Image courtesy of AP Photo/Charles Krupa
FOXBOROUGH – We all knew this, but it turns out there’s a lot more wrong with the Patriots than just the quarterback play.
Drake Maye’s first start in the NFL was an ugly reminder of just how much improvement this Patriots roster needs as the Texans walked into Gillette Stadium and handed the Pats a 41-21 loss.
This was the type of game that fittingly made the current Patriots continue to look like those of the early 90’s, right down to the Pat Patriot uniforms.
Maye was pretty good and showed glimpses of what could be in the future. The rookie threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions (one was tipped) on a 20-33 clip. As a team, the Pats had 291 yards of offense, but the defense gave up 368 – including multiple runs of 50+ yards. New England also had nine penalties for 50 yards.
“Yeah, it’s very disappointing,” Mayo said of the defensive performance. “I would say now at this time we’re kind of up and down as far as starting fast. We have to start fast whether we’r eon defend for offense and we just didn’t do that today. I thought they did settle down. But, again, it goes back to every single play being important and you can stop them, stop them, stop them, and then all of a sudden it’s a 50 yard run.
“We can’t live in that world.”
For all but the final 59 seconds of the first half, the Pats’ offense remained a debacle. Then, Maye Mania started running wild.
For about 20 minutes.
The Pats’ defense – who kept this from being an absolute blowout early on – forced a punt and the offense took over at the New England 15. A quick throw outside to Pop Douglas turned into a chunk gain and a few Texans’ penalties quickly moved the ball down to the Houston 40.
That’s when Drake Maye unleashed an absolute dime deep down the right sideline, dropping it in a bucket to Kayshon Boutte for a touchdown that ignited the otherwise dead crowd at Gillette and sent the teams into halftime with New England down just 14-7.
“I thought he showed a lot of poise,” Mayo said of Maye. “I thought he went out there and controlled the huddle, got those guys out of the huddle and once again, made some plays. It’s definitely encouraging. From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game and I feel like I let him down.
“I’m sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down. We’ve just got to be better.”
Early on, it was about as putrid as putrid gets. The Patriots were out-gained 105-8 and ran just six plays to Houston’s 21 in the first quarter. Maye had eight passing yards to Stroud’s 81 and the time of possession was 11:47-3:13.
It didn’t get much better until that final drive in the second. With 5:22 left in the half, the Patriots had 42 total yards of offense and 40 penalty yards. Even when Marcus Jones picked off a pass in the end zone on a Marte Mapu deflection and Houston missed a field goal, the offense went out with a whimper both times.
Even with the TD, New England only had 122 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes.
“Yeah, yeah, I think we just hurt ourselves today,” said Maye. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I think we put the defense in bad spots, and with how good our defense is, that’s the last thing we can do. We can’t – when the ball is in the red zone, giving the other team the ball in the red zone just makes it hard on them.”
The good vibes around Foxborough disappeared within a minute of the third quarter starting though.
Following a horrendous missed face mask call on an Antonio Gibson run (the crew was an embarrassment all day), Maye was brutally strip sacked at the New England 10. Two plays later, Stroud hit old nemesis Stefon Diggs for a 10 yard TD to quickly push the lead back to 21-7.
The Pats defense held strong after another immediate three-and-out from the offense, holding Houston to a 38 yard field goal with 6:56 left in the third to make it 24-7. It didn’t take long for the offense to give it right back to the Texans though, as Austin Hooper fumbled on the first snap following the ensuing kickoff, giving Houston the ball at the New England 31. Houston settled for another 46 yard field goal.
Going with a bit of hurry up, the Pats offense finally showed some life again after taking over on the New England 25 with 5:22 remaining in the third. Seven plays and 4:22 later, Maye hit Hunter Henry for a six yard TD to cut it to 27-14.
The Pats’ defense got a third down stop (thanks to a drop) to open the fourth, but one play after the punt, a tipped ball at the line and a great, athletic interception by Eric Murray handed Houston the ball right back at the New England 26. Two plays later, Joe Mixon ended any thoughts of a comeback with a 20 yard TD run to make it 33-14.
The Pats – to their credit – wouldn’t’ go quietly. Maye led an eight-play, 70 yard drive that ended with a 35 yard touchdown catch and run for Douglas, making it 34-21 with a little over nine minutes remaining.
Just four plays later though, Dameon Pierce ripped off a 54 yard TD run to make it a Texans’ 40-burger and a 41-21 game, ending any slim hopes of some Maye dramatics late.
“I was a little amped at the start for sure. I think the biggest thing is having those guys around me. They were great, pumping me up, coaches, defense. The guys around me were great trying to settle me down, and Jacoby [Brissett] was a big part of that, slowed me down on the sideline pregame,” added Maye. “Once we got that first drive, it was three-and-out, and I could have probably checked it down on the under. But we’ve got some stuff to look back and learn from, but I also feel like we did some good things.
Now, the team has to travel to London on Thursday for a game against Jacksonville Sunday. Is it winnable? Sure, but New England’s inability to play complementary football and lack of talent is going to continue being an issue all season long.
“Look again, (we) sit here before you guys just disappointed,” Mayo added. “The penalties in the first half, just too many. It’s the same story over and over again. Had three or four turnovers in the game. Can’t win if you lose that battle. Defensively I would say just the fundamentals of just tackling, our run fits have to improve. 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.
“Offensively I thought they did some things that were encouraging. Obviously still not enough. The turnovers, one was on a tipped ball, but that’s the way the league is. I thought Drake [Maye] 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, picking up first downs.
“Just got to be better.”