Patriots Playoffs Divisional Round Opponent Revealed

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — As the New England Patriots continue to savor their 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs, they may now turn their attention to an upcoming showdown with the Houston Texans.

By virtue of their 30-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final matchup of Wild Card Weekend, the Texans will be making the trip to southern New England for a Divisional Round game against the Patriots on Jan. 18 at 3:00 pm ET.

While possessing a formidable offense led by quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Texans' defense is perhaps the most fearsome preventive unit in the NFL. Houston ranks first in the league in total defense, sixth in passing defense and fourth in run defense. Given their recent struggles along the offensive line, the Texans should be expected to provide a tough test for quarterback Drake Maye and the Patriots.

While the Patriots and Steelers may share a greater and more-storied history of contentious clashes, their rivalry with the Texans has the makings of a modern-day classic. The teams have played each other 15 times (including two postseason games), with the Patriots winning 11 games and the Houston Texans winning four.

This game will mark the third meeting between the Patriots and Texans in the Divisional Round of the playoffs — the previous two coming in 2013 (a 41-28 Patriots victory) and again in 2017, which resulted in a 34-16 win for New England. Though the two teams did not play each other during the regular season, Houston and New England last faced off in Oct. 2020 — a matchup won by the Texans by a final score of 41-21.

Patriots Already Preparing for Divisional Round Showdown

Dec 28, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel on the field prior to the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

New England punched its ticket to the divisional round just one day earlier, thanks largely in part to a dominant defensive performance, coupled with timely plays on offense. In his first career playoff game, Maye completed 17-of-29 passes for 268 yards with one touchdown pass. while running for a team-high 66 yards. Despite throwing an interception and losing a fumble, the Patriots' defense kept the Chargers from capitalizing on their turnovers.

Maye’s counterpart, Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert, finished 19-of-31 for 159 yards and was also his team's leading rusher with 57 yards. New England held the Chargers to 207 yards of offense and sacked Herbert six times — one of which resulted in a lost fumble, which set up the Patriots' only touchdown.

In an effort to stay ahead of their competition, New England took advantage of their additional day of preparation by scouting both teams as they faced off in the Steel City. The Pats sent an observatory contingent — per standard operating procedure in the NFL — consisting of director of pro personnel A.J. Highsmith and pro scout Bob Kronenberg. Still, head coach Mike Vrabel wasted no time in commencing his team’s preparations for the Divisional Round.

"We have to try and prepare for an opponent, and we won't know who it is until tonight," Vrabel said at his Jan. 12 press conference. "So we have to be able to identify some things that we can reasonably try to correct and enhance. We have to do work on both teams and be ready to go and that's just how it is."

Should the Patriots be successful in their divisional round matchup against the Texans, they will face the winner of the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos game — which itself is a rematch of a 31-7 Bills’ victory from last year’s Wild Card round.

A Broncos win would require New England to travel to Denver for an AFC Championship battle at Empower Field at Mile High. If the Bills are victorious, they would take their talents to Foxborough for an epic showdown at Gillette Stadium with their longtime, bitter AFC East rivals.

Either the Broncos or the Bills would pose a serious test for New England in the would-be AFC Championship. The winner would go on to face one of the currently four remaining NFC teams: L.A. Rams, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

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