A possible future AFC playoff matchup turned into a blow out very quickly on Monday night, as the Houston Texas lost their first road game of the season to the New England Patriots 42-14.
The Patriots offense was humming all night and had the Houston defense looking confused. The team gained over 400 totally yards on offense and made 6-of-12 third down conversions.
The Texans are still one of the best teams in the league, but should be worried after another blow out loss. Houston's only other loss this season was a 42-24 home defeat to the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 14.
Here are some of the performers from Monday night and information on next week's status for each player as things move into the next crucial round of the fantasy football playoffs.
Scoring for this article is based on a Yahoo fantasy league with one point per reception, one point for every 30 passing yards, one point for 10 rushing yards, one point for 10 receiving yards and six points per touchdown.
QUARTERBACK
Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Brady has always been successful on Monday night football and continued that streak against the Texans, scoring 30.47 fantasy points, the third-highest total for any quarterback in Week 14.
He threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for six yards. Brady has been one of the most consistent fantasy players this season and has posted at least 26 points in three of the past four weeks.
The Patriots stormed out to a 28-0 lead in the third quarter after a 63-yard touchdown pass to Donte Stallworth and scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Brady was taken out of the game before the end after completing 60 percent of his passes and throwing zero interceptions.
WEEK 15 Status: START. It's Tom Brady. Yeah, the Patriots face one of the toughest defenses in the league in San Francisco on Sunday night, but Brady always seems to step up.
Matt Schaub, Houston Texans
Schaub was harassed all night by the New England Patriots defense and was hampered by a quick 21-0 hole in the first quarter. He threw for 232 yards and one interception and only earned 5.73 fantasy points.
Over the past three weeks, Schaub has earned over double-digits in each game, but saw that streak end against the Patriots. Three weeks ago against Jacksonville he had a season-high 43.57 points, his highest total since September.
Schaub was lucky he didn't throw more interceptions--there were two the Patriots easily could have caught--but has a favorable matchup next week against the Colts. Although the secondary is think, Indianapolis is 9-4 behind Andrew Luck and will provide the Texans with a challenge.
WEEK 15 Status: SIT. Schaub is a solid fantasy quarterback, but he is no Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. The Colts have played well in its biggest games and Sunday's matchup counts as one of those.
RUNNING BACK
Arian Foster, Houston Texans
Foster had a rough day against the Patriots, but still managed to post 17.20 points. It wasn't totally Foster's fault, when your team goes down 28-0 in a game, its only normal that they would abandon the run to pass the ball.
He rushed for 46 yards and one touchdown and also added four receptions for 39 yards. Foster has posted double-digit fantasy points in every game this season and beat his projected amount of 16. Foster is the top-ranked player in fantasy this season and has been as reliable as anyone in the league.
Foster has a favorable matchup next week against Indianapolis and is one of the most valuable players in all of fantasy. He has scored a touchdown in every game but one this season and has always played well against the Colts, rushing for 491 yards with five touchdowns and making 13 catches for 88 yards.
WEEK 15 Status: START. Even when the Texans have a bad game, Foster finds a way into the endzone. There is no player like him in the NFL, he is the most patient running back in football and always seems to find his way to the ball.
WIDE RECIEVER/TIGHT END
Aaron Hernandez, New England Patriots
Hernandez has been a prime target for Tom Brady since Rob Gronkowski has been out and it showed on Monday night as he caught eight balls for 58 yards and two touchdowns. He posted 23.87 fantasy points and had more this week than the previous two weeks combined.
He missed a bunch of games with an ankle injury, but he looks like he is completely healthy and will be the primary tight end until Gronkowski can return.
WEEK 15 Status: START. The chemistry with Brady has been stellar since Rob Gronkowski went down with an injury. He will be an essential part of the offense going forward as the Patriots try to lock up home field advantage.
Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
Johnson was tied to Schaub, so he didn't have a stellar game, but he managed to catch eight passes for 95 yards and posted a solid 14.33 fantasy points. He is one of the most explosive players in football, but was held to a quiet game by the New England secondary.
After posting 8.73 points last week, Johnson greatly improved, but to was nothing like the 43 he earned three weeks ago against Jacksonville. He was targeted by Schaub a team--high 10 times, but couldn't get into the endzone.
With two more games left against the Colts and a matchup against Minnesota in between, Johnson is a primary fantasy player for the next three weeks as the playoffs heat up.
WEEK 15 Status: START. The Colts secondary has given up huge passing days to Calvin Johnson, Stevie Johnson and Wes Welker in the past few weeks and will likely do the same with Johnson. Start him. Hard.
