Patriots got lucky on Sunday.
It wasn't luck. It was some serious help from the officials. The Patriot's idea of a pass pattern is to run up to the defender, push them out of the way and then catch the ball. Legal if the Patriots do it all 5 times, 10 yard penalty the one time the Texans did it.
Recall that key illegal formation penalty that turned 3rd and one into 2nd and 10? Rewind the tape, freeze it and look at the Texans line up. 4 in the backfield, 7 on the line (within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage as defined by rule) and eligible receivers on both ends. Funny how this one time they never said what was illegal about the formation. Wonder why.
I hate to even mention the defensive holding flag that was thrown and then picked up for no good reason. The replay showed the defender clearly held and that it was definitely before the ball was released because you could see that in the background. A first a goal there would have basically iced the game for the Texans.
You can take your pick of the plays that JJ Watt was clearly held and not a single call all game.