FOXBOROUGH — All week, sleeping was impossible for Jadeveon Clowney.

If the Houston Texans were going to have any chance of getting past the Patriots and to the AFC Championship, they would have to hit Tom Brady hard and often.

It was all Clowney could think about.

The first chance Clowney had to get to Brady, he didn’t miss. He made a quick swim move to get Patriots lineman Joe Thuney out of his way and shot at Brady like a scud.

Brady barely had time to get the ball out before Clowney mauled him.

While Brady was picking himself up, Clowney was flexing his muscles.

Between Clowney and linebackers Whitney Mercilus and Brian Cushing, the Texans’ defense set the tone by constantly harassing Brady.

As a whole, the Texans put eight hits on Brady. The main culprit was Mercilus, who got to Brady three times. Clowney was right behind him, putting two hard licks on Brady.

“He was rattled,’’ Clowney said.

But for all the ways the made Brady’s life miserable, it wasn’t enough to get out of Gillette Stadium with a win.

Brady completed just 18 of his 38 attempts and threw a pair of interceptions but still managed to throw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and lead the Patriots to a 34-16 win.

When the Texans fell behind, 14-3, in the first quarter, their defense took it upon itself to get them back in the game.

On the Patriots’ first play of the second quarter, Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye picked off a Brady pass intended for Michael Floyd at the Patriots’ 27-yard line and the Texans turned it into a field goal to stay within arm’s reach.

On the ensuing kickoff, Akeem Dent popped the ball loose from Patriots return man Dion Lewis, setting the Texans up at the New England 12 and the Texans cashed in with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brock Osweiler to C.J Fiedorowicz that made it 14-13.

“We had them right where we wanted them,’’ Clowney said. “On third downs, they was getting third-and-longs, he’s throwing the ball up getting deep catches, man, just getting lucky, coming up with some big plays. Take them plays away, kick return away, we beat them.

“I think we did good. Hit him when we wanted to, we were messing him up, disguising, moving around. When you’re playing that good, you expect to win games. We just didn’t get the outcome we wanted.’’

Having been carved up by Brady too many times in the past, the Texans came in with a clear game plan and for the most part executed.

“It comes with film study,’’ Bouye said. “We seen certain formations where we knew routes was coming and even if they wasn’t, we were just going off our leverage and the rush was getting there. We were able to capitalize on some, we didn’t capitalize on all of them.’’

But for every play the Texans made, the Patriots found a way to come up with one of their own when they needed it. When the Texans look back, the missed opportunities will nag at a defense that knew the game would come down to its ability to make momentum-swinging plays.

“We was talking about it even when we got the pick, we’ve got to score on defense,’’ Bouye said. “That’s one thing we always talk about and I felt we had many opportunities. We had guys blocking for us, but we were too busy running around instead of just going to the nearest sideline like coach told us.’’

Even in a loss, the Texans’ defense had the sense that it had taken a step.

“We showed we could be a real good football team,’’ said defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, the former longtime Patriot.

“But we just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch. We just didn’t make enough plays. Looking forward, we’re going to look at film, we’re going to look at the situation and realize you’re close. This team is close. To come in on the road and play the No. 1 seed — some say the best team in the NFL — and put up a fight . . . just goes to show you the guts that this team has. They have a winning mentality. It won’t be long before this organization starts reaping the benefits from everything they’ve done.’’

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.