A sloppy all-around effort led to the New England Patriots falling in defeat to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The offense was much more threatening with rookie quarterback Drake Maye under center as the starter for the first time, but too many turnovers and a complete defensive collapse led to New England’s fifth straight loss.
An ugly performance against a legitimate playoff contender like the Texans isn’t shocking. The Patriots are a rebuilding team starting a rookie quarterback behind a bad offensive line. Their rookie exceeded expectations with an impressive debut against an elite defense. So this isn’t the sort of performance the Patriots should hang their heads over.
Quite the contrary, they should feel encouraged by what they saw from the offense and their young quarterback.