Let’s do this report card-style.

That tired, cliché analysis that cuts right to what you want to know.

What grade does Drake Maye deserve for his starting debut Sunday?

A solid A-minus.

There’s the obvious — three touchdowns and a season-high 21 points scored against a high-pressure Houston defense — plus, subtle context and a rookie curve.

Maye took a Swiss Army Knife into a gunfight against the Texans and not only survived, but thrived for stretches. Despite facing pressure on 40.4% of his dropbacks and working without a running game, he passed for more yards than any Patriots quarterback had in nearly a calendar year.

He beat the blitz. He extended plays. He lasered completions to beat tight man coverage.

Maye did commit a couple of killer mistakes, namely his overthrown interception in the first quarter (the second pick wasn’t his fault) and fumble while getting strip-sacked in the third. A closer look at his film also revealed familiar bugs in his game — missing a couple layup throws and inconsistent footwork — but Maye’s features are strong.

He’s strong-armed, mobile and creative, a modern prototype for the modern game. It took Maye less than 30 minutes to complete as many touchdown passes with 35-plus air yards as Mac Jones had as a Patriot. Thanks to his traits, and the mental toughness Maye displayed getting up from four sacks and four extra hits, it’s a whole new world in Foxboro.

The Patriots are not running a stink-and-dunk offense any longer. But what must they do to better support Maye, as Jerod Mayo pledged on Monday?

Here’s what else the film revealed about the Pats’ latest loss:

Drake Maye

20-of-33 for 243 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looks to pass during the 1st quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Accurate throw percentage: 70%

Under pressure: 7-of-11 for 90 yards, 4 sacks, 12 rushing yards

Against the blitz: 6-of-12 for 113 yards, 2 TDs, INT, 11 rushing yards

Behind the line: 2-of-4 for 10 yards, INT

0-9 yards downfield: 13-of-16 for 98 yards, TD

10-19 yards downfield: 4-of-9 for 95 yards, TD, INT

20+ yards downfield: 1-of-1 for 40 yards, TD

Notes: Maye overcame some predictable nerves in the first half, when the Patriots opened with a three-and-out and his interception, then mustered just three first downs over their next three drives. Unable to run the ball as Houston staked an early 14-0 lead, the Pats foisted all their hopes on Maye’s shoulders with less than a minute left before halftime.

He delivered.

Maye kick-started that two-minute drill with one of his best plays of the game. He made a full-field progression read that pulled Maye back to his right, where he whipped a 22-yard completion to DeMario Douglas while absorbing a hit in a closing pocket. On that play alone, Maye flashed processing, toughness and an ability to throw off-platform. He targeted Douglas twice more on that drive and picked up two more first downs, wisely setting up his first career touchdown pass.

Maye’s 40-yard touchdown to Kayshon Boutte beat another blitz. Thanks to some outstanding protection — including a Hunter Henry chip to help right tackle Demontrey Jacobs versus Pro Bowl pass-rusher Danielle Hunter — Maye had time and space to launch a pinpoint ball to the end zone. This was Maye at his best.

In the second half, he repeatedly turned to Douglas to beat man coverage, and especially man-blitzes. The two connected for a 35-yard touchdown, and Maye never took a sack against extra pressure. The third-quarter strip sack should cause the Patriots’ coaches to emphasize ball security moving forward, and his sloppy footwork popped up on the first interception, plus a bad misfire to Austin Hooper in the second quarter and JaMycal Hasty on a hitch route in the fourth.

But all in all, given his surrounding talent, resilience against pressure and consistent processing, great job, kid.

Critical areas

Turnovers: Patriots 4, Texans 1

Explosive play rate: Patriots 7.9%, Texans 9.7%

Success rate: Patriots 38.1%, Texans 34.8%

Red-zone efficiency: Patriots 1-1, Texans 3-3

Defensive pressure rate: Patriots 35.2%, Texans 40.4%

Offense

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots’ DeMario Douglas celebrates his touchdown with K.J. Osborn, Kayshon Boutte and Drake Maye during the 4th quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 64% of snaps in 11 personnel, 35% snaps in 12 personnel, 1% snaps in 21H personnel.***

Personnel production: 36.5% success rate in 11 personnel, 41% success rate in 12 personnel, 100% success rate in 21H personnel.

First-down down play-calls: 54% run (33% success rate), 46% pass (61.5% success rate)

Play-action rate: 16.7%

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt authored a solid game plan for Maye, opening with three play-action passes on his first five dropbacks to simplify his reads and create throwing lanes. He also put Maye on the move to steer him away from Houston’s pressure, which only reached Maye twice in the Pats’ first four possessions. Overall, the Pats finished with a 62.5% success rate when passing on first down, a sign of effective play-calling against basic, early-down defensive looks.

But Van Pelt had three problems: the Patriots couldn’t run the ball, fell behind and the offensive line lost more starters to injury. The Patriots finished with two waiver claims — Demontrey Jacobs and Zach Thomas — at offensive tackle. That limited Van Pelt’s ability to call passing plays with five-man protections, because when tight ends or running backs weren’t chipping to help Jacobs and Thomas, Maye got sacked.

