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Patriots rout Texans, inch closer to division title

Dec 18, 2006 - 12:41 AM FOXBORO, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Tom Brady and the New England Patriots bounced back in a big way.

Brady threw two touchdowns and the Patriots forced four turnovers en route to an easy 40-7 triumph over the Houston Texans.

New England looked lost in last week's 21-0 setback to Miami, collecting just 189 yards of total offense and losing three fumbles while surrendering 131 rushing yards to the Dolphins.

But Brady was in control Sunday, and the Patriots (10-4) intercepted Texans quarterback David Carr four times to move closer to their fourth straight AFC East Division title.

"That was a real good, solid team victory for us today," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We're real happy to win, happy at the way we played. ... A good, solid effort. We got some turnovers and were able to capitalize and make a couple of plays offensively."

New England took command in the first quarter thanks to Kevin Faulk, who reeled off an 11-yard touchdown run just seven minutes into the contest.

"I think that when we get ahead of teams, we do a pretty good job of keeping the lead," Brady said. "We started off fast and we kind of finished strong. We played for 60 minutes. That was really what we needed."

After rookie Stephen Gostkowski drilled a 36-yard field goal to make it 10-0, Faulk scored on a 43-yard screen pass from Brady to give New England a 17-0 cushion with 3:31 left in the opening period.

"They blitzed, which leaves us back in coverage," Brady said. "If you are able to get the ball off and get it to Kevin, which we did, I know that (center Dan) Koppen ran down there and didn't have anyone to block."

Brady finished 16-of-23 for 109 yards while Corey Dillon ran for 61 yards on 20 carries for the Patriots, who improved to 21-6 in the month of December under Belichick.

The Texans (4-10) finally got on the board with 9:49 left in the third quarter when Ron Dayne plowed into the end zone for a one-yard TD.

But the Patriots responded 12 seconds later, when Ellis Hobbs took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 93 yards for his first career TD, which pushed the lead back to 34-7.

"When I go out there I just tell myself, 'Don't let your teammates down,'" Hobbs said. "In that certain situation, they had just driven the ball down on our defense. We always talk about responding and going out on special teams and responding to what they just did on offense, and that's what we did."

Dayne ran for 94 yards on 18 carries while Carr completed 16-of-28 passes for 127 yards for Houston, which fell to 2-6 on the road this season.

"This was extremely disappointing," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "We were outcoached and outplayed. We got our (tails) kicked in every phase of the game. No excuses - that's on me. We definitely weren't ready to do our job."

"I think Houston is a real competitive football team," Belichick said. "I know it didn't go well for them today, but I think that Gary has done a good job with them. I think that they're improving a lot. They have a lot of young players obviously. They have a long way to go and they have a lot of work to do based on the situation that he came into."