John McClain, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, is in his 48th year of covering the NFL in Houston, including 45 seasons at the Houston Chronicle.
For the second time this season, the Texans are playing against a rookie quarterback. If they're able to treat the Patriots' Drake Maye as rudely as they treated the Bears' Caleb Williams, they should be able to win at New England for the first time in franchise history.
The Texans take a 4-1 record to Gillette Stadium, where they've lost in regular season and the playoffs. They have a two-game lead in the AFC South and the second-best conference record to unbeaten Kansas City. They play back-to-back road games against New England and Green Bay.
New England has a four-game losing streak. First-year Head Coach Jerod Mayo announced this week that Maye, the third overall pick from North Carolina, would replace Jacoby Brissett, a nine-year veteran who's played for five teams, including two times with New England.
Interestingly, Brissett was the last rookie quarterback to start against the Texans at Gillette Stadium. In the second game of the 2016 season, the third-round pick made his first start in place of the suspended Tom Brady and the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. The Patriots won 27-0.
Maye, 6-4, 223, is hoping to fare better than Williams, the first overall pick, when he played at NRG Stadium, where the Texans beat the Bears 19-13.
The Texans punished Williams, sacking him seven times and pressuring him on 81 percent of his 44 drop backs, including a combined 17 by ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. Anderson and Hunter combined for three sacks.
Williams finished with 174 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a 51.0 rating. He completed 62.2 percent, including 4.7 yards per attempt.
Head Coach DeMeco Ryans would like to see his defense play as well against Maye as it played against Williams.
"What I've seen is a young, athletic quarterback who has a live arm, can move around really well in the pocket (and) can escape the pressures," Ryans said this week about Maye. "Making that move (and) looking for a spark for their offense, he can provide it."
The Texans are fourth in defense (274.2-yard average), including 17th against the run (120.2) and third against the pass (154.0). They're going to be missing two injured starters in their secondary, safety Jimmie Ward and cornerback Kamari Lassiter.
Other than Minnesota's Sam Darnold, who threw four touchdown passes in the Texans' only defeat, the defense has been terrific. Including Darnold, the Texans have allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 47.4, 62.2, 60.7, 54.5 and 30 percent of their passes. They've allowed a 57.1 completion percentage, tied for first in the NFL.
The Texans are seventh in pressures, sixth in sack rate and first in blitz success rate. With Brissett as their starter, the Patriots are 32nd in pressure rate and 30th in sack rate because they have problems with injuries and performance in their offensive line.
Ryans was asked about playing against a first-time starter like Maye.
"It's really not about them," he said. "It's more about us. We'll play our defense. It won't change. We just have to execute."
The Texans have watched tape of Maye in college, preseason and coming off the bench. In his two seasons as North Carolina's starter, Maye threw 62 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.
"He can make all the reads go to the right spot," Ryans said. "He makes good decisions with the football.
"Defensively, there's a lot of unknown with this being his first start, so a lot of unknown for us. We just have to execute the details of our job the proper way."
Defensive coordinator Matt Burke has been studying Maye and what the Texans expect him to do. The coaches know the Patriots will try to run as much as possible to take pressure off the rookie starter. Running is what the Patriots do best. They're eighth with 131.4 yards a game. Passing is what they've done worst, averaging a league-low 119.4 yards a game.
"There's a reason he was drafted where he was," Burke said. "From a talent standpoint (he's) big, athletic, moves around pretty good, throws on the move and (has) a lot of arm talent.
"Obviously, a lot of unknowns, but just sort of trying to triangulate between what we see him do well on college tape and what they've done in the season so far with the structure of their offense. You see the talent jump off the tape for sure, but, as always, it's going to be about us executing what we want to execute."
In Sunday's 23-20 victory over Buffalo, the Texans limited Josh Allen to nine completions and a 30-percent success rate, worst in the league in 30 years for a quarterback with at least 30 attempts. And yet the Texans still struggled to win, needing Ka'imi Fairbairn's 59-yard field goal with no time remaining to escape with the victory.
New England's coaches can do things to help Maye build his confidence besides running the ball. He'll want to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible.
"There's a lot you can do," Burke said. "Obviously, varying protection schemes with chips, maxing up and doing different things. Moving the pocket. A lot of different teams will try to run screens and stuff like that to slow us down and make your rush hesitate a little bit.
"Quick throws, getting the ball out and having answers. Running the ball and keeping it in short and manageable situations where it's harder to get pressure. We have to be good on our early downs."
The defense also has to beware of Maye's running ability. In his two seasons as the North Carolina starter, he ran 296 times for 1,147 yards and 16 touchdowns. He reminds a lot of coaches of Allen.
"He (Maye) made a lot of plays outside the pocket," Burke said about Maye's college tape. "I think Josh is, obviously, elite and unique at it, but there are elements of that in his (Maye's) game just watching the college tape. It's definitely something on our mind.
"I feel like it's been every week we're having those conversations. We've been kind of prepping in that mindset for most of the season in terms of dealing with off-schedule plays and quarterbacks who can get outside the pocket. I do think that he's got enough of that element in his game that we need to be (aware) of it."
The Texans have played three quarterbacks who are dangerous runners, and they've beaten them all. But Anthony Richardson (Colts), Williams and Allen hurt them on the ground.
Richardson ran 6 times for 56 yards (9.3 average) and a touchdown. Williams led the Bears with 44 yards on five carries (8.8). Allen ran four times for 54 yards (13.5). It's interesting to note that each quarterback had a long run of 19 yards.
Asked if playing against three running quarterbacks so far should help the Texans against Maye, Burke said, "I hope so. I'll tell you on Sunday night."
With a first-time starter at quarterback, there's not a fear of the unknown. It's about being aware of what the Patriots may try to do when they enter this game 31st in offense and 32nd in passing.
The Texans will do everything they can to contain the run and get as much pressure as possible on Maye. The coaches would love to force a turnover or two or three because the Texans don't have a takeaway in three consecutive games.
"With the structure of their offense, I'd be pretty shocked if they start running things we've never seen," Burke said. "The sort of unknown is okay (as far as) what do they like him doing specifically, what is he good at, what throws does he like to make, where does he like to set up in the pocket and all those types of things."
C.J. Stroud, who'll be playing for the first time this season without the injured Nico Collins, has been impressed with Maye ever since he heard about the quarterback in college.
"I like his versatility," Stroud said. "He's very athletic. He steps up into the pocket really well. He runs when he has to and not when he just feels like it. He gets the ball out in time, really elite accuracy. I'm excited for him in his first start. I'm looking forward to matching up against him."
When asked if he has any advice for Maye on making his first start, Stroud said, "Not this week. I'm rooting him on. I hope he does good (but) not against us."
