FOXBORO, Mass. — Did the New England Patriots’ secondary use its brutal second half against the Miami Dolphins as motivation heading into Thursday night’s matchup with the Houston Texans?
You bet your butt it did.
“Most definitely,” Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler said Friday. “Finish the game.”
Butler elaborated: “That’s just the theme here: You’ve always got to finish. You don’t want to end a game like that. You don’t want to blow a big lead like that. So we carried that motivation into (Thursday night), and it turned out right.”
Four days after allowing 389 passing yards and 21 second-half points in a way-closer-than-it-should-have-been 31-24 win over the Dolphins, Butler and Co. rebounded in a big way against Houston, stymieing quarterback Brock Osweiler as the Patriots pummeled the visiting Texans 27-0.
Butler played particularly well, blanketing stud Texans rookie Will Fuller throughout the night. After surpassing 100 receiving yards in each of Houston’s first two games, Fuller caught just three balls for 31 yards on seven targets against New England, including zero on plays when Butler covered him.
“Standards are high around here,” Butler said. “They’re most definitely high for myself. So that’s how I look forward to play.”
Across the field, Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan also did a fine job of shutting down DeAndre Hopkins, who ranked third in the NFL in receiving yards last season. Hopkins caught four passes on eight targets for a total of 56 yards in the loss Thursday.
“(Ryan was) very good,” Butler said. “Hopkins is a good player. Also, Logan is, too. He had a couple catches, but we wanted to slow those guys down on certain things, and we did a good job with that. It turned out pretty good.”
Osweiler went 2-of-10 passing with an interception in the second half when targeting Hopkins or Fuller.
“It’s frustrating when you don’t catch the ball, and it’s frustrating when you’re getting the ball caught on you,” Butler said. “It works in both ways. So I’m just glad it was on the other end.”
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
