A review weekend for Drake Mayes' first start and other Patriots-Texans news and notes

FOXBORO – When Drake Maye will make his first career start for the Patriots this weekendwill give the franchise a look into the future while carrying threads from the past. New England will don the team's red “Pat Patriot” throwbacks for the first time this season on Sunday when the 4-1 Houston Texans come to town for a Week 6 clash at Gillette Stadium.

Fans are excited about the red jersey, white pants and white helmet look, which is based on the uniforms the franchise wore from 1984 to 1992 and then sporadically as an alternate from 1994 to 2012. The Patriots have worn the uniforms 10 times since 1984 – including twice in each of the last two seasons – and are 7-3 in the look.

The “Pat Patriot” throwbacks were initially a godsend, as the Patriots won seven straight in the uniform from 1994 to 2022. But the Pats have lost their last three road games in their setbacks, marred by last season's 6-0 loss to the LA Chargers at rainy Gillette Stadium last December.

With a rookie quarterback at the helm, can the Patriots turn their fortunes around this weekend against a really good Houston Texans team? Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming matchup.

Patriots vs. Texans

• The Patriots have an 11-3 overall record against the Houston Texans, including two playoff wins.
• The Patriots are undefeated against the Texans at Gillette Stadium, with a perfect 5-0 record in the regular season and a 2-0 record against Houston in the postseason. Both playoff victories came in the divisional round, with New England winning 41-28 in 2013 and 34-16 in 2017.
• The Patriots and Texans have not met in Foxboro since the 2018 season opener. New England won that game 27-20, with Tom Brady throwing three touchdown passes in the win.
• The last three meetings between the Patriots and Texans were in Houston, and the Texans won two of those meetings. The Patriots won the final showdown 25-22 thanks to a touchdown connection between Mac Jones and Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter and a 21-yard field goal by Nick Folk with 15 seconds left – one of four kicks Folk made the posts this afternoon.
• With quarterback CJ Stroud At the top, the Texans have the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL this season, averaging 272.4 yards per game. Houston has the sixth-best total offense in the league, averaging 376.6 yards per game.
• However, Houston ranks 19th in the NFL with 20.4 points per game through five weeks.
• But we'd love that kind of offense in New England, as the Patriots are averaging just 250.8 yards of total offense (31st), 119.4 passing yards (32nd), and 12.4 points per game (31st) so far this season .) achieved.
• The Houston defense is no slouch either: it ranks fourth in the NFL with 274.2 yards allowed per game and third with 154.0 passing yards allowed per game. The Texans are allowing 22.8 points per game, which is 17th. The Patriots defense ranks ninth with 20.4 points allowed per game.
• Fans at Gillette Stadium saw plenty of yellow flags flying for the second straight day on Sunday. The Patriots suffered 12 penalties (plus two more that were disallowed) in last week's loss to the Dolphins and are now at 28 this season. But that's nothing compared to the Texans, who lead the NFL with 47 penalties per game State year.

Connections between Patriots and Texans

• The Patriots have two former Texans on their roster: kickers Joey Slye and corner Alex Austin. Slye went 4-for-5 on field goal attempts in three games with Houston in 2021, while Austin spent time with the Texans (and on the Houston practice squad) at the start of the 2023 season before landing with the Patriots.
• Patriots offensive line coach Robert Kugler He got his first job in the NFL in 2021 when he was hired as an assistant offensive line coach for the Texans.
• There are five former Patriots on Houston's roster: Cornerback Myles Bryanttight end Dalton Keeneguard Shaq MasonCornerback D'Angelo Rossand run back JJ Taylor.
• Houston General Manager Nick Caserio spent nearly 20 years in New England to begin his football career, both as a coach and as a member of the franchise's player personnel department. Caserio was the Patriots' director of player personnel from 2008 to 2020 before becoming GM of the Texans.

Everything else you should know about Patriots-Texans

• Drake Maye With his arrival, he will be the Patriots' fourth rookie quarterback making his first career start since 2016 Bailey Zappe (2022), MacJones (2021) and Jacoby Brissett (2016). Brissett and Zappe both won their first starts – Brissett helped the Patriots beat the Texans in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo – while Jones lost his first start.
• The Patriots were the best on the ground in Week 5, rushing for 151 yards on 19 carries, a franchise record 7.95 yards per carry against the Dolphins. If the Pats average at least 6.0 yards per carry on Sunday, it will be the first time since 1962 (and only the second time overall) that New England has averaged 6.0 yards per carry in consecutive games.
• Keion White has 10 QB hits and has scored at least one in all five games so far this season. The most QB hits by a Patriots player in a season is 28, set by Matthew Judon in 2022.
• Hunter Heinrich needs just one reception this weekend to reach 150 for his Patriots career. He currently ranks eighth on New England's all-time receptions list by a tight end and needs four more catches to pass Jim Whelan and his 153 receptions.
• Stroud has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all five games this season. He has thrown at least one touchdown in 12 of Houston's last 13 regular-season games, dating back to his 5-touchdown game last November.
• Stroud went without a touchdown pass in just three of his 20 regular season games as a pro.
• Texans receiver Stefon Diggs has seven touchdown receptions in nine career games against the Patriots.

Tune in to Patriots-Texans on WBZ-TV – your New England Patriots television home! Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and after the game stick around for in-depth reaction and See analysis of the Patriots' 5th quarter!