Houston and New England set off the early afternoon portion of the two divisional Sunday matchups. The Texans are playing on a short week, having eliminated the Steelers on Monday night, 30-7. New England is coming off a dominant 16-3 victory over the Chargers last week and the first playoff win of the Mike Vrabel Patriots era. These franchises have met twice before in the postseason, also in the divisional round, and the Patriots won both.

That saying about defense traveling was true for the Texans in the wild-card round because they carried Houston through that game. Quarterback C.J. Stroud didn’t have one of his better outings against Pittsburgh, putting the ball on the ground five times and losing two. He was also picked off once and sacked three times. Still, the offense was bailed out by the defense and rookie running back Woody Marks, rushing for 112 yards and a touchdown. If Stroud can’t get it under control (and he’ll have to do it without star wideout Nico Collins), Houston could be in for a third consecutive divisional round exit.

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The Patriots are back in the postseason for the first time since 2021 and already have their first playoff win since the 2018-19 season. New England’s defense had a strong showing in the wild-card win over the Chargers, brutalizing Justin Herbert, sacking him six times, and holding him to 159 passing yards. Offensively, the Pats will need to clean up a bit against a Texans defense that gets to the quarterback often.

Texans-Patriots start time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
TV channel, live stream: ESPN, ABC, NFL+

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Houston Texans and New England Patriots face off in the divisional round.

Live1 updatesKate MagdziukSun, January 18, 2026 at 10:33 AM PST

Kate Magdziuk

With less than 90 minutes remaining until the Houston Texans and New England Patriots kick off in the divisional round, each team has announced its inactives for gameday.

Here’s a look:

Texans inactivesPatriots inactives

QB Tommy DeVito (Emergency 3rd QB)