The Patriots will host the 4-1 Texans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
The Drake Maye era is upon us. On Sunday, the third overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft will make his much-anticipated debut as New England Patriots starting quarterback.
With the team at 1-4 and their season beginning to slip from its grasp, Maye will lead the troops into battle over previous starter Jacoby Brissett. Standing in his, and the Patriots’ way, is a Houston Texans squad that won four of its first five games this year.
In order for New England to beat the Texans and end its league-worst four-game losing streak, Maye is not the only player who will need to come up in a big way.
X-factor: QB Drake Maye
For head coach Jerod Mayo, it all comes down to one simple aspect: “Drake gives us the best chance to win now and going forward,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday.
While the decision to start Maye over Brissett is more nuanced than Mayo presented it to be in that particular statement, the end result remains the same regardless of the organization’s primary motivation: the rookie will start on Sunday, and as such have a big impact on New England’s fortunes in Week 6.
For the 22-year-old, the bar to clear is relatively low considering the Patriots’ offensive struggles over the first five games of the season. Nonetheless, the team is counting on him to elevate the unit around him in a way that Brissett has failed to.
How will he try to do that, though?
“The biggest thing is me playing on time, playing in rhythm, and trusting the guys around me,” Maye explained on Wednesday. “I think the game plan is not going to change. Obviously, you got a rookie quarterback going out there, but at the same time, what we do on offense is what we do on offense.”
That offense continued to remain stuck in the mud with Brissett leading the charge. And while not all the blame for that falls on the 31-year-old, the Patriots have made it clear that the biggest single fix is making a move at quarterback. As a result of that, Maye is now the ultimate X-factor — both this week, and when it comes to the franchise’s long term outlook.
Other X-factors this week
RB Antonio Gibson: Rhamondre Stevenson’s status for Friday is unclear after he missed the first two days of practice due to the foot injury he suffered against Miami. Even if the nominal RB1 is able to go, Gibson should play a prominent role in New England’s offense: he has proven himself a dynamic and productive runner, and also a reliable receiving option out of the backfield and on screen plays. The Patriots will try to protect Drake Maye as well as they can, meaning that Gibson could be a big part of their plans.
WR Ja’Lynn Polk: With DeMario Douglas sliding into more of a specialized role, and with Kendrick Bourne not yet at a 100 percent, the expectation is that Polk will once again serve as New England’s No. 1 wide receiver on Sunday. For the second-round rookie, the goal is simple: if he continues to do what he did the last two weeks in terms of generating separation, he should be alright as a top target. The hope, of course, is that Maye — unlike Brissett — will be able to get the ball to him on a more consistent basis.
C Nick Leverett: The Patriots are expected to start the same offensive line in back-to-back weeks for the first time all season. Considering how the unit fared last week, that is a promising development considering who will line up under center. That center spot, however, remains a concern: in his first game filling in for David Andrews, Nick Leverett surrendered 10 quarterback pressures and at times looked non-competitive in pass protection. New England needs better than that if it wants to properly support Maye in his first start.
Four-man pass rush: Sophomore quarterback C.J. Stroud is off to a promising start. While the Texans are ranked only 19th in scoring with an average of 20.4 points a game, he has played some good football and is capable of putting significant pressure on defenses. Pressure will be a key word for New England as well — especially with four players: Stroud has a higher completion percentage (74.0 vs. 66.9) and better yards per attempt (7.9 vs. 7.8) when blitzed versus four-man looks. Disrupting his rhythm without employing additional rushers would go a long way toward New England’s defense putting itself in a successful spot.
S Marte Mapu: The Patriots will be without Jabrill Peppers for the foreseeable future, and Kyle Dugger’s outlook coming off an ankle injury is also uncertain. As a consequence, the team will likely rely heavily on its non-starting safeties again on Sunday. Mapu stands out among them: after not leaving the field in his season debut and serving as defensive signal caller, he once again is expected to play a big role as both a starter-level box defender capable of lining up all over the formation, and a key communicator on the second and third levels.