The breakdown of Maye's “aggressive” play on the first touchdown pass originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Drake Mayes' first NFL touchdown pass perfectly summed up why the New England Patriots selected him with the third overall pick in this year's draft.

With 11 seconds left in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Houston Texans, Maye threw a 40-yard dime to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte in the end zone. The rookie signal caller could have settled for a short pass and a field goal, but he chose to show off his big arm and capitalize on Houston's questionable defensive play.

Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson called Maye a “cool customer” for his presence in the pocket on the big play. He discussed the piece in detail in Monday's edition of The collapse.

“That was an interesting play call for the Texans, I thought, and the Patriots and Drake Maye really took advantage of that,” Johnson said. “The Texans are lining up here in Cover 1 coverage. Five rushers, five cover guys, a single high safety. The interesting thing is that the Patriots are running in trips here, with Ja'Lynn Polk singled on the left side.” .. For some reason the Texans put their safety on that (left) side. They were probably worried that the ball might go to Ja'Lynn Polk because in most games this season, all deep throws – most of them – have gone to Ja'Lynn Polk. They probably thought that was the goal.

“The other thing the Texans did that was unusual in this situation was they had press coverage. They positioned their cornerbacks on the Patriots' wide receivers. So that tells the quarterback that something is wrong. Maybe it's lightning, man to man. And what.” He sees that all this wiggle room is left open because this safety here is cheating to help Ja'Lynn Polk. And the quarterback probably saw that right away, so they took advantage of it.

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Johnson noted that both Maye and Boutte executed the play perfectly. Maye read the coverage and found an open man in Boutte, who beat Texas cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.'s press coverage and made an accurate throw.

“It's an easy throw, an easy read considering the safety was declared at the start of the game where he was going to be,” Johnson added. “The press coverage tells the quarterback it’s man-to-man or blitz. They have seven players to block five and all Kayshon has to do is get past his man and get half a step towards him and he did that and it was a perfect thrown ball.

“The interesting thing was you had DeMario Douglas wide open up the middle. This defender somehow leaves his guard, and so he could have easily taken a 15-yard or 20-yard gain. Aggressive attitude with two timeouts, takes a shot” for the end zone, and it works, giving them seven points on the board considering they had trouble scoring points and managing their attacks just before halftime .

Our Patriots insider Phil Perry was impressed with Mayes' decision to throw a shot into the end zone instead of settling for a field goal before halftime.

“What I love about Drake Maye on this play is the aggressiveness,” Perry said. “They’re sniffing field goal range here. They could take a shorter throw and set up Joey Slye for three points. Instead, he completes the longest completion for a Patriots quarterback in the last three years in terms of air yards over.” 50 yards in the air for the first touchdown pass to Drake Maye and Kayshon Boutte.

Maye and the Patriots lost to the Texans 41-21. Still, it was an encouraging first start for the young quarterback that provided some hope for the future of the organization. He threw a total of three touchdown passes in the loss.

With Maye under center, New England will look to snap a five-game losing streak against the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday in London.

You can watch Drake Maye's full breakdown in the video below or on YouTube: