Patriots
“We have to play complementary football, and we didn’t do that.”
Drake Maye gave New England’s offense a boost in his first NFL start. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
COMMENT
FOXBOROUGH — As solemn as Gillette Stadium has been so far this fall, Drake Maye gave Patriots fans the shock they needed.
Amid the cheers of nosebleeds and three musket volleys fired after his three touchdowns, the 22-year-old QB offered hope that New England might have something to look forward to on the field.
But Maye wasn’t focused on the positive Sunday night — even though dozens of friends and family were on hand to greet him after his first career NFL start.
Because in the hyper-competitive Maye family, all the positives taken from a match pale in comparison to the lopsided result etched on the scoreboard.
“Most of my friends and family, after a loss, will always worry more about the loss than the encouraging games. That’s the type of people I’m around,” Maye said after New England’s 41-21 loss to Houston. “We are committed to winning. I hate losing.
“That’s the most important thing. I think there are some good things to take away today, and I’m reflecting on it with Coach [Jerod] Mayo, we have to play complementary football, and we didn’t do that.
In a 2024 campaign where positives could be few and far between for a rebuilding Patriots roster, Sunday’s loss can easily turn into a step forward — especially since Maye now has the keys to the Patriots’ offense. team.
New England was seemingly only able to make progress on offense after Jacoby Brissett’s five-game streak as the team’s starting QB. Even though the veteran largely did his job by limiting mistakes and taking a lot of punishment, the results on the field were discouraging.
Entering Week 6, New England ranked last in the league in passing yards per game (119.4), as well as 31st overall in total offense (250.8 ) and points per game (12.4).
With Maye ahead of Brissett on the depth chart, New England felt like its rookie’s howitzer and athleticism would create more explosive plays — as well as alleviate some O-line issues with ability of Maye jamming.
The results spoke for themselves on Sunday against Houston.
Maye completed 20 of 33 passes for 243 passing yards and three touchdowns in his first start, adding another 38 yards on the ground.
Maye has easily eclipsed Brissett’s most powerful passing performance of the season (168 yards vs. 49ers) and has already thrown for more touchdowns than his counterpart has compiled all season (two touchdowns in five games).
Maye became the first Patriots QB to throw at least three touchdowns in a game since Bailey Zappe in Week 14 last season, as well as the 12th QB in NFL history to record more than three touchdowns in his first career start.
But beyond basic production, Maye’s arm has allowed New England to discover a layer of its offense it hasn’t been able to utilize in years: explosive plays.
Whether it’s Cam Newton’s run-heavy approach, Mac Jones’ lackluster arm strength, or Bailey Zappe’s inconsistent processing ability, the Patriots’ offense in the post-Brady era has often been paralyzed by an inability to move the ball down the field in one go. swoop.
Before Sunday, the Patriots had generated just two passing touchdowns of 35-plus air yards in the past three seasons.
Maye doubled that production in his debut, with two of his touchdowns coming against Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas going for at least 35 yards each.
It was a welcome sign for a Patriots offense often stuck in neutral, as well as a pass-catching corps that struggled to get into rhythm with Brissett as QB1. Douglas finished with six catches for 92 yards and his score, while Boutte added three catches for 59 yards.
“As a receiving group, we’re confident,” Boutte said. “There are all 11 of us on the field. So you just have to trust the O-line to do its job. And if everything goes well from the start, then we’re all convinced Drake can make those passes. I’m confident we can make these catches.
But Maye didn’t dwell on the obvious progress New England made on the offensive side of the ball Sunday.
“I think we just got hurt today. I think that’s the most important thing,” Maye said. “I think we put the defense in bad positions, and with the quality of our defense, that’s the last thing we can do. … We keep hurting ourselves, and in this league, these teams are too good to do that.
Indeed, the Patriots offense has at times been hampered by the growing pains expected when a rookie QB tries to find his place at the highest level of football. It didn’t help that he was thrown into the fire against a Texas defense entering Sunday with a league-best 42 percent pressure rate, either.
Maye was picked off for three turnovers on Sunday – two interceptions and a strip-sack. Those three turnovers directly led to 14 points for Houston.
But as Mayo noted, the Patriots will endure the learning curves and mistakes expected of a rookie QB — especially if the offense finally begins to show signs of life.
But when it’s the veterans and other key parts of the roster, who are the ones failing to pull the string? This is where we have to ask ourselves what we should expect from this offense in 2024.
“I thought he showed a lot of composure,” 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.
“And it’s really encouraging from the whole team’s point of view right now, we let it go. It was his first match and I feel like I let him down. I’m sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down. And it has to be better.
While Mayo in particular took his defense to task after giving up 368 total yards to New England, several other segments of the depth chart did little to support their starting QB in his first start .
A brutal fumble by veteran tight end Austin Hooper wiped out another promising drive for New England — and led to three more points via a Texans field goal later in the third quarter.
New England’s running game was non-existent, with Maye being the team’s leading rusher with 38 yards. Antonio Gibson – stepping in as the team’s leading rusher in place of the injured Rhamodnre Stevenson – averaged just 1.5 yards per carry.
And a New England offensive line that featured its sixth starting configuration in six games still struggled to keep its QB off the field — headlined by Will Anderson’s crushing third-quarter sack that resulted in a fumble recovered by Houston.
Amid the misery of a 1-5 start to the 2024 season, Maye’s play on Sunday should reassure Patriots fans who wonder if he can help spur a turnaround for a once-proud Patriots franchise.
But even with Maye’s potential, those positive gains might not be realized until at least 2025 — not if the rest of New England’s roster doesn’t start moving forward as well.
“We feel like shit right now,” Mayo said. “I would say, just for a rookie quarterback to go out there and do good things, I just felt like we could have done a better job supporting him.”
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