The conspiracy theorist in me says there's no way CBS wanted to have such a dog matchup for primetime (and, let's face it, we're not talking about the Patriots here) although they love having a CBS-owned sports bar in the stadium which magically nets them an extra home game or two every year.
So the league has instructed the refs to keep it close for the first half, using phantom holding calls if necessary to keep the Texans within a touchdown. In the second half, with the crowd still engaged, the refs will make sure the Patriots win but don't cover. That way, both franchises leave with what they wanted. The Pats get a win and a tuneup for the AFCCG. The Texans leave with some respect, enough to continue rebuilding for another year.
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