FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye made the first start of his NFL career against the Houston Texans. The second-year pro has come a long way in the 15 months since.
“That feels like, shoot, 10 years ago. It’s been a long journey,” said Maye, who was the overall No. 3 pick of the 2024 draft. “Running out there with the first-snap jitters was pretty cool. It was fun to look back on. We’ll hopefully have a different outcome from (that) game.”
Maye and Houston counterpart C.J. Stroud each threw three touchdown passes that day, but Maye also was intercepted twice and sacked four times in the visiting Texans’ 41-21 win at Gillette Stadium. Houston and New England meet again Sunday afternoon at the same venue, this time with a trip to the AFC championship game at stake.
The second-seeded Patriots, in their first year under head coach Mike Vrabel, followed up a 14-3 regular season and the franchise’s first AFC East Division title since the 2019 season with their first playoff win since the year before that. They were 16-3 winners at home last Sunday night against the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Chargers.
The fifth-seeded Texans wrapped up a three-day weekend for the NFL’s wild-card round with Monday night’s 30-6 road win against the fourth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers.