It's been three years since the Texans took the field to face the New England Patriots in the regular season and a whopping six since the Texans have traveled to the House of Horrors that is Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. It's a place the Texans have never won in the regular season but things have changed a bit recently, which gives me hope that the result can change too.
It's the Texans who have the 4-1 record. It's the Texans who have a wunderkind at QB. It's the Texans who beat the Bills last week at NRG Stadium. But, it's STILL the Patriots even if Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and Gronk are drinking mai tais on the beach every week. Okay, they're not drinking mai tais, but they're just not on the field, like they were the last time the Texans faced the Patriots in Gillette in 2018.
For the first time in the 2024 season, the Patriots will start rookie QB Drake Maye. The last time a rookie started for the Patriots against the Texans, Mac Jones led the 2021 Patriots to a win over the Texans at NRG Stadium. But, the last time the Texans faced a rookie QB, the defense sacked #1 overall QB Caleb Williams seven times on national television on SNF in Week 2 of this season. But the Pats have to rip the band-aid off and let the talented Maye dive in head-first against this Texans defense. We'll find out soon if that's a good strategy or not.
So, yeah, it's time to finally get one in Gillette, but Maye and company aren't going to make this one easy. Not in the slightest. As such, let's get to Know the Texans' Week 6 Foe - the New England Patriots.
New England Patriots 2024 Schedule (1-4)
Week 1 - W @ Cincinnati Bengals
Week 2 - L Seattle Seahawks 23-20
Week 3 - L @ New York Jets 24-3
Week 4 - L @ San Francisco 49ers 30-13
Week 5 - L Miami Dolphins 15-10
Week 6 - Houston Texans
Week 7 - @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 8 - New York Jets
Week 9 - @ Tennessee Titans
Week 10 - @ Chicago Bears
Week 11 - Los Angeles Rams
Week 12 - @ Miami Dolphins
Week 13 - Indianapolis Colts
Week 14 - BYE
Week 15 - @ Arizona Cardinals
Week 16 - @ Buffalo Bills
Week 17 - Los Angeles Chargers
Week 18 - Buffalo Bills
Patriots OFFENSE (in 2024 regular season)
Rushing Yards Per game - 131.4 ypg (8th in the NFL)
Passing Yards Per game - 119.4 ypg (32nd)
Total offense per game - 250.8 ypg (31st)
Turnovers lost - 4 (1 INT, 3 Fumbles lost)
Expected Patriots starting offense for Week 6
QB - DRAKE MAYE
RB - Rhamondre Stevenson
WR - JA'LYNN POLK
WR - DeMario 'Pop' Douglas
WR - Kendrick Bourne
TE - Hunter Henry
LT - Vederian Lowe
LG - MICHAEL JORDAN
C - NICK LEVERETT
RG - Mike Onwenu
RT - DEMONTREY JACOBS
Other Key Offensive pieces
RB - ANTONIO GIBSON
TE - AUSTIN HOOPER
WR - K.J. OSBORN (injury consideration)
QB - JACOBY BRISSETT
Italics - Rookie
ALL CAPS - New to team in 2024
Keys to winning v. the Bills Offense
- The Time is Now- On Monday of this week, I said to Marc "I think it's going to be (rookie QB Drake) Maye. I don't know anything from nothing, but I just have a feeling, reading the tea leaves, that's the way this thing is going on Sunday." Tuesday around lunchtime, I was made correct as the Patriots named Maye the starting QB for Sunday's contest against the Texans. He had some mop-up duty in the Pats' loss to the Jets, but the only extended professional work he's had was in the preseason. I was impressed with how he adapted to not having much help from his OL in the Pats' preseason game against Washington. So in some sense, we have to go back to his days at North Carolina to get a read on the youngster from Charlotte, NC. Here's my scouting report for Maye from this past draft.
Last year, no one really knew what to expect from Maye as a first-year starter replacing legendary Sam Howell. He made people forget about Howell right quick. Great vision and feel for the position. Quick release. High RPMs. Touch. Accurate. Did struggle down the stretch of the 2022 season, but he's a gamer, a North Carolina lifer.
- Guts and a gamer
- Deep accuracy outside the numbers
- Completed passes in some of the most unique ways, threw bad passes in some of the most unique ways too
- Creative passer but holds it a bit too long at times
- Sees throwing lanes that weren't even lanes on occasion
- ¾ throwing motion, not unusual for 6-5 QB.
Player Comp - Packers QB Jordan Love
Yeah, my comp for him can be scary, but remember Love struggled in spot starts of Aaron Rodgers when he was a rookie. The Texans have to make life miserable for Maye. Against the only other rookie the Texans have faced this season, the defense blitzed Caleb Williams all night long and forced him to adapt on the fly. He didn't. Here's hoping that Maye's first action as a starter has a similar result.
