Houston’s 19-13 win over Cincinnati on Saturday in the wild-card round of the playoffs can be seen as a positive for the Patriots on two fronts: It gives them an extra day to prepare for the Texans because they now know their opponent, and it brings a team that New England has already dominated this season back to Gillette Stadium.

In a conference call Sunday afternoon, Patriots coach Bill Belichick spoke highly of Houston’s win against the Bengals, and dismissed any notion that the 42-14 win over the Texans on Dec. 10 will mean anything the second time around.