By Stephen Ur –
The New England Patriots hosted the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA on Sunday afternoon. A new era officially began in New England as first-round pick Drake Maye made his first career start in this game.
Houston got off to a fire start to this game as CJ Stroud threw two first quarter touchdowns, one going to running back Joe Mixon, and they held a 14-0 lead with 3:13 left in the opening quarter.
After Maye threw an interception on the next Patriots drive, Houston started at the Pats 27 yard line, but a 44-yard field goal was no good 30 seconds into the second quarter, and they came away empty-handed.
It wasn’t until there were just 11 seconds left in the half that the lead was cut in half as Maye threw his first NFL touchdown, a 40-yarder to Kayshon Boutte. Houston led 14-7 at halftime.
Maye got hit on the Patriots first drive and fumbled with the Texans recovering. Maye was slow to get up, but he would remain in the game. Houston would capitalize as Stroud found Steffon Diggs for his third touchdown pass, and they re-extended their league to 21-7.
Houston would kick two field goals before Maye threw his second touchdown of the afternoon, a six-yarder to Hunter Henry, to make it a 27-14 game after three.
The Patriots had a chance to make it a one-score, but Maye threw his second interception and Houston took advantage as Mixon scored his second touchdown of the game, this one from 20 yards out, and they extended their lead to 34-14. New England wouldn’t be able to complete a comeback and fell to 1-5 in the 41-28 loss.
New England will head to London for their next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Kickoff from London is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET.