Patriots’ Divisional Round opponent, kickoff time set

Just about 24 hours after the New England Patriots punched their ticket to the Divisional Round with a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, they now know their opponent. On Monday night the Houston Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final Wild Card game, earning their trip to Foxboro to play for a spot in the AFC Championship.

It'll be a 3:00 p.m. ET kickoff, making it the first of two games on the day. Coverage of the game can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub, starting with pregame at noon.

Meanwhile the other AFC game, the Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos, will be played on Saturday. That means the winner of this game will know who they play in the AFC Championship - and for the Patriots, whether or not they'd be hosting or traveling.

Monday night was the Texans' 10th win in a row. After an 0-3 and 3-5 start Houston rattled off nine consecutive wins to close out the regular season and earn the top Wild Card spot in the AFC.

The key to Houston's turnaround is the defense. They allowed the fewest total yards and second-fewest total points in the NFL this season.

That starts with their pass rush, which is arguably the best unit in the NFL. They have two double-digit sack players in Danielle Hunter (15) and Will Anderson (12), both rushing off the edge. Overall the entire defense is great at getting takeaways, with their 29 ranking third in the NFL.

Offensively, the Texans' have relatively underperformed compared to the expectations for the talent on their roster. They ranked 13th in scoring in the NFL this year.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 3,041 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 14 starts after missing some time due to injury early in the year. His top targets include tight end Dalton Schultz wide receiver Nico Collins, although Collins left Monday night's game early with a concussion.

Their ground game has featured a rotation of backs, but the hot hand right now is rookie Woody Marks. Marks rushed for over 100 yards in Monday's win over the Steelers, marking his first 100-yard game in the NFL.

Unlike the potential Steelers matchup which would have been a rematch of Week 3, the Texans are a new opponent for this Patriots' team. Their last matchup was last year, when the Texans visited Gillette Stadium in Week 6. Houston won that game 41-21.

That was the first NFL start for Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. he went 20-of-33 for 243 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions, and a fumble lost. Wide receiver DeMario Douglas had a big game with six catches for 92 yards and a score. Defensively, Marcus Jones highlighted the Patriots with three tackles and an interception.

On the other side, Stroud was 20-of-31 for 192 yards with three touchdowns and the pick. On defense, the Texans got four sacks - three from Anderson and one from Hunter.

The Patriots and Texans have met in the playoffs twice before, both Patriots wins at Gillette Stadium. The first such meeting was a 41-28 game in the 2012 season, and then a 34-16 win in the 2016 season. Both of those games were divisional round matchups.