FOXBOROUGH Youth Keke Coutee Jersey , Mass. (AP) — One of the biggest questions for the Patriots entering the season was how their defense would look following a series of offseason tweaks.

While the defense certainly had some miscues during New England’s 27-20 victory over Houston on Sunday , it may not be the unit looking to make the most improvement heading into Week 2.

That task probably belongs to special teams, which had several mistakes that allowed the Texans to stay within striking distance for most of the game.

Special teams has been one of the Patriots’ most stable area the past few seasons. But against Houston the unit showed cracks in both kickoff coverage and punt return. Improvement will be key with a tough road matchup at Jacksonville up next.

Last season, the Patriots allowed opponents just 18.9 yards per kickoff return, the third-best mark in the NFL.

That meant nothing to Houston’s Tyler Ervin, who found all kinds of seams in New England’s kickoff coverage. He finished the game with 156 kickoff return yards on five returns (31.2 avg.), including a game-long 36-yard return.

The 156 return yards are the most ever by a Texans player in a season opener.

“I thought there were a lot of areas that we did well in, a lot of areas that we need to work on and a lot of areas that we can improve,” coach Bill Belichick said when asked about the mishaps on kickoffs.

Special teams captain Matt Slater said he didn’t think the new kickoff rules aimed at improving safety were to blame for their deficiencies.

“I think it was more about what we didn’t do,” he said. “Some of the things that we’re coached to do we just didn’t go out there and do them. … It plays differently Buccaneers Elite Jerseys , obviously there’s no wedges. Schemes have changed a little bit. But hopefully it’s something we can fix.”

New England’s punt team wasn’t exempt from mistakes, either.

With under five minutes left in the game, Riley McCarron fumbled a punt to set up Deshaun Watson’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington that got the Texans within seven.

“I made a stupid play,” McCarron said. “I should have handled the ball; it is as simple as that. I did not make the decision on a fair catch, obviously, but I know the one I should have made now.”

McCarron was released by the team on Monday.

It wasn’t all bad for the special teams.

Before he suffered a right knee injury in the third quarter, running back Jeremy Hill partially blocked a punt by Houston’s Trevor Daniel.

And some late execution by the Patriots’ punt coverage team helped put a slight happy face on an otherwise lackluster day.

The play came via punter Ryan Allen, who dropped a 54-yard punt inside the Houston 5, which was downed by Jonathan Jones on the 1 with 43 seconds remaining. It forced the Texans to speed up on offense and they moved the ball to only their 43 by game’s end.

Slater said both Hill’s block and Allen’s punt were shown a lot in Monday’s film session. Still, there was little celebrating.

“The hits keep coming Youth Greg Olsen Jersey ,” Slater said. “This will be a tough team this week and we gotta be on top of our game and certainly try to execute better.”

NOTES: The team placed running back Jeremy Hill on injured reserve. Hill’s 2017 season with Cincinnati ended after seven games, when he had right ankle surgery. … Hill entered the season third on the running back depth chart behind James White and Rex Burkhead and was expected to contribute primarily on special teams. … The team also released wide receiver Chad Hansen.

Corey Dickerson led off the game by plunking the top of Cincinnati pitcher Anthony DeSclafani’s left foot with a sharp grounder.

Then the Pittsburgh left fielder really did some damage.

Dickerson hit two first-pitch home runs, rookie Nick Kingham overcame another rain delay to pitch six shutout innings and drive in two runs, and the Pirates beat the Reds 6-2 Saturday for their season-high eighth straight win.

Dickerson homered on the first pitches he saw from DeSclafani (4-3) in the third and fifth innings for his seventh career multihomer game, helping the Pirates to their longest winning streak since an eight-game stretch Sept. 19-26, 2015. They are over .500 for the first time since they were 31-30 on June 6.

”I try to have a plan,” Dickerson said about the aggressive approach that led him reaching 100 career home runs. ”They know my weaknesses. What I try to do is stay on pitches. It’s really more about timing.”

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said he’s stressed the importance of having an aggressive approach.

”We’ve been talking since spring training about being ready to hit when you step into the box,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. ”Early in the count, guys are ready to hit.”

Josh Bell added four hits, including a run-scoring double in the fourth Antonio Morrison Jersey , to help send the Reds to their third straight loss, their longest slump since a four-game losing streak June 2-6.

The game was delayed 47 minutes by rain in the middle of the fourth inning, one night after the start was held up 2 hours, 55 minutes.

Kingham allowed just one runner past second base before Curt Casali knocked him out of the game with a two-run homer that just barely reached the left field seats in the seventh. Pitching in rain, he walked the first two batters he faced before getting All-Star Joey Votto to hit into a double play.

”There were a lot of different things,” Kingham said about his slow start. ”The ball was slipping. My release point was off. Nothing was going right. Walking two and facing Votto is not how your draw it up,”

Kingham (5-4) earned his third win in his last three starts, limiting the Reds to four hits and two runs with three strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He also grounded a two-run single up the middle through a drawn-in infield in the sixth.

Ervin Santana finished the seventh, Kyle Crick pitched a perfect eighth against Reds All-Stars Scooter Gennett, Votto and Eugenio Suarez and All-Star Felipe Vazquez escaped a one-out Youth Brian O'Neill Jersey , two-on jam in the ninth.

DeSclafani was able to shake off Dickerson’s sharp one-hopper to last 4 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and three runs with two walks and six strikeouts.

”Dickerson smoked that ball in the first inning,” DeSclafani said. ”It hit me on the top of the foot just below the ankle. The x-rays were negative. I just have a contusion. It will feel better in a couple days.”

SURGING STARLING

Starling Marte’s first-inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games, the majors’ longest active streak and the longest by a Pirate since Andrew McCutchen hit in 18 straight in 2015.

RAISE THE BAR

Jesse Winker singled in the fourth to extend his career-high hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a rookie in the majors this season.

DREADED GLITCH

Due to a锟絧regame锟絫echnical锟絠ssue锟絯ith the replay system, each club was afforded its normal manager’s challenge, but crew chief reviews were unlimited for the remainder of the锟絞ame.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

The Reds honored their 2018 team Hall of Fame inductees – OF Adam Dunn, LHP Fred Norman and manager Dave Bristol – in pregame ceremonies.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli was eligible to be activated from the seven-day concussion disabled list on Saturday, but Hurdle said Cervelli had not resumed baseball activities.

Reds: INF Alex Blandino will undergo season-ending surgery on Monday to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. INF-OF Brandon Dixon was recalled from Triple-A Louisville to replace Blandino.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (5-6) is 3-1 with a 3.51 ERA in seven starts since being reinstated from the disabled list on June 10. He’d been out with a sprained right ring finger.

Reds: Matt Harvey (5-5) is 4-0 over his last five starts. He hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of those appearances.

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