One lasting criticism: too many isolation routes. For a coordinator and play-caller with a lackluster receiving corps, too often the Patriots’ wideouts are being asked to win 1-on-1 without scheme help. This partly explains why the Texans, who run a zone-based defense, felt comfortable calling man-to-man on 40% of Maye’s dropbacks before garbage time.

Houston’s message: we’ve got the horses, and you don’t. Maye finished 6-of-11 for 113 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, plus 11 rushing yards versus man-to-man.

Player stats

Broken tackles: RB Antonio Gibson 5, QB Drake Maye, RB JaMycal Hasty, WR DeMario Douglas, TE Hunter Henry, TE Austin Hooper

Pressure allowed: Team 5 (4 hurries, QB hit), RT Demontrey Jacobs 4 (2 sacks, 2 QB hits), LT Zach Thomas 3 (2 sacks, hurry), QB Drake Maye 1 (QB hit), RB Terrell Jennings 1 (QB hit), LT Vederian Lowe 1 (hurry), LG Michael Jordan 1 (hurry), C Ben Brown 1 (hurry)

Run stuffs allowed: RG Mike Onwenu 2, Team 2, Jacobs, Thomas

Drops: WR Ja’Lynn Polk 2

Notes

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson is tackled during the 3rd quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

The Patriots averaged 2.1 yard per carry on designed runs. That, more than anything, captures their offensive struggles Sunday.
A run-based offense cannot survive like that, and the Texans overwhelmed the Patriots up front.
Right guard Mike Onwenu especially disappointed, surrendering a team-worst two run-stuffs, while right tackle Demontrey Jacobs was a leaky faucet in pass protection with five allowed pressures.
The absence of Rhamondre Stevenson wasn’t to blame for the rushing woes, either. Sure, he may have picked a few more yards, but Antonio Gibson exceeded Stevenson’s per-game average for broken tackles, and gained 33 rushing yards after contact. He finished with 19 total.
Alex Van Pelt called the Pats’ most effective staple schemes — outside zone, inside zone and duo — and nothing could jump-start their rushing attack.
The Pats’ most effective run plays were Drake Maye scrambles, which highlights a major difference for this offense now that he’s replaced Jacoby Brissett: passing plays aren’t dead once the receivers are covered.
Maye averaged 8.5 yards per extended play, including his 30-yard catch-and-run with Hunter Henry in the third quarter. He also tossed a couple incompletions.

DeMario Douglas, until proven otherwise, is Maye’s No. 1 receiver. He not only piled up a team-best 92 receiving yards, but Maye targeted him seven times in critical situations (defined as third downs, red-zone snaps and during two-minute drills).
Douglas, however, brings us to an identity crisis for the Patriots. Overall, their efficiency numbers paint an offense that operates best with two tight ends. But when Van Pelt deploys these 12 personnel packages, Douglas comes off the field.
That explains how he, the Patriots’ best receiver, played fewer snaps than Kayshon Boutte and Ja’Lynn Polk against the Texans.
From this view, the Pats cannot afford to take Douglas, their only threat versus man-to-man coverage, off the field. He is too vital to their passing game, even as Boutte ascends the depth chart.

So, Van Pelt must either commit to playing Douglas more in two-tight end personnel or extract better efficiency from his three-receiver sets (11 personnel). Of note: the Pats produced a sad 33% success rate when rushing from 11 personnel Sunday, and took all four sacks from that grouping.
Polk also needs to bounce back. He ranks near the bottom of the league by separation and yards after the catch, per Next Gen Stats.

Defense

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo walks pas an official during the 4th quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 33% base defense, 26% three-corner nickel package, 20% three-safety nickel, 20% dime, 1% goal-line.****

Coverage breakdown: 56% zone, 44% man

Blitz rate: 38.2%

Blitz efficacy: 46% offensive success rate and 4.5 yards per play allowed

Like Houston, defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington called an aggressive game Sunday.

The Patriots played a season-high 44% of passing snaps in man-to-man coverage, including several first-down plays (which is atypical). Covington also blitzed C.J. Stroud on more than one-third of his dropbacks. His staff figured that without Nico Collins, the NFL’s leading receiver, the Texans couldn’t separate often enough from Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones.

Well, they did. Stefon Diggs beat Gonzalez for three catches in man-to-man, including a touchdown, while the Joneses were repeatedly victimized by Houston wideout Tank Dell.

The bigger problem? The Pats’ run defense is breaking. They allowed runs of 50-plus yards from base personnel (four defensive backs) and nickel personnel (five defensive backs). No matter how Covington is scheming or calling plays, players’ on-field fundamentals are undermining whatever’s drawn on the white board.

