The Film Room: How The Patriots Will Replace Julian Edelman Against The Texans

The Texans have to make a long-awaited trip to Foxborough in just three short weeks to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots. New England hasn’t lost to Houston since the 2009 season - and has never lost to the Texans at home - but now more than ever, it feels like Bill O’Brien and company have a legitimate chance to upset their “big brother."

J.J. Watt is back and fully healthy alongside Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus. The offensive line is (mostly) intact, save for the lone holdout of Duane Brown. Even the quarterback situation looks significantly better this season, with Tom Savage at the helm rather than the impressively horrible Brock Osweiler.

Everything is seemingly coming together for the Texans right as the Patriots just suffered one of the most devastating possible blows to their roster - Julian Edelman is done for the year after tearing his ACL in a preseason game against the Lions. Edelman is arguably the deadliest slot weapon in the NFL, and his consistent torching of Houston DBs was a big reason why the Texans could never get over their New England hump.

Just because Edelman is no longer on the field, however, does not mean that the Patriots won’t have a plan to replace his incredible production when the Texans come to town. That is the subject of this week’s episode of "The Film Room," where we take a deep dive into the Brady-Edelman connection and decipher which Patriots will emerge to pick up the slack. Enjoy!