Patriots lose Drake Maye’s first start, 41-21, to Houston Texans

FOXBORO — Drake Maye made his first career start, but the results were the same for the New England Patriots in their Week 6 clash with the Houston Texans. The Patriots lost their fifth straight game, 41-21, to fall to 1-5 on the season.

Despite the loss, there were a lot of signs of hope for the future as Maye threw three touchdown passes (giving him the team-lead for the season) and the Patriots scored more points on Sunday than they had in any of their previous five games. With Maye now starting, the Patriots are at least building toward something with their young QB.

But the Texans were too much for New England to handle on Sunday. Houston found the end zone on each of their first two possessions, and then turned three second-half turnovers by the Patriots into 17 points. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud threw three touchdown passes of his own on 20-for-31 passing while running back Joe Mixon rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown in his return.

New England turned the ball over four times overall: Two interceptions and a fumble by Maye and a fumble by tight end Austin Hooper. The Patriots’ run game was also non-existent without Rhamondre Stevenson, as New England averaged just 3.2 yards on 26 carries for just 82 rushing yards.

“Drake made some good decisions out there. I thought he had some good reads, I thought he tried to get the ball out of his hands, I thought he did a good job extending plays with his legs to get first downs. We just gotta be better,” New England head coach Jerod Mayo said after the loss. “We let him down. I feel like I let him down.”

Drake Maye makes first career start for Patriots

Drake Maye did a bit of everything in his debut. He threw a lovely touchdown. He threw a bad pick. He scrambled for some yards and he fumbled. He even recorded his first career tackle.

Maye was up and down in his first career start, which is expected from a 22-year-old rookie. The Patriots had a quick three-and-out on their first possession and Maye threw a bad interception to end New England’s second possession. However, the Texans didn’t turn that gift of a possession into any points.

Maye threw a lovely deep ball to Kayshon Boutte just before halftime, connecting with the receiver down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown strike to cut the Houston lead to 14-7.

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The Patriots had momentum on their side as the second half got underway, but that vanished when Maye was strip-sacked by Danielle Hunter and Houston recovered at the New England 10-yard line. The Texans turned that fumble into a quick touchdown when Stroud hit Stefon Diggs in the end zone to give Houston a 21-7 lead.

Maye led the Patriots on another touchdown drive late in the third quarter, throwing for 64 yards and capping off the drive with a six-yard touchdown to Hunter Henry to make it a 27-14 game. 

He had another solid drive early in the fourth quarter. Maye scrambled for 15 yards on a second-and-5, and then hit DeMario Douglas over the middle on a third-and-5, which the speedy receiver turned into a 35-yard touchdown for New England to make it a 34-21 game with 9:24 left. But the Texans answered with a four-play touchdown drive, capped off by a 54-yard touchdown run by Dameon Pierce to put the game out of reach.

The Pats didn’t win, but the offense looked functional for the majority of the game. The deep threat is back with Maye at quarterback, and he also made the Texans pay a few times with his legs. 

Overall, Maye was 20-for-33 for 243 yards, three touchdowns, a pair of interceptions, and a lost fumble. He also ran for 38 yards on five carries to finish as New England’s leading rusher. 

Turnovers crushed New England’s chances in Week 6

The Patriots turned the ball over four times on Sunday, leading to 17 points for the Texans. Houston could have had more too but Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 40-yard field goal attempt after Maye’s first pick.

Maye’s fumble turned into a Houston touchdown out of the break, and the Pats fumbled away their third possession of the second half as well. Maye felt the pressure on first down and threw a short pass to Hooper, but Houston linebacker Henry To’oTo’o knocked the ball out of the tight end’s hands and Bullock recovered at the New England 31. Houston turned that into a field goal. 

The Texans got another turnover when they deflected a short attempt by Maye to Antonio Gibson, and it went right into the hands of Anderson at the New England 26. Joe Mixon broke off a 20-yard touchdown run two plays later to give the Texans a 34-14 lead.

The Texans had a minus-three turnover differential heading into Week 6, but were plus-three in that department on Sunday.

Patriots will face Jaguars in London in Week 7

Up next for the Patriots is a trip across the pond for a matchup against the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London. The Jags are already overseas, having lost to the Chicago Bears, 35-16, on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes against the Jacksonville defense in Week 6, while Trevor Lawrence was sacked three times and picked off once for the Jaguars. Chicago running backs ran for 152 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry against Jacksonville on Sunday.