Patriots Vs. Texans First Half Thoughts

As the New England Patriots enter the half with a 10-0 lead over the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football, here are some early thoughts.

Using His Feet- In his first career start at quarterback, rookie Jacoby Brissett has used his feet as one of his top weapons in the early going. Through the first two quarters, the third round pick has been the team's leading rusher, gaining 43 yards on three carries. The game plan put forth by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has put Brissett is quality roll out and option situations and the youngster has made good decisions on those plays, showing nice acceleration. His top play so far has come in the rush game, as he sold a bootleg nicely on a first down play just outside of the Houston 20 and scampered into the end zone from 27 yards out to give the team a two score lead.

A Nice Arm Too- While Brissett's rushing abilities have been the talk of the first half, the rookie has done well passing the ball as well. On just eight pass attempts, Brissett has completed five passes for 59 yards. Again McDaniels' game plan has set up the young quarterback in favorable passing situations and has allowed him to play safe but also move the ball. One other big thing is that Brissett has held onto the ball and not given the Texans' defense a chance to make any big plays.

Line Playing Well- The New England offensive line has looked pretty good so far, against a tough Texans' front. While they did have one tough sequence in the first half and allowed one sack, they have protected Brissett well so far. A strong example of this is that both J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney haven't had their names called much if at all so far.

This Is What We've Been Waiting For- After two sub-par weeks defensively and coming off of a sickening second half in Sunday's win over the Dolphins, the New England defense has finally started to show some of the shutdown play many had expected heading into the regular season. Limiting the Houston offense to just 141 yards on 34 plays, the Patriots have been tenacious, especially on third down. Throughout the entire first half, the Texans never took an offensive snap on New England's side of the field.

Getting Help- While the Patriots' defense has looked good and more like many expected they would this season so far tonight, they've been helped out by some really poor play by Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler. In the first half, Osweiler struggled to make solid throws, leaving his receivers with little opportunity to make plays. With the exception of some tremendous efforts by top wide out DeAndre Hopkins, making some catches that had a difficulty level through the roof, the Houston passing game was weak at best. Add in an interception on a ball that was poorly forced into an extremely tight spot and Osweiler has done nothing to help himself so far.

Winning The Turnover Battle- So far the Pats are plus two in the turnover battle. A nice job on special teams by Brandon Bolden led to a fumble recovery by Duron Harmon on a Houston kick return. The turnover set up New ENgland just outside the Texans' 20-yard line and led to the Brissett score. Jamie Collins also added a pick of Osweiler to stop a Houston drive in the second.