- Unleash a Can of WhoopA--- When I wrote my NFL Draft Guide this past spring, I wrote up each NFL team and when I got to the Patriots, I cringed when I looked at the projected offensive line. I knew they were going to draft Maye, but it was easy to see that they desperately needed OL to help Maye and Jacoby Brissett. So GM Eliot Wolf drafted two OL in the third round and fourth round, respectively - Penn State OT Caeden Wallace and Texas A&M OG Layden Robinson. I remembered thinking that if you put Wallace and Robinson with veterans David Andrews and Cole Strange, among others, it could be a capable OL, a good start to the overall OL construction. But, Wallace, Andrews and Strange ended up on IR, as did key backups Chukwuma Okorafor and Jake Andrews. All of those injuries have left a skeleton unit up front and the Texans have to not only dominate but OVERWHELM this OL throughout the game to disrupt any run game consistency and pass game protection for Maye. If the Texans DL can't/don't, it's going to be a miserable flight back home from Massachusetts.
- Pop Goes the Douglas- When the Patriots drafted DeMario 'Pop' Douglas in 2023, I remember thinking that he was going to be a key cog in the offensive machine before too long. If any team in the NFL knows what a quality slot WR looks like, it's the Patriots. Now, he did play more snaps on the perimeter last week against the Dolphins, but he still spends a ton of time on the inside. What worries me about the sudden/quick Douglas is that when the Texans went man-to-man on Jaguars WR Christian Kirk, the interior cover guys struggled with his change of direction and route running. Douglas can present similar issues, so the Texans must have a plan for the Patriots most dynamic wide receiver.
Patriots DEFENSE (in 2024 regular season)
Rushing Yards Allowed Per game - 118.0 ypg (13th in the NFL)
Passing Yards Allowed Per game - 239.0 ypg (25th)
Total offense Allowed per game - 357.0 ypg (24th)
Turnovers generated - 6 (2 INT, 4 Fumbles recovered - Patriots are +2 in TO margin)
Expected Patriots starting defense for Week 6
DE - Keion White
DT - Davon Godchaux
DT - Daniel Ekuale
OLB - Anfernee Jennings
LB - Raekwon McMillan
LB - Jahlani Tavai
CB - Jonathan Jones
Nickel - Marcus Jones
S - Kyle Dugger or Marte Mapu
S - JAYLINN HAWKINS
CB - Christian Gonzalez
Other Key Defensive pieces
DE - Deatrich Wise Jr.
DT - JAQUELIN ROY
DT - ERIC JOHNSON
OLB - Josh Uche
LB - Christian Elliss
CB - Marco Wilson
S - DELL PETTUS
Italics - Rookie
ALL CAPS - New to team in 2024
Keys to winning v. the Patriots Defense
- No Nico, No problem?- On the signature play of the win over the Buffalo Bills, star WR Nico Collins injured his hamstring on a 67-yard BOMB from C.J. Stroud. He left the game and will now miss, at least, the next four as he was placed on IR on Wednesday morning. It''s a problem. There's no way to put a positive spin on Nico being out. But can the Texans offense evolve into a different type of machine on Sunday without Nico? That's what the great offenses do. Open the Chopped basket of availability and figure out what to do. There's still a Stefon and a Tank and an X and two very capable tight ends, lest I forget the best young QB in the league at the moment, Mr. C.J. Stroud. How does this offense adapt and overcome? Part of it has to be improvement in the run game, while they just need to polish up some things in the passing game and the Machine will keep rocking.
- Smooth- The challenge for the Texans pass-catchers, though, is a stark one because one of the best matchup corners in the AFC is waiting on the Patriots sideline. The Pats missed second year Christian Gonzalez in his rookie campaign, but he's the best cover guy in the Patriots secondary. I expect him to travel in this game even with Nico on IR, perhaps it's Stefon Diggs, perhaps it's Tank Dell, but Gonzalez is ready for any challenge. He traveled with Ja'Marr Chase in key situations, same with D.K. Metcalf. Yeah, he's that smooth and that good. He has tremendous feet and excellent transitional quickness. He can create a ton of issues for the Texans passing game with his cover ability.
- Oh my Godchaux- I saw Patriots DT Davon Godchaux nine years ago for the first time. He was a member of the LSU Tigers defense facing a young man named Mahomes in the Texas Bowl. I was blown away by his compact, powerful build, but his first step was that of a man 75-lb lighter! He's a handful because of his power, but it's his feet that makes him really difficult to block. The Texans struggled a bit with Bills rookie DT DeWayne Carter last week and Godchaux is a seasoned veteran version of Carter. The Patriots will change fronts a bunch, which allows Godchaux to move around a bit within said scheme to get loose against the Texans offensive front. But he's strong as an ox and the Texans have to control him in the middle to get the run game going.
