Patriots stock up, stock down after Week 5 win over Texans: Hunter Henry on the rise, J.C. Jackson struggles

For a minute, it looked like the Patriots‘ season was going to come to a crashing end in the form of a loss to the lowly Houston Texans that would bring them to a 1-4 record on the year. However, New England was able to rally after trailing 22-9 at one point in the third quarter and go on a 16-0 run to earn the 25-22 win. Naturally, there were a lot of things that the Patriots did poorly that got them into such a massive hole against what is widely considered to be an inferior team. On the flip side, there are some positives that we can take away from the comeback, too. 

Below, we’re going to dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly from that win and see which way a number of Patriots players are trending as they leave Week 5 and now look towards a Week 6 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. 

Stock up: Hunter Henry

Don’t look now, but Hunter Henry is starting to heat up a bit. Over the last two weeks, Henry has been able to find his way into the end zone and Sunday’s win proved to be the best statistical outing of his Patriots career. Henry was targeted by Mac Jones a team-high eight times and hauled in six receptions for 75 yards, which included a 13-yard touchdown that evened the score up at 22. While it has taken Henry some time to truly be an impactful piece in this New England offense, he has been a reliable outlet for Jones from the jump, catching 20 of his 26 targets on the year. This combination should only get stronger as the season goes along and both players get more comfortable within the offense. 

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Stock down: Damien Harris

Harris got into the end zone on New England’s first offensive possession of the day, but then coughed the ball up on what would have been his second touchdown of the afternoon on the Patriots’ second drive. Right as Harris was about to cross the goal line, he allowed the ball to be punched out of his arms and it was eventually recovered by the Texans. 

This isn’t the first time Harris has fumbled in a critical moment as he also put the ball on the ground back in Week 1 as the Patriots were deep in the red zone and looking for a game-winning touchdown against the Dolphins. If these sorts of turnovers continue, it’ll drastically hurt Harris’ chances of truly becoming a bell-cow back for Bill Belichick. 

Stock up: Nick Folk

Nick Folk has been an underrated piece for the Patriots for quite a while. While he did miss an extra point early in this game, he was nails when lining up for field goals. Folks hit all four of his attempts, two being from 52 yards out. He accounted for 13 points in the win, including the game-winning field goal he hit with 15 seconds left on the clock. 

This season, Folks has hit 93.3% of his field goals and leads the NFL in field goals made (14). 

Stock down: J.C. Jackson

It has not been a great few weeks for J.C. Jackson. Against the Texans, the Patriots corner was targeted seven times and his receiver caught four of those passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Jackson also had a pass interference called on him in the midst of Houston’s opening drive that would have placed the Texans in a fourth-and-8 situation. Instead, they moved the ball to the Houston 43 yard line, the drive continued and they eventually went up 6-0. He was also flagged for defensive holding. 

This performance comes after Tom Brady targeted Jackson 11 times in their primetime matchup last week where the quarterback connected on six passes for 64 yards. 

With Stephon Gilmore now in Carolina, Jackson will need to step up and truly play like a No. 1 corner. 

Stock up: Matt Judon

It seems like we put Matt Judon in this list every week, but it’s for good reason. The linebacker was instrumental in the Patriots being able to pull out the win over Houston as he constantly applied pressure on rookie Davis Mills. 

At one point, Judon completely took over the game. Following Damien Harris’ fumble, the Texans were able to drive the length of the field to the Patriots 2 yard line. It was in that area of the field where Judon recorded two sacks within a three-play stretch that backed the Houston offense up and forced them to settle for a field goal. 

Stock down: Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo

While the Patriots don’t have a defensive coordinator, it’s widely known that outside linebackers coach Steve Belichick and inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo share defensive play-calling duties. With that in mind, it was a rough day for the Patriots defense, which should fall on their shoulders. 

While they may not have looked like it on Sunday, the Texans are no offensive juggernaut and shouldn’t be perceived to be one. Despite that, New England’s defense allowed rookie Davis Mills to complete 21 of his 29 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns. That comes after Mills threw for just 87 yards and four interceptions against the Bills in Week 4. 

Houston’s 18-play opening drive that lasted 10:06 and resulted in a touchdown also suggested they two had zero answers right out of the gate.  

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