FOXBORO — Drake Maye made his first profession begin, however the outcomes have been the identical for the New England Patriots of their Week 6 conflict with the Houston Texans. The Patriots misplaced their fifth straight recreation, 41-21, to fall to 1-5 on the season.
Regardless of the loss, there have been a variety of indicators of hope for the longer term as Maye threw three landing passes (giving him the team-lead for the season) and the Patriots scored extra factors on Sunday than they’d in any of their earlier 5 video games. With Maye now beginning, the Patriots are no less than constructing towards one thing with their younger QB.
However the Texans have been an excessive amount of for New England to deal with on Sunday. Houston discovered the tip zone on every of their first two possessions, after which turned three second-half turnovers by the Patriots into 17 factors. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud threw three landing passes of his personal on 20-for-31 passing whereas operating again Joe Mixon rushed for 102 yards and a landing in his return.
New England turned the ball over 4 instances total: Two interceptions and a fumble by Maye and a fumble by tight finish Austin Hooper. The Patriots’ run recreation was additionally non-existent with out Rhamondre Stevenson, as New England averaged simply 3.2 yards on 26 carries for simply 82 speeding yards.
“Drake made some good choices on the market. I assumed he had some good reads, I assumed he tried to get the ball out of his arms, I assumed he did job extending performs together with his legs to get first downs. We simply gotta be higher,” New England head coach Jerod Mayo mentioned after the loss. “We let him down. I really feel like I let him down.”
Drake Maye makes first profession begin for Patriots
Drake Maye did a little bit of all the things in his debut. He threw a beautiful landing. He threw a foul decide. He scrambled for some yards and he fumbled. He even recorded his first profession deal with.
Maye was up and down in his first profession begin, which is predicted from a 22-year-old rookie. The Patriots had a fast three-and-out on their first possession and Maye threw a foul interception to finish New England’s second possession. Nonetheless, the Texans did not flip that reward of a possession into any factors.
Maye threw a beautiful deep ball to Kayshon Boutte simply earlier than halftime, connecting with the receiver down the appropriate sideline for a 40-yard landing strike to chop the Houston result in 14-7.
The Patriots had momentum on their facet because the second half obtained underway, however that vanished when Maye was strip-sacked by Danielle Hunter and Houston recovered on the New England 10-yard line. The Texans turned that fumble into a fast landing when Stroud hit Stefon Diggs ultimately zone to provide Houston a 21-7 lead.
Maye led the Patriots on one other landing drive late within the third quarter, throwing for 64 yards and capping off the drive with a six-yard landing to Hunter Henry to make it a 27-14 recreation.
He had one other stable drive early within the fourth quarter. Maye scrambled for 15 yards on a second-and-5, after which hit DeMario Douglas over the center on a third-and-5, which the speedy receiver changed into a 35-yard landing for New England to make it a 34-21 recreation with 9:24 left. However the Texans answered with a four-play landing drive, capped off by a 54-yard landing run by Dameon Pierce to place the sport out of attain.
The Pats did not win, however the offense appeared useful for almost all of the sport. The deep risk is again with Maye at quarterback, and he additionally made the Texans pay a number of instances together with his legs.
Total, Maye was 20-for-33 for 243 yards, three touchdowns, a pair of interceptions, and a misplaced fumble. He additionally ran for 38 yards on 5 carries to complete as New England’s main rusher.
Turnovers crushed New England’s probabilities in Week 6
The Patriots turned the ball over 4 instances on Sunday, resulting in 17 factors for the Texans. Houston might have had extra too however Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 40-yard subject objective try after Maye’s first decide.
Maye’s fumble changed into a Houston landing out of the break, and the Pats fumbled away their third possession of the second half as properly. Maye felt the stress on first down and threw a brief cross to Hooper, however Houston linebacker Henry To’oTo’o knocked the ball out of the tight finish’s arms and Bullock recovered on the New England 31. Houston turned that right into a subject objective.
The Texans obtained one other turnover once they deflected a brief try by Maye to Antonio Gibson, and it went proper into the arms of Anderson on the New England 26. Joe Mixon broke off a 20-yard landing run two performs later to provide the Texans a 34-14 lead.
The Texans had a minus-three turnover differential heading into Week 6, however have been plus-three in that division on Sunday.
Patriots will face Jaguars in London in Week 7
Up subsequent for the Patriots is a visit throughout the pond for a matchup towards the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London. The Jags are already abroad, having misplaced to the Chicago Bears, 35-16, on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw 4 landing passes towards the Jacksonville protection in Week 6, whereas Trevor Lawrence was sacked 3 times and picked off as soon as for the Jaguars. Chicago operating backs ran for 152 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry towards Jacksonville on Sunday.