With the Patriots coming off a loss to the Texans this week, it's a moral victory Monday for New England's offense thanks to rookie quarterback Drake Maye's encouraging performance.

Maye and the Patriots new regime will soon be graded on wins and losses. However, as head coach Jerod Mayo said before training camp began, the 2024 season is about laying a foundation for the future. On Sunday, we saw the main character in New England's future lead the Pats offense to season highs in points (21), passing yards (243) and passing touchdowns (3). Although it came in a loss, Maye's tape from the loss to Houston was promising.

Starting with the game plan, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt made Maye comfortable with a solid script. Van Pelt only put Maye under center on 12 plays (19%), with seven play-action drop-backs, eight run-pass options, and spread concepts aimed to give Maye a clear picture of the defensive structure. As a result, Maye already began taking down the blueprint that was the offense's kryptonite in the first five weeks.

Heading into Week 6, the Patriots were seeing a single-high safety defense at the third-highest rate in the NFL (48.5%). New England was also seeing cover-one (man) at the highest rate in the league (35.5%), while former starter Jacoby Brissett was seeing a 35.1% blitz rate (ninth-highest in the NFL). By playing single-high structures, defenses can get more bodies in the box to stop the run and blitz the quarterback. That combination has stifled the Pats run game while New England struggled to find answers against man-blitz schemes.

On Sunday, Maye began making the Texans defense pay for playing man coverage and blitzing the Patriots rookie quarterback. With the Texans playing man coverage 13 times, Maye was 6-of-12 for 110 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception vs. man schemes. The 110 passing yards and 9.2 yards per pass attempt were both season highs for New England.

Along with making big plays against man coverage, Maye also performed well against the blitz. Houston blitzed the third-overall pick 11 times and here was Maye's numbers: 6-of-10, 113 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. His 11.3 yards per pass attempt vs. the blitz was once again a season-high for the Patriots, as was his 99.2 passer rating. Furthermore, the Pats produced a season-low 33.3% pressure rate allowed despite sustaining another in-game injury to a starter on the O-Line (Lowe).

Ultimately, Maye will face more exotic defenses than the Texans. Houston might've taken the rookie and his receivers lightly, thinking the same old plan of playing man coverage while bringing pressure would shut down the Pats passing game. That said, the most encouraging thing was how sharp Maye's decision-making and reads were on film.

By my count, Maye registered 12 'plus' plays to nine 'minus' plays. It's encouraging that he had a positive net rating, but even more so was the fact that only three of his nine minus plays were decisions. Maye's downfield accuracy, especially to the intermediate level, where he was 4-of-9 with a pick on a high throw over the middle, is a work in progress.

However, as we said during draft season, Maye's eyes are consistently in the right places. He sees the field well, has the arm talent to make every throw, and adds mobility/off-script playmaking. I'd rather have a quarterback who needs to fine-tune his mechanics to be more consistently accurate than a quarterback who doesn't know what he's seeing or doesn't have NFL-caliber physical tools. Maye is the former, which is why I've been so bullish on him.

Although it's premature to start fitting him for a red jacket, Maye's first career start had several high-level flashes and even some nuance for the QB gurus on the film. For him, it's all about learning from mistakes and building on the good habits. As for the team, the Patriots got themselves a quarterback: build around Maye and prosper.

Here is a breakdown of the Patriots defense and quick-hit film notes from the loss to the Texans After Further Review:

Patriots Defense Review: Dissecting the Pats Schemed Pressures and Run Defense

While the strides made by the offense with rookie QB Drake Maye is the main story, the Patriots defense has some work to do after allowing a season-high 41 points on Sunday.

Following Sunday's loss, veteran defender Davon Godchaux urged players to take accountability in eliminating self-inflicted wounds. After reviewing the tape, Godchaux had a point. Although the opponent deserves some credit, the major breakdowns by the Pats defense could've been avoided. Here's more from Godchaux:

"It's frustrating because the fans, the world, doesn't know it's self-inflicted. But we watched the film. We were like, man, look, this is easy to fix. In practice, we were here. But in the game, we weren't," Godchaux said. "We're going to keep saying each and every game, 'Oh, my bad. My bad. This is my bad.' Take accountability."

Starting with the explosive runs, the Texans had two 50-plus yarders, with a 59-yard run occurring while the game was still up for grabs, with the Patriots down 14-0 in the first half.

We are not in the meeting rooms or on the field, so it's impossible to know for sure. However, based on what is on the film, the first thing that stands out about Texans RB Joe Mixon's 59-yarder is the Pats defense's alignment. Despite the Texans having three extra blockers, including both tight ends, outside the left tackle, the Pats front is tilted toward the weak side of the formation, giving Houston the numbers advantage.

