5 Thoughts Following Patriots vs Texans Loss: Strong Outing For Maye
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Some quick thoughts coming off of Sunday’s loss to the Texans:
1) Strong Showing for Maye – After a tough stretch of watching the Patriots offense spin its wheels in recent weeks, rookie Drake Maye’s performance on Sunday finally brought some renewed optimism that had definitely been lacking recently.
He had a shaky start but overall played well, despite a few rough moments. He threw an early interception on a pass intended for Demario Douglas that sailed on him, which ended up in the hands of Texans safety Calen Bullock on New England’s second offensive series. Bullock then took it back 28 yards the other way before Maye ended up being the one to chase him down and make the tackle.
But just like at North Carolina, Maye got better as the game went on, with his 40 yard touchdown throw to Kayshon Boutte near the end of the first half bringing everyone to their feet at Gillette Stadium. That pass looked effortless, with Maye throwing it at a relatively low trajectory while hitting Boutte in stride down the right sideline.
Maye finished the afternoon 20-of-33 for 243 yards and with three touchdowns. He did end up with three turnovers, with the rookie throwing two picks while also losing a fumble after he took a shot in the pocket. Unlike his first errant throw, his second interception wasn’t all his fault. It came on a screen pass that was deflected, and Eric Murray made a ridiculous grab off the back of Austin Hooper’s helmet for the interception.
It wasn’t all perfect, but overall, Maye’s performance was certainly encouraging. What was also interesting is the fact that on his third touchdown throw, a pass where he hit Douglas in stride for a 35-yard score, that was also a play Maye seemingly had earlier but completed the throw just behind Douglas rather than out in front, preventing him from possibly taking off for the end zone.
Instead, that one went for 17 yards and Maye was seen after the play with his hands on his helmet, likely knowing had he put it out in front of him a little better Douglas would have been off to the races.
Fortunately, Maye finished off the drive with a 6 yard touchdown throw to Henry, but it was a moment that shows that Maye’s concerns extend beyond the completion, with the rookie clearly very aware of the details.
2) Offensive Line Had Another Rough Day: Anyone hoping the Patriots might build some continuity in front of the rookie was likely disappointed on Sunday as the club continues to battle injuries. New England was forced to start Ben Brown at center ahead of Nick Leverett, with Brown having been signed off the Raiders’ practice squad just days earlier. He ended up being a little shaky early, although he did start to settle in and played relatively well considering the situation.
However, the biggest problem was the fact that the club was ravaged by injuries on Sunday. They lost two starters after Vederian Lowe and Michael Jordan both left the game with injuries. That saw Zac Robinson take over at left tackle, while Sidy Sow stepped back in at guard.
However, that group didn’t do a great job keeping the Texans away from Maye, with the rookie taking a couple of big shots, one of which saw him get blasted on a blitz from the right side. That play led to his fumble and also saw Maye stay down for a few moments before he was helped up by teammates.
Maye was shaking his right arm as he headed to the sideline, but later reportedly told trainers he was OK.
It’s a situation where the Patriots can’t seem to catch a break as health continues to be an issue up front. Still, considering how fortunate Maye seemingly escaped this one without any serious injuries, it remains a huge problem New England will continue to have to figure out if they hope to keep their young QB from getting killed.
3) Undisciplined play by the defense continues – New England’s defense continues to be a problem when it comes to keeping the opposing quarterback in the pocket, as well as committing some frustrating penalties in inopportune moments.
One irritating sequence happened on the Texans second possession. Anfernee Jennings went after Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud but lost contain on 2nd-and-6, with Stroud sliding up and taking off to move the chains. Marcus Jones was then called for pass interference on the next third down, which again extended the drive as the Texans ended up at the Patriots’ 10-yard line.
Stroud hit Mixon on the next play, with Mixon taking it in uncontested for the touchdown after no one picked him up in the flat. That helped Houston extend their lead to 14-0 and put New England in a hole they were never able to dig their way out.
The defense did manage to keep Houston off the board for the remainder of the half, which included a nice diving play by Marte Mapu that broke up a pass to tight end Dalton Schultz, with the deflection ending up in the hands of Marcus Jones for an interception. But they were also fortunate in that the Texans missed a 40-yard field goal early in the second quarter, which helped keep things close at 14-7 at the half.
In the second half, turnovers by the offense were a problem, with the Patriots giving it up twice after a fumble by Austin Hooper and Maye’s second interception. Those two plays led to 10 points for Houston, which at that point, the score was more or less out of hand at 34-14.
But as we’ve seen in recent weeks, mistakes and badly timed penalties remain a frustrating trend that continued against a Texans team that’s just too good on offense. Couple that in with the turnovers by New England’s offense, and it’s a recipe for the disaster that was Sunday’s lopsided outcome.
4) Too Many Big Plays given up: One other key issue was the fact the defense again gave up a disturbing amount of big plays, which was one of the biggest takeaways that will likely be an area of focus heading into next Sunday.
Mayo’s defense allowed two rushes of 50+ yards in this game, along with three pass plays of over 20-yards. On Joe Mixon’s 59 yard run, his defense at least made up for it after Mapu’s effort led to Jones’ interception, but they also allowed a 20-yard touchdown run by Mixon later in the game, and a 54-yard touchdown run by Dameon Pierce.
That’s an area that Mayo was clearly frustrated with after the game.
“Defensively I would say just the fundamentals of just tackling, our run fits have to improve,” said Mayo. “They have to improve. I told all those guys, I said, ‘You should feel like crap today. You should feel like crap.’ You take away those two long runs, we had two runs over 50 yards. That’s just not winning football.”
Given their other issues, the Patriots remain a team making too many mistakes in a season where they simply don’t have that kind of margin for error.
5) Aside from Douglas and Boutte, Wideouts Continue to be Inconsistent: Douglas continues to grow in this offense, while fellow wideout Boutte has made some significant strides in recent weeks. The biggest problem right now is the fact that Ja’Lynn Polk has dropped off as of late, with Polk finishing Sunday’s contest hauling in just one pass on 4 targets.
He had a couple of drops in this one, and his inconstency was something mentioned on the telecast. Maye did have a couple of throws that were off-target, but Polk remains one of the players on offense who the Patriots have to hope can get right with Maye out there.
Douglas led all wideouts on Sunday with 6 receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown, while Boutte caught all three of his targets, including his touchdown. Bourne played 52% of the snaps on Sunday but was only targeted twice with two catches for 9-yards.
With Maye at the helm, the Patriots already did something they hadn’t done in a while and that was put up 20 points, with Maye also finishing with the highest passing yard total of the year by the offense. He moved the ball well and also made some nice plays with his legs, including a couple of solid off-platform throws.
For now, protection remains the focus and it’s likely going to be another long week for a Patriots team that has had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to field a group up front as it is. How they’ll manage until they can get past all their recent injury woes is the key question, with the team struggling for answers thus far after a rough six weeks.
The Patriots will face the Jaguars next in a trip to London, with the game set for next Sunday morning at 9:30am ET.
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