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The Houston Texans defeated the New England Patriots on Sunday night by the final score of 28-22. Now it’s time for both squads to look ahead to this week, right? Not so fast.
Evidently the matchup between Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore and Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins hasn’t quite ended just yet.
Hopkins explains low production
DeAndre Hopkins is one of the best wideouts in the game. So, when he finished with a stat line against New England of just 5 catches for 64 yards, he felt the need to explain why.
Hopkins tweeted out a picture of himself on Tuesday evening (Nov. 3) of him catching a pass over Stephon Gilmore with the caption “When you see 10, double him.”
..?”when you see 10 double him” pic.twitter.com/R7hme5pXP5
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) December 3, 2019
Instead of basking in the glow of a team win against New England, Hopkins felt he needed to explain that he was clearly double-teamed all game against the Patriots – thus resulting in such a low output. Stephon Gilmore disagrees.
Gilmore strike back
Once that tweet was seen by Patriots star Stephon Gilmore, of course, he had to respond!
Gilmore, who was a big key in slowing down Hopkins on Sunday took offense at his remarks. In fact, Gilmore said that Hopkins was hardly double-teamed at all during the game.
Bro was doubled on only 2 snaps all game and wants to be loud lol
— The Gilly Lock (@BumpNrunGilm0re) December 3, 2019
“Bro was doubled on only 2 snaps all game and wants to be loud lol,” Gilmore replied just over an hour after Hopkins tweet started to go viral.
While Hopkins insists he was continually being covered by two players at once, the videotape may prove otherwise.
NFL Pro Football talk via NESN indicates that the Patriots only double-teamed Hopkins two times in the 47 snaps Hopkins was on the field.
The two double-teams of Hopkins actually worked out well for Houston, who scored both times New England covered the former Clemson Tigers star with two or more players.
Duke Johnson scored in the first quarter and Kenny Stills in the third while New England was shadowing Hopkins with an extra man.
Both Hopkins and Gilmore earned All-Pro honors in 2018 and have a lot of pride when they play the game. However, these little jabs at each other may become a lot more interesting if these two face each other in the postseason. Stay tuned.