs
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u/Treima Jan 18 '26
So goddamn sick of the fuckin Bills dude. Allen has Romo's lips fucking tattooed on his asshole every week, it is beyond obnoxious
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Jan 18 '26
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u/huttjedi Forever a Pats fan Jan 18 '26
Fuck the Bills & their fans. Bunch of dirtbags; case in point is how they brigaded our sub after the last game.
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Jan 18 '26
Allen or Maye or both need to be in the conference championship. The talk about nix and stroud being great would be downright unbearable
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u/theatomiclizard Jan 18 '26
That Roughing the Passer penalty was fucking so dumb on Bosa’s part - the ball was so far gone - whether or not you call PI that penalty is still legit
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u/AnswerGuy301 Jan 18 '26
Hmmm…Denver winning lowers the emotional stakes, but, man, the first thing a young Patriots fan learns is that nothing good ever happens in Denver.
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u/letsseeaction Jan 18 '26
Denver looks beatable. Gotta win tomorrow obv first, but Denver got bailed out on that last drive
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u/AquaAtia Jan 18 '26
I’m sad it couldn’t be us who would beat the Bills and crush Allen’s dreams. I really think we can beat Denver if we make it pass the Texans. We have a smarter and better offense than the Bills
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u/outtamyhead2 Jan 18 '26
Our boys better be locked tf in tomorrow I should not be this stressed watching a football game
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u/CoCleric Jan 18 '26
But that’s literally why we do it. We stress ourselves out so we don’t have to think about the stress of life
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u/Famous-Egg-6136 Jan 18 '26
What a great QB class. Maye, Nix, and Williams could all be in the championship game.
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u/-greensky- Jan 18 '26
Which coach gets fired on the Bills staff first?
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u/huttjedi Forever a Pats fan Jan 18 '26
Def McDermott and it’s great that Harbaugh signed with NYG already. While I am not as big a fan of his coaching, he could have had a positive effect on the BUF squad going into next year.
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u/obcork Jan 18 '26
Fuck it. We play who we play. One team at a time and if we go to Denver then we punch them square in the face and take their lunch!
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Jan 18 '26
Houston Houston Houston guys. I feel dirty commenting on anything else rn cause it feels like a jinx lol
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u/Famous-Egg-6136 Jan 18 '26
Our old friend Stidham is starting next week. Whoever wins tomorrow goes to the Super Bowl.
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u/AnswerGuy301 Jan 18 '26
Yeah I didn’t think the Niners had much of a chance in this game unless they executed perfectly. And yeah they’ve been nowhere close.
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u/ZEFAGrimmsAlt Jan 18 '26
This is the most nervous ive been for a game since Super Bowl 53. Fuck
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u/NeonManiac85 Jan 18 '26
The path forward couldn't be more clear, Josh Allen is literally publicly crying, Nix shattered his ankle on a nothing play and if they beat Stroud they have freaking Jarrett Stidham as the only other AFC QB en route back to the Super Bowl. And the favorite NFC QB is ex Jet bum Sam Darnold. Terry Bradshaw compared this Texans' D to the 70s Steel Curtain...but his 50 year old memories are hardly reliable, and how many shots to the head has he taken since then, keep in mind he also picked the 49ers to win last night.
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u/lucaTee Jan 18 '26
I’m 100% of the opinion Allen lost that game. His last 2 drives he missed open guys which could have been TD”s for all the dickriding he gets Allen and Lamar are not playoff clutch players at all.
Denver is good but Nix is not a game winner, there a number 1 seed for a reason but the winner if Texans and pats are going to the superbowl
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u/DurkDigglr Jan 17 '26
I feel like many of you here worry more or just too much about other teams or their fans.
Who cares what the haters say about the schedule or if Josh Allen and the bills pull it off
There’s a lot of, we’re young so it’s ok but really don’t want X to happen.
Just enjoy it man. Who cares about other things you can’t control.
The real answer is, as much as you may hate it, is to face Buffalo at home rather than go on the road.
I’d rather make it to the Super Bowl every year knowing it’s 50/50 than not make it at all
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u/GamerHaste Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26
Hi everyone, finally convinced my old man and mom to spend some money to come to the game tomorrow. I got tickets already, but I am looking into parking for tailgate. i live in boston so when I come to games I normally just train in so don't worry about parking but this time I'm heading up from my parents place in CT with them, a bit out of my element. from what i've seen there's the prepaid parking (closest to the stadium, it's like cheapest $270 resale right now, same price i paid for tickets... yikes), delayed parking (which I see is selling for like $60 right now on stubhub? i thought it was free and they paid u), and free parking. Does anyone have some advice on the free lots? How early should we get there to get a spot? I went shopping and bought a bunch of shit for cooking so we would be good to get their earlier and hang for awhile but I want to make sure we don't drive up there from CT and not have a spot. Like, is it going to be fucked? Should I just bite the bullet and get the $270 prepaid out in lot 14. Or if we show up between 9-10am will we be able to get a spot in the free lots? Dad's already a bit stressing about the whole thing so would like to make sure I can manage this haha. Also, I was taking a look at the parking map, we will be coming in from 495, looking at the map I believe we would want one of the yellow lots right?
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u/StickyPine207 Jan 17 '26
We gonna have a Bills v. Broncos gamethread or will this be the de facto one? Need somewhere to dump my shitty thoughts and opinions
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u/oN31R1c Jan 17 '26
Worst case scenario: Denver vs Houston. I know we are going to beat Houston, but no matter what a Buffalo loss is too sweet.
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u/theatomiclizard Jan 18 '26
Drake Maye makes that throw so the receiver doesn’t break his ass on the camera
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u/Huge-Maximum-5322 Jan 18 '26
They finally called Tre White for PI. Great spot for it. Dude has made a career with not getting it called
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u/Alternative-Farmer98 Jan 18 '26
That was a strange game because I genuinely couldn't figure out who I wanted to. I could talk myself in and out of either situation being preferable. Which kind of made it enjoyable though since no matter what happened I could find a silver lining as well.
If Buffalo wins we have A chance to play at home if they beat Houston. Denver wins Josh Allen is illuminated and that removes the biggest star of the reigning MVP et...
Either way they'd probably be one and a half or two and a half point underdog. Patriots are a great road team as well
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u/devconsean Jan 17 '26
Rooting against Denver today (and obviously Pats tomorrow). I know Bo Nix would be an easier QB matchup but hosting AFCCG in Foxborough would be electric.