As the play rolls, the Texans ran a "wham" scheme where the tight end blocks NT Davon Godchaux at an angle, allowing LG Kenyon Green to put himself through to the second level immediately: this is simple hat-on-a-hat football, with four-on-four to the play side. LB Raekwon McMillan tries to backdoor Green's block but gets caught, and Mixon is gone.

Along with breakdowns in the run game, the Patriots pressure schemes aren't getting home with as much regularity. Last season, the Pats generated unblocked pressures on a league-high 9.8% of their defensive passing plays. This season, those scheme-created free runners have dried up. New England ranks 26th in unblocked pressure rate at 5.5% through six games.

For example, the Patriots run a simulated pressure here. With five defenders on the line, pass-rusher Joshua Uche drops out of the rush off the right side. The idea is to get the line to slide toward the four rushers on the line, freeing up a lane for S/LB Marte Mapu's blitz. Instead, Houston blocks it up well with the back taking Mapu, which gives Texans QB C.J. Stroud just enough time to make a great anticipatory throw to WR Stefon Diggs.

The Patriots also like to run creeper schemes where they play a standard defensive shell but blitz an unexpected rusher and drop a player on the line of scrimmage into coverage.

In this play, New England drops edge defender Anfernee Jennings off the line over the right tackle and blitz LB Sione Takitaki from the second level. Unfortunately, the scheme doesn't fool the Texans, as the left side of Houston's line sniffs out the pressure to protect Stroud. Stroud then has time in the pocket to find Diggs for a 12-yard gain.

Here is another example of a creeper blitz. This time, the Pats send two off-ball blitzers, anticipating the back will stay in the protection again. The idea is to 2-on-1 the back by getting to a unique four-man rush where the edges drop out and the off-ball defenders blitz. Unlike the third-down sim pressure above, the Pats want to overload the protection. However, the back releases into the flat on this play, and the Patriots leave Mixon uncovered for 20 yards.

Houston deserves credit for making plays. The Texans have an elite quarterback and great playmakers, especially at wide receiver with Diggs and Tank Dell. Still, we've seen the schemes the Patriots are running work in the past. Above, the Pats ran the same pressure they brought on the third-down completion to Diggs. In this instance, Mapu's blitz gets home for a sack.

Whether it's schematic tweaks or better execution, the foundation is there for the Patriots to improve on defense. The coaches might do a self-scout to determine why their schemed pressures are being sniffed out while the players are already speaking about accountability for their part.

Although they've lost key contributors to injuries, the Patriots are too talented on defense to be ranked 29th in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) through six games.

Quick-Hit Film Notes From the Patriots Loss to the Texans

Offense

- WR Pop Douglas was excellent, with a career-high 92 receiving yards and his first career TD. Douglas caught three catches for 59 yards and a score vs. man coverage. He was also open on the Boutte touchdown, Maye's first interception, and another third-down crosser that Maye missed. Whether it was Eric Murray or Jalen Pitre, the Texans nickel corners could not cover Douglas in press-man. His separation ability was electric.

- WR Kayshon Boutte showed great long speed to pull away late from Texans CB Derek Stingley on his 40-yard touchdown. Boutte also ran a nice corner route for a 13-yard gain. Boutte's run blocking and vertical routes as an outside receiver have earned him a larger role. Kudos to him for continuing to push behind the scenes for playing time. He's playing well.

- TE Hunter Henry has a knack for uncovering when the quarterback goes off-script. He has done it with every Pats QB, but now he has Maye, who will take that to the next level. He did a really nice job working himself open off his initial stick route on the 30-yard gain.

- RB Antonio Gibson converted two third downs and ran a good pick-flat in the red zone. However, he only had one successful run and five stuffs. Most of that was on the blocking, but Gibson did bounce a duo run early when he probably should've followed the interior blocking.

- WR Kendrick Bourne continues to work his way back from a torn ACL last October. Bourne was targeted on a screen and an out on his 34 snaps (54%). His role will likely increase soon.

- WR Ja'Lynn Polk had two high-leverage drops in the two-minute drill before the half and on a third down play in the fourth quarter. Both targets would've been first downs. Polk was also open for a deep target on a go route when Maye targeted Douglas on his first interception. Coach Mayo on Polk: "he needs to get over the mental hump."

- With several injuries along the O-Line, the Patriots run blocking was inconsistent. They struggled with coming off combo blocks to pick up second-level penetrators, blocking the backside on power/trap schemes, falling off movement/climb blocks, and getting split on their doubles. Look, they have a new five out there, seemingly quarter-to-quarter.

