The start of the Drake Maye era and everything else to watch for in Patriots-Texans
FOXBORO -- With Drake Maye taking over as the starting quarterback of the Patriots, a new era of New England football will dawn on Sunday. The No. 3 overall pick has been handed the keys to the Patriots offense, which will hopefully give us a glimpse of the future while improving the present.
He's got a lot to overcome this weekend, including a matchup with a tough Houston defense. It's not the most ideal time to be starting Maye, but here we are. Head coach Jerod Mayo said the shift in energy was crystal clear this week in practice with Maye leading the show.
"You can feel it before you see anything," Mayo said Friday. "The guys are locked in and ready to go. They're running back to the huddle and are ready for the next rep. It's encouraging."
The expectations will be high and the end results will likely be the same when the clock hits zero on Sunday, but the extra buzz and huge sense of encouragement is undeniable. Here's what we'll be watching for from Maye and the Patriots when the rookie quarterback leads the team onto the field for the first time in his career.
Maye Day in New England
All anyone really cares about is the play of Drake Lee Maye. He's got the franchise and the fanbase excited for what could be, and the Patriots will finally start building toward something on Sunday.
We'll see how much -- if at all -- the playbook changes with Maye back there. The Pats will want to keep things simple for the rookie, and Rhamondre Stevenson missing the game won't help his cause.
But we'll get plenty of chances to see if the kid can make plays with his big arm and his athleticism. Expect a lot of shotgun, and a lot of improvising from Maye out of necessity. The Texans are going to send the pressure -- they sacked fellow rookie Caleb Williams seven times and picked him off twice back in Week 2 -- so Maye should have a lot of opportunities to go off script and try to make something out of nothing.
That alone will give Patriots fans a lot of excitement on Sunday. But just be prepared for a lot of mistakes and rookie errors. That's all part of the process. Maye's first NFL pass was nearly picked off in his brief Week 3 appearance against the Jets, and he's going up against a really good defense this weekend. It's not the ideal starting point for a 22-year-old rookie, but the Patriots felt that Maye was ready and the time was right to make a change.
A big key will be for the Patriots to not get down early -- or at least not get down by a really silly number early -- and give the kid a chance. An early deficit will put Maye in a lot of obvious passing situations, and that's when the Texans will really start to send the heat.
Maye worked hard to get to this point. He made the adjustments to address his footwork issues in practice, and the hope is he won't revert back to any bad habits in the face of all the pressure he's going to see on Sunday. And he's going to see a lot of pressure from the Texans.
More progress from the Patriots' O-Line?
Maye is being thrown out there against a talented Houston defense that gets after the quarterback more than any other team in the NFL. And he'll be playing behind one of the most worrisome offensive lines in the NFL.
But at least it should be the same offensive line that played last weekend, which would be the first time this season that the Patriots start the same line in consecutive weeks. And the group we saw last week -- from left to right: Vederian Lowe, Michael Jordan, Nick Leverett, Michael Onwenu, and Demontrey Jacobs -- wasn't that bad. The group allowed pressure on 43.8% of Jacoby Brissett's dropbacks, which was actually a season-low for New England this season.
Let's see if some continuity among that group along with Maye's athleticism can keep the Texans pass rush from completely ruining the rookie's first career start on Sunday. That won't be an easy thing to prevent though, with Houston coming off a pretty dominant performance against the Bills that saw Josh Allen running for his life (he took nine hits) and throw for just 131 yards in Week 5.
How much will New England receivers benefit from having Maye at quarterback?
With Maye at QB, the deep ball will be back on the table for the Patriots. New England receivers have to be pumped.
The kid can throw a beautiful ball downfield and he loves to let it loose. Let's see if that means great things for guys like Ja'Lynn Polk, Kendrick Bourne, and even Kayshon Boutte (coming off his best overall game last week) on Sunday. The hope is that Maye will elevate the play of his receivers, and those receivers will actually have good deep passes heading their way if they blow by opposing secondaries.
But seeing as Maye is a 22-year-old rookie starting his first career game, he's probably going to rely heavily on DeMario Douglas with quick passes. Expect a big day from Douglas, which could help the rest of the offense pop in Week 6.
C.J. Stroud is really good and a lot of fun to watch
Patriots fans are probably sick of seeing opposing quarterbacks light up the Patriots. But C.J. Stroud is one of those quarterbacks you watch and say "Wow" a dozen or so times a game.
Stroud established himself as one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL last season, throwing for over 4,100 yards, 23 touchdowns, and just five interceptions on his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He's off to another great start this year and continues to display the total package with a big arm and great mobility, Stroud can do it all, which is what the Patriots hope they have in Maye.
Stroud won't have Nico Collins (one of the best receivers in the NFL) to throw to on Sunday, but he still has Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs in his arsenal. The Houston offense hasn't hit its stride yet, so maybe the Patriots can keep them from really lighting up the scoreboard. But if the New England defense lets up at any point, Stroud is going to make them pay in a big way.
BONUS: Will the Patriots clean things up?
The Patriots were flagged 14 times last weekend, and a dozen of those penalties were accepted by the Dolphins. Those infractions varied from the questionable variety -- like Leverett's false start for barely moving the football pre-snap -- to the infuriating kind. Having 12 men on the field for a Miami punt and Keion White's roughing the passer on a third down (negating a New England stop) fit into the latter category. Christian Elliss' DPI, which negated a third-and-13 stop by the defense in the fourth quarter, gets its own category as the worst of all the team's penalties, and proved to be the true back-breaker in the loss, leading to Miami's go-ahead touchdown.
No matter the quarterback play, no team is going to win after forcing that much laundry to hit the field. Hopefully the Patriots play a much cleaner game on Sunday and keep the refs out of this one.
Tune in to Patriots-Texans on WBZ-TV -- your television home of the New England Patriots! Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), kickoff is set for 1 p.m., and after the game stick around for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!