New England escaped Houston with a win as the Patriots and the Texans battled in a closely fought game a week after coming back to win against the Denver Broncos. After both teams punted on their opening drive Houston opened up the game by scoring the first points of the game on a touchdown. After a 2-yard run by Ben Tate, Case Keenum hit Andre Johnson on back-to-back completions for 42 yards, moving the ball to the Patriots 8. Tate scored on a touchdown run on the very next play for the early 7-0 lead as the Patriots continued their trend of falling behind early. On the Patriots next drive they reached their own 49-yard line, but Tom Brady was intercepted by Jonathan Joseph on an underthrown ball intended for Rob Gronkowski. After an incomplete pass attempt to Andre Johnson, tight end Garrett Graham was called for a crucial offensive pass interference penalty, moving the ball 10 yards back to the 41. They managed to reach the 25, but were four yards short of a first down and they settled for a Randy Bullock 43-yard field goal. New England answered with a touchdown on their next drive, moving 55 yards in just 6 plays with Brady hitting Gronkowski for a 23-yard touchdown pass. to trim the score to 10-7. The Texans reached the Patriots 27 on their next drive, but Case Keenum was intercepted by safety Logan Ryan. The Patriots drove from their own 20 to the Texans 37, but Stephen Gostkowski missed a 55-yard field goal. The Texans stormed 55 yards in just 7 plays to take the lead 17-7, scoring on Ben Tate's 20-yard touchdown run with 1:52 remaining in the half. The Patriots punted and the Texans ran out the clock as the game went to halftime at 17-7. Again continuing a trend, Brady and the Pats came out of the locker room hot. The Patriots marched 55 yards using 7 plays with the big play being a Tom Brady connection to Rob Gronkowski for 50 yards moving the ball from the Patriots 37 to the Texans 13. A 12-yard pass moved the ball to the 1 where fullback James Develin ran it in for the touchdown, trimming the deficit to 17-14. Houston went three-and-out on their next possession and the Patriots struck for another touchdown. This time they moved the ball 73 yards in merely 7 plays with Brady darting a 7-yard touchdown pass to Shane Vereen to take their first lead at 21-17. However, the Texans immediately countered by storming 81 yards, taking 10 plays and chewing up 5:55 and culminating with Case Keenum scrambling for a 5-yard touchdown, retaking the lead at 24-21. Like the Texans, the Patriots immediately countered, storming 81 yards again, this time taking only 7 plays with LeGarrette Blount rushing for a 7-yard touchdown with 13:09 remaining in the game. Once again though, the Texans answered going 80 yards in just 3 plays to retake the lead 31-28. On the drive a 66-yard completion to DeAndre Hopkins moved the ball to the Patriots 14. Two plays later, Ben Tate ran in a 10-yard touchdown. The Patriots took the ball and drove 40 yards in 9 plays to the Texans 35-yard line and Gostkowski connected on a 53-yard field goal. The Texans went three-and-out giving the Patriots the ball with a chance to take the lead.  They drove to the Texans 35-yard line in 7 plays where Gostkowski drilled another clutch 53-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 34-31 lead with 3:12 remaining in the game. The Texans reached their own 43, but consecutive incomplete passes on 3rd and 4th down gave the ball to the Patriots. The Texans forced a punt, however, giving them one last chance to win or tie and force overtime. Unfortunately for the Texans,  they couldn't move the ball and an incompletion as time expired gave the Patriots the win. The win marks the 9th on the year for the Patriots, ensuring their 13th winning season in a row, and ended a 3-game road losing streak. The loss puts the Texans at 2-10, easily their worst season since 2005. This marked the Patriots' only game outside of the Eastern Time Zone during the 2013  regular season (the Patriots would go on to play the AFC Championship Game in the Mountain Time Zone at Denver).. How many points did New England win by?