Player stats

Foxboro, MA – The New England Patriots were called for pass interference on a throw to Houston Texans’ Tank Dell during the 1st quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Interceptions: DB Marcus Jones

Pressure: DL Keion White 3 (2 hurries, QB hit), OLB Anfernee Jennings 2 (QB hit, hurry), DL Jaquelin Roy (sack), LB Christian Elliss (half-sack), S Marte Mapu (half-sack), DL Davon Godchaux (hurry), OLB Joshua Uche (hurry), LB Jahlani Tavai (hurry), DL Deatrich Wise (hurry) Team (hurry)

Run stuffs: Team 3, S Kyle Dugger, Jennings, Roy, Mapu

Pass deflections: White 2, Mapu, M. Jones

Missed tackles: CB Christian Gonzalez, S Kyle Dugger, LB Jahlani Tavai, S Marte Mapu, OLB Anfernee Jennings, LB Sione Takitaki, DL Jaquelin Roy

Notes

The Texans out-flanked the Patriots on their first two possessions, covering exactly 100 yards en route to two touchdowns. Bad and/or questionable defensive penalties extended those series, but yet again the Pats found themselves out-coached to start games.
Houston had answers for the Patriots’ blitz and man-to-man calls, hitting completions of 20 and 13 yards, then two touchdown passes. C.J. Stroud ripped a perfect throw to Tank Dell for a two-yard score, then watched Jahlani Tavai get caught in traffic on a 10-yard touchdown toss to Joe Mixon.
Through six weeks, the Pats’ defense is averaging 6.2 first-quarter points allowed, seventh-most in the NFL. Granted, Houston’s offense is no picnic, but the area where the Texans had struggled most — running the ball — proved to be a great strength Sunday. See: 192 rushing yards.
No Patriots defender, aside from defensive lineman Davon Godchaux, played well against the run. In fact, it may be time for lineup changes.

Since taking over for the injured Ja’Whaun Bentley, veteran linebacker Raekwon McMillan has struggled mightily in three of his four starts. He got lost his gap on both of Houston’s runs that gained more than 50 yards, including the 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
McMillan is not nearly the thumping force Bentley was against the run, though Keion White and Anfernee Jennings could have set better edges on those 50-yard gains.
Since Bentley suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2, the Patriots have allowed 166 rushing yards per game. In their first two games, they allowed 116 combined.
Meanwhile, fellow inside linebacker Christian Elliss, the team’s only linebacker in dime personnel groupings (six defensive backs), is rising. Elliss finished with two tackles and a half-sack. He’s physical and athletic, though a bit undersized by the Patriots’ historical standards.
As Godchaux said after the game, 41 points allowed is “embarrassing.” And it could have been worse. Were it not for a missed field goal and Marte Mapu’s perfectly timed pass deflection that led to an end-zone interception, the Pats may have fallen behind 24-0.

One more Godchaux note: the Texans deliberately left him unblocked at the start of their longest rush (59 yards) and 20-yard touchdown run; a sign of respect. These “wham” plays, which involve a D-linemen getting blocked from the side by a tight end, often target players that offenses struggle to handle 1-on-1.
A solid day for the pass rush, thanks to the aforementioned blitz rate and White finding his usual form with a team-high three pressures.

Special teams

Houston let the Patriots make six kick returns, and they averaged 23 yards per return, with a long of 29 yards. Jerod Mayo described that approach as a message saying the Texans believed they were tougher than the Patriots.
Punter Bryce Baringer may be headed toward a Pro Bowl appearance, again averaging nearly 50 yards per punt (49.8). He dropped two of six inside Houston’s 20-yard line, and had zero touchbacks.
The Patriots benefitted from a missed Houston field goal early in the second quarter that would have dropped them into a 17-0 lead. Pats kicker Joey Slye did not attempt a field goal, but made all three extra points.
The Pats have now started two games this season with a penalty. Sione Takitaki was flagged for illegal formation on the opening kickoff.

Studs

WR DeMario Douglas

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas stiff arms Houston Texans safety Eric Murray on his way to the end zone during the 4th quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Douglas’ 92 receiving yards were the most by a Patriots pass-catcher since Christmas Eve 2022. He also scored his first career touchdown.

S Marte Mapu

The second-year safety broke up a pass in the end zone that led to the Patriots’ only takeaway. He also tallied a half-sack and five tackles.

Duds

TE Austin Hooper

Hooper fumbled and finished with a single catch. When the Patriots played him and Hunter Henry together, they generated virtually no push in the run game, averaging 1.33 yards per carry.

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WR Ja’Lynn Polk

Two drops and a single catch on four targets. The Patriots need more from their second-round rookie, whom Jerod Mayo said Monday must get over a “mental hump.”

*Explosive plays are defined as runs of 12-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards. 

**Success rate is an efficiency metric measuring how often an offense stays on schedule. A play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down.

***11 personnel = one running back, one tight end; 12 personnel = one running back, two tight ends; 13 personnel = one running back, three tight ends; 21 = two halfbacks, one tight end.

****Base defense = four defensive backs; nickel = five; dime = six; dollar defense = seven.