Brissett was good. But this was about coaching.

Brissett, a third-round draft choice out of N.C. State, should be the Patriots’ third-stringer right now. But Tom Brady is serving his four-game Deflategate suspension and Jimmy Garoppolo hurt his right shoulder Sunday. Garoppolo was on the inactive list Thursday, meaning that the Patriots had only one quarterback eligible to play. And Belichick and his offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, had a short week to get Brissett ready for his first start.

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“Even with the way they coach,” former Texans and Washington Redskins general manager Charley Casserly said Wednesday, “this will be hard. Houston will be better than them. But they’re brilliant game-planning. If they beat Houston, the rest of the league can just go home for the season.”

Commence the going home.

So much for the rest of the AFC getting a head start on the Patriots while Brady was suspended. New England is now a win at home over the dreadful-so-far Buffalo Bills away from going 4-0 minus Brady. And the Patriots now have extra time to get ready for that game.

Garoppolo looked terrific in his two starts before getting hurt. The Patriots simply moved on and came out Thursday with an entirely new look and feel to their offense, even with only a few days to prepare, to put Brissett in position to succeed. There were option plays. (Just wondering: Will those quarterback runs still be in the play book when Brady returns?) There were relatively low-risk passes.

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Brissett didn’t have a turnover. He threw the ball efficiently, although he had only 103 passing yards. He ran for a 27-yard touchdown. He was sacked only once. Tailback LeGarrette Blount, who rushed for two touchdowns, and the New England defense took it from there, with plenty of help from the Texans.

Houston’s performance was about as inept as it gets. The Texans twice lost fumbles on kickoff returns. Quarterback Brock Osweiler threw an amateur-hour first-half interception. (The second-smartest person in the league after Belichick, it seemed Thursday night, was Broncos executive John Elway, who allowed Osweiler to leave Denver via free agency in the offseason.) The Texans mixed in silly penalties and missed tackles. They didn’t take an offensive snap in Patriots’ territory until the second half.

J.J. Watt, the reigning two-time NFL defensive player of the year, was practically invisible. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had some catches but had little to no impact on the game. But that is what a Belichick-coached team does to an opponent: It takes away the best players and makes someone else win the game.

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McDaniels deserves much of the credit for Thursday’s superb game plan; he needs to be given another NFL head coaching opportunity in the not-too-distant future. But look at what Belichick’s top assistant-coaching lieutenants in New England have done on their own as head coaches elsewhere. Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, McDaniels and Eric Mangini did not prove to be coaching geniuses of their own accord. That suggests the real brilliance comes from Belichick, not those around him.

The act can wear thin. The press conference non-answers can become tiresome, given that it’s all an act and Belichick can be engaging and insightful whenever he chooses. The sideline hoodies and sweat shirts are less than dashing. Think what you want about Spygate and Deflategate and what the scandals mean to the legacies of Belichick and Brady. Call the Patriots cheaters if you like. That debate never will be resolved, with the team’s backers yelling just as loudly that everything ending in “-gate” is about the petty jealousies of those unable to beat the Patriots on the field.

But whatever you do, don’t sell Belichick short.