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In December, the Patriots destroyed the Texans, 42-14. Which is great news for the Patriots, who get to play the Texans again on Sunday in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Except for one problem: The Patriots have been down this road before: Two years ago, the Patriots destroyed the Jets in December, 45-3. And then the Patriots lost to the Jets in the divisional round of the playoffs. New England coach Bill Belichick says there’s a lesson to be learned in that.

“I think there’s certainly a lesson there about the game that we play now doesn’t have much to do with the game we played before,” Belichick said, via the Boston Herald. “It’s another example of that. We’ve talked about that many, many times here, before and after the 2010 season. I don’t think it’s anything that wasn’t mentioned until that situation occurred, but it’s an example we can point out.”

Belichick said he doesn’t often see similar game plans from opposing teams when facing them a second time.

“I think when you play a team twice during the season, the games are totally different,” Belichick said. “They never go the same way. We’ll be able to certainly look at some of the matchups individually, guys that faced each [other] in the game. As far as plays and calls and things like that matching up, I’m sure they’ll have some new wrinkles. I’m sure we’ll have some, too.”

There’s no doubt that the Texans will have to do things differently than they did in their visit to New England a month ago.