I hope everyone had a Happy Columbus Day. Actually, it should be Leif Erikson Day. He beat Columbus to the New World by about 500 years, but what the heck?
The Patriots were outplayed by a superior Houston Texans team and lost at Gillette Stadium 41-21, the first loss at home ever to the Texans. C.J. Stroud passed for three touchdowns, and Joe Mixon rushed for over 100 yards in Houston’s win.
Drake Maye made his first NFL start and, after a slow beginning, showed the promise that he possesses with a strong debut. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but the playmaking ability was there for all to see.
The Patriots’ defense really struggled in this one. The tackling, especially in the running game, left much to be desired.
So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Texans game.
Quarterback: B
Drake Maye gets high marks for his debut starting performance. Although I had no illusions about the Patriots winning this game, I did want to see how the rookie could run the offense. He didn’t disappoint. Maye passed for 243 yards, three touchdowns, and 21 points, all season highs for the offense. Yes, he turned the ball over three times, but I’ll take that kind of performance for a debut.
Credit AVP (wait, WHAT!), putting Maye in a comfortable setting and in a position to succeed. They didn’t put him under center much and had him in shotgun, where he was most comfortable. They also began playing more spread to give a better feel for the field, something we have been clamoring for.
Teams have been daring the Patriots to throw by stacking the box, playing man coverage, and blitzing. Maye had good success against man coverage, and when blitzed, he was 6-10 for 113 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He averaged 11.2 yards per attempt, and his passer rating was 99.2 against the blitz. Both of those, obviously, were season highs for the Patriots.
Running Backs: D
Antonio Gibson, JaMycal Hasty, and Terrell Jennings found little running room to operate this week against a very tough Houston defense. They were able to combine for only 21 carries for 44 yards.
Gibson nearly had his head twisted around like Linda Blair of The Exorcist film with a blatant face mask that somehow eluded the officials who were insistent on calling the most ticky-tack of calls (more below). I’m sure his neck was sore this morning. He added three catches for 24 yards. Hasty had one catch for nine.
Wide Receivers: B-
The wide receivers’ produced a combined 12 catches for 164 yards. It is not earth-shattering, but it is a big improvement over the anemic numbers of Weeks 1-5. But Maye is already finding his circle of trust. He is focusing on Demario Douglas, Hunter Henry, and Kayshon Boutte.
Douglas was the man on Sunday in the passing game. He made six catches for 92 yards and an electric 35-yard touchdown, his first in the NFL. He has the speed, quickness, and ability to separate at the line of scrimmage. He and Maye will soon surpass Douglas’ career high of 92 yards that he set on Sunday.
Boutte flashed some speed on his 40-yard touchdown pass from Maye at the end of the first half. He beat Derek Stingley Jr. down the right sideline, and Maye dropped it in the bucket perfectly. He finished with three catches, 59 yards, and a touchdown on three targets. He’s been a terrific run blocker as well.
Ja’Lynn Polk is fighting the ball right now with too many drops. Jerod Mayo said he must get over the mental hump right now. Kendrick Bourne is still working his way back from his ACL injury, but his role will soon increase.
Tight Ends: C
Hunter Henry had an easy touchdown reception on a nice play call. He lined up in tight and began to block on the edge. Houston believed that he was remaining in to aid in pass protection and Henry slipped out into the flat for a six-yard score.
He knows how to work his way back to the quarterback and uncover when a play breaks down. He had another one of those with Maye that turned into a 30-yard pitch and catch.
Austin Hooper had one catch but that turned into a costly fumble.
Offensive Line: C-
Six weeks, six different starting offensive line combinations. After just ten snaps, the offensive line only had one starter from the season opener on the field: Michael Owenu.
Ben Brown was brought in on Wednesday, had just two practices under his belt, and started at the center. But he called all the protections and played well, allowing just two pressures in the passing game. Sidy Sow was also good in pass protection. The pressure rate on Maye was much lower at 31 percent, but the run blocking wasn’t there as the Patriots rushed for just 82 yards, 38 of which belonged to Maye, who was the Patriots’ leading rusher.
Defensive Line: C
Davon Godchaux has been very good inside, he was credited with six run stuffs. He’s excellent at taking on double teams and per PFF leads all DL with 18 run stops.
Jaquelin Roy has gotten off to a good start in his Patriots’ career. He notched another sack, stuffed a run on the goal line and has good positional versatility, being able to fill in on the nose or move out to defensive end.
Linebackers: D-
Among the NFL leaders in run stops on the edge is TJ Watt with 13, Sam Hubbard with 12, and Anfernee Jennings with 11. He sets the edge and will either make the tackle or force it back inside. Jennings had five tackles, a TFL, and a QB Hit.
Keion White had three tackles, two passes defensed, and a QB hit. He brought pressure a few times on Stroud that disrupted his timing on some deeper throws. Mayo talked after the game about “run fits” and the inside linebackers really struggled in the running game and in coverage. They really miss Ja’Whaun Bentley in the middle.
Tackling was a big issue, Mixon ran for 102 yards, but 59 came on one play and 20 more on another. Dameon Pierce iced the game with a 54 yard touchdown run where he clearly stepped out of bounds.
Secondary: C
Christian Gonzalez admitted after the game, that this one wasn’t his best. And although it was arguably his worst as a pro, it wasn’t awful. He had issues covering Stefon Diggs, who has been an excellent receiver for years. He was lined up 11 times against Diggs and allowed four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Jonathan Jones really struggled this week. He was targeted five times and allowed five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Tank Dell was giving him fits out there. Marcus Jones had an interception in the end zone that he returned 35 yards. Marte Mapu had a half-sack, played well in the secondary but was called for a ticky-tack pass interference penalty in the end zone (see Gibson, Antonio).
Special Teams: B
The ST units continue to play solid. Punter Bryce Barringer averaged 49.8 yards per punt, including a 58-yarder, with two inside the 20. Barringer has had at least one 50+-yard punt in 23 straight games, leading the NFL.
Joey Slye made all three extra points, Brendan Schooler made his sixth STs tackle on the year while providing excellent coverage as a gunner. Marcus Jones had a 16-yard punt return.
Coaches: C-
I thought AVP did a nice job of tailoring the offense to take advantage of Drake Maye’s strengths. It took a while, but the future looks promising with him.
The coaching staff continues to make some head scratching calls, perhaps the biggest one was after the two-minute warning with the game out of reach. The Patriots had taken over possession at the Houston 44 with 3:26 left. At the two-minute warning, they were on the Houston 30, with all three timeouts and facing a second and seven.
The coaches decided to not use any time outs and the game ended with the Patriots on the Houston 17, much to the chagrin of the fans that stayed in the rain to see if Maye could get it into the end zone one more time. They booed loudly as the clock ran out. And they were justified in doing so.
Since the draft this spring, we’ve heard time and again about “developing” Maye. This was a perfect opportunity to let the rookie run the two-minute offense and act like the Patriots were down by five and not 20.
There may come a time in the not-so-distant future where Maye will face a situation like that. This was a wasted opportunity.
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We’re on to London (“Ya hear that Doug, I’m comin’ to London!” Kudos if you can name that film) to take on the Jaguars.
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
