It may not show up in the win column quite yet, but the Patriots are a lot more fun to watch with Drake Maye
Maye threw more touchdown passes (3) in the Patriots’ 41-21 loss than Jacoby Brissett did in the previous five games (2).
Welcome to the Unconventional Review, an instant reaction to standouts, stats, and story lines from the Patriots’ most recent game . . .
One very promising start and one loss into Drake Maye’s tenure as the Patriots’ starting quarterback, and this is the situation:
The Patriots are taking a risk (that he’s not going to get skewered behind an offensive line that is now playing tackles that Mel Kiper Jr. may not have heard of) for one specific reward — putting a far more entertaining product on the field every Sunday, even if the outcomes are unlikely to change.
Oh, yes, that was the most fun Patriots’ 20-point defeat in ages.
Even if the Patriots are at least one more strong draft away from being competitive, Maye provided real hope in Sunday’s 41-21 loss to the Texans that at least they have their quarterback.
He finished 20 of 33 for 243 yards, remarkable numbers considering he had one completion, one interception, one tackle, and 8 passing yards in the first quarter.
His talent is obvious — he was also the Patriots’ leading rusher with 38 yards, and his first touchdown pass was a dropped-in-the-basket beauty to Kayshon Boutte at the end of the first half, a throw Mac Jones couldn’t have made with a Nerf football.
Maye’s resilience was also obvious, and that is going to be awfully important going forward.
As you likely heard by now, Maye threw more touchdown passes (3) in the Patriots’ 41-21 loss than Jacoby Brissett did in the previous five games (2).
Perhaps you also heard — or perhaps you did not — that Maye turned the ball over more times against the Texans (3) than Brissett did in those five games (2, both against the Jets).
This is how it’s going to be. He’ll give the Patriots a spark that hopefully becomes a fire, and he’ll occasionally give a gift to an opponent, and we’ll all cross our fingers and hope Ben Brown, Zach Thomas, and all of these other anonymous linemen now charged with protecting him will allow his ligaments and joints to remain intact until better players can replace them.
Some further thoughts, upon immediate review . . .
Three players who were worth watching
Players suggested in the Unconventional Preview: Will Anderson Jr., Ja’Lynn Polk, Stefon Diggs
Anderson: Maybe it’s a comparison spurred by seeing those classic red Patriots jerseys out there. But watching the Texans’ second-year defensive end torment the helpless Patriots was reminiscent of the chaos Andre Tippett created during his Patriots heyday.
Anderson, the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season, was easily the best player on the field, finishing with 8 tackles, 3 sacks (after coming into the game with 2½), 4 tackles for loss, 3 quarterback hits, and a deflected pass that resulted in an Eric Murray interception early in the fourth quarter.
Two of Anderson’s sacks came on third down, including a punctuation mark midway through the fourth quarter when he buried Maye for a 10-yard loss.
DeMario Douglas: Patriots fans have been pining all season for the shifty second-year receiver to be more involved. Sometimes, so has Douglas himself. Maye made sure it happened, finding Douglas six times on nine targets for 92 yards and a touchdown.
All three of Douglas’s receptions in the first half occurred on the final drive before halftime, which resulted in Boutte’s touchdown. In the second half, he got a touchdown of his own — the first of his career — when he caught a perfect strike from Maye on a crossing pattern and zipped 35 yards to the end zone early in the fourth quarter, cutting the Texans’ lead to 34-21.
Douglas had nine targets in two other games this season, and his season-high of seven receptions happened in the Week 3 loss to the Jets, but this was easily his most impactful performance of the season so far.
Joe Mixon: A week after allowing the Dolphins to gash their run defense for 193 yards on 41 attempts, the Patriots allowed 192 yards on 28 attempts to the Texans, an absurd 6.9 yards per rush. Mixon, returning after missing three games with an ankle injury, did most of the damage, with 102 yards on just 13 attempts.
Mixon had a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, scored earlier on a 10-yard pass from C.J. Stroud, and broke off the longest run of the day, a 59-yarder earlier in the second quarter.
Mixon wasn’t the Texans’ lone running threat — Dameon Pierce contributed 76 yards on just eight carries, including a 54-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.
Grievance of the game
Predicted score: Texans 24, Patriots 14
Final score: Texans 41, Patriots 21
The difference between the prediction that the Texans would score 24 points and the outcome of 41? Sloppiness, particularly on defense.
The Patriots were penalized seven times for 40 yards in the first half, including on third and goal on the first series when Marte Mapu was called for pass interference. Two plays later, Tank Dell scored, and the Patriots had allowed the Texans to take a lead before Maye took the field.
Worse, it was the kind of mistake that repeated. On the Texans’ next possession, Marcus Jones was flagged for pass interference on third and 9 at the Patriots’ 16. Mixon cruised in with a 10-yard TD reception on the next play.
Overall, the Patriots defense was . . . well, Mayo put it best, telling them after the game, “You should feel like crap.”
The Patriots D is dealing with depth and attrition issues, but that’s no excuse for allowing the Texans to average 5.9 yards per play.
Three notes scribbled in the margins
Polk supposedly has good hands. The rookie second-round pick might want to start proving it soon, because they appear to be rebelling against him right now. Polk had two drops — one late in the second quarter and another when he power-dribbled a perfect pass on third and 5 in the fourth quarter — while catching a single ball. He now has just 10 receptions on 23 targets this season. Tom Brady would have already iced him out for the rest of the season … Marcus Jones picked off Stroud deep in the end zone early in the second quarter, hustling over to assist in coverage on Dalton Schultz and corralling the deflected ball. Jones returned it 35 yards to the Patriots’ 27, which qualified as New England’s most productive play to that point . . . CBS analyst Trent Green is usually reliable, but he bungled a few names Sunday, including “Jered” Mayo and “Andrew” Jennings. And I’m not sure there’s actually a way to type out how he pronounced Daniel Ekuale’s name.
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