- RT Trey Jacobs spoke to Patriots.com last week about getting out of his stance quicker to cut off the corner. That seems to be the main reason for the pressures he's allowing, which come when rushers turn his corner and get underneath his outside hand. Jacobs has good length and a strong two-hand punch, but it's hit or miss when he vertical sets.

- C Ben Brown has likely earned another start with a clean sheet and only one error in the run game on a pin-pull scheme. Brown only had a 31% one-on-one rate, so Houston didn't test him much. We'll see if he gets targeted by the Jags next week.

- LT Zach Thomas hung in there while replacing starter Vederian Lowe (ankle). Thomas had some issues as a smaller tackle with power and was beaten inside by Will Anderson on a sack. However, he has decent quickness out of his stance to cut off the corner.

- QB Pressures: Jacobs (two sacks, hit, hurry), Thomas (sack, two hurries), Onwenu (two hits, hurry), Jordan (two hurries), Lowe (hurry), Brown/Sow (clean sheets).

Defense

- CB Christian Gonzalez admitted that "I ain't feel like I played too well" following Sunday's loss. He had some tough assignments vs. Texans WR Stefon Diggs. Gonzalez lined up over Diggs 11 times, allowing four catches for 39 yards and a TD. He allowed a third-down conversion and the red-zone score. Diggs also beat him on a double move, but the rush got home on the Mapu/Ellis sack. It was a tough matchup with several reps on an island with Diggs, one of the NFL's best receivers, and Gonzo did have a great rep to squeeze Diggs into the sideline on a go route. Plus, the numbers don't look all that bad: 8 targets, 6 catches, 44 yards, TD.

- EDGE Keion White had two impactful pressures in this game that saved big passing plays for Houston. First, White hurried Stroud into a throwaway when he had Diggs open on a flood concept (mentioned above), and his QB hit wiped out another likely conversion on third down (Q3, 5:30). Although he came off him late, White's QB hit was on old friend Shaq Mason using his two-hand swipe move. Those pressures were big plays for the defense.

- DT Jaquelin Roy has been a nice addition. Roy had a sack on an arm-over finisher for the second straight game and two run stuffs, including one on the goal line where he had great two-gapping technique. Roy can play both nose tackle and 3-4 end, giving the Pats some flexibility to move DT Davon Godchaux around in their base fronts. He's a solid player.

- NT Davon Godchaux led the Patriots with six run stuffs. He now leads all defensive linemen with 18 run stops on the season via PFF. Godchaux has been impossible to single-block, and his lateral movement has been really good this season against zone schemes. The run defense issues certainly aren't on him – the big guy needs help.

- CB Marcus Jones's second-quarter interception was good team defense in the backend. Stroud came to Schultz up the seam late and threw off-platform, which caused a slight underthrow. Although the ball wasn't great, it was textbook out-of-phase coverage by S Marte Mapu to drive the catch point without interfering. Then, Jones became a free player when he passed off a crosser to FS Kyle Dugger and did a nice job arriving on the scene to catch the deflection. Mapu was beaten initially up the seam by Schultz, but again, did really well to recover.

- The off-ball LB issues for the Pats continued in this game. The run fits from the second level have been inconsistent, with guys over-pursuing and ending up in the same lanes. The Pats base package is also having issues covering the middle of the field vs. play-action, especially in cover two zones (Diggs 26-yarder). Coach Mayo pointed out the run fit issues as well.

- CB Jonathan Jones also had a down game with three big completions allowed to Texans WR Tank Dell, all on in-breakers against man coverage. Marcus Jones also got beat by Dell on third down. The Pats played a season-high man coverage rate, and Dell was a problem.

- The 20-yard touchdown run by Mixon came on the same "wham" scheme as his previous 59-yard run. The 54-yard TD was an zone toss where there were three missed tackles.

- QB Pressures: Mapu (sack), Roy (sack), Elliss (sack, hurry), White (hit, two hurries), Jennings (hit, hurry), Godchaux (two hurries), Tavai (hurry), Uche (hurry), Wise (hurry). Run stuffs: Godchaux (6), Tavai (3), Roy (2), Dugger (2), Jennings (2), Elliss/White/Wise (1).

- Coverage: J. Jones (5/5/71 yards/TD), Gonzalez (8/6/44 yards/TD), Tavai (5/4/29 yards/TD), Uche (1/1/20 yards), M. Jones (3/2/14 yards/INT), McMillan (3/1/9 yards), Wilson (1/1/5 yards), Mapu (2/0/PBU), Hawkins (1/0).

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer