Expect Pressure on Tom Brady

Expect Houston Texan's defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to get creative with blitzes against Tom Brady on Sunday.
Phillips is known for being an aggressive defensive mind who likes to get pressure on the opposition's quarterback. Logan Mankins knows more than anyone that the offensive line needs to stay sharp in order to protect Brady.

“He’s an aggressive coach, he likes to blitz. They give you some different looks [and] they’re going to give different blitzes. One thing about his defenses, they always play hard. He always gets his guys to play with a lot of effort and that’s how Houston’s defense plays. Those guys are going 100 miles an hour out there."

This week is eerily similar to the 2010 divisional game against the Jets. In week 14 of the 2010 season, the Patriots embarrassed the Jets 45-3 on Monday Night Football. The Patriots demolished the Texans 42-14 in week 14 of this season on Monday Night Football. Hmm...sounds similar. Of course you know how it ended for the Patriots in 2010, losing to the Jets in the divisional round. So....lets not repeat history this week. Logan Mankins knows they need to learn from that loss to avoid the same outcome this week.

“That’s a learning experience for us, to look back and see that we beat a [Jets] team [in the regular season] and in the playoffs get beat by them. Hopefully we can change that this time. We’re definitely not taking this team lightly. We know they are very good."

The Patriots can come into this game knowing that they are the favorite, but they can't play like it. No team can be overlooked and Mankins explains why:

“Human nature makes you want to think that way,” Mankins said later, when asked how a player works to keep their edge after blowing a team out in the regular season. “[But] if you’ve been around long enough and played enough teams multiple times in a season, you know the second time is always tough. They know you. You know them. They’re going to know their tendencies, and you know theirs. The second time around is usually a dogfight and it’s always a lot closer than the first game.” 

This is playoff football and anything can happen, I'm not believing in a Texan's upset, but the Patriots need to buckle down and prepare for this game like any other game, and overlook nothing.

Give me a follow on Twitter! @joeloobs

Sources:
ESPN.go.com (Mike Reiss)
footballdb.com