The New England Patriots dropped their Week 6 matchup 41-21 on Sunday to the Houston Texans to fall to 1-5 on the year.

Here’s who caught our attention, both for better and for worse during live viewing.

Winner: QB Drake Maye. It was far from a perfect day for the Patriots’ first-round pick. Maye sprayed some throws high — perhaps adrenaline/jitters, though not unusual during his time at UNC — throughout the day, which helped lead to his interception in the first quarter when he overshot Pop Douglas.

But Maye responded graciously and showed the skills that led to him being drafted third overall. That included a deep ball to Kayshon Boutte for a score and several off-script plays/scrambles that showed off his mobility. He also recovered from his early misses to hit Douglas ahead on the receiver’s late touchdown.

Again, it wasn’t perfect, but Maye’s first start was encouraging.

Loser: WR Ja’Lynn Polk. While New England’s starting quarterback found success, his fellow rookie was not the beneficiary. Polk finished the game with just one catch on four targets for four yards with two drops in the process – both on third down. The rookie came into the league known for his strong hands, but Polk struggled in that area on Sunday.

Winner: WRs DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. The Patriots’ secondary receivers were on opposite ends of the spectrum, as they both hauled in their first career touchdowns from Maye and recorded career-bests in receiving yards (Douglas, 92; Boutte, 59). Boutte was on the other side of the highlight of the day, as Maye found him for a 40-yard score to end the half. Douglas was the rookie QB’s top target as his 92 yards, six catches and nine scores all led the team. The success against humans was promising.

Loser: Run the game. Offensively and defensively, the Patriots lost the ground game on Sunday. Without Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson took the lead role and gained just 19 yards on 13 carries (1.5 yards per carry). Much of that had to come on the offensive line, as Houston scored six points. Maye (five rushes, 38 yards) finished the game as the team’s leading rusher.

On the other side of the ball, New England’s defense continued to struggle on Sunday. With Joe Mixon back in the fold, the Texans ran for 192 yards on 28 carries (6.9 yards per attempt), including explosives of 59, 54 and 20 yards. Jerod Mayo noted that the team’s continued problems with tackling and running were a major part of the problem.

Loser: TE Austin Hooper. New England’s second string tight end played just over 50 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, mostly in their 12 personnel packages that took Douglas off the field. Hooper finished with just one catch, which ended in a fumble, helping the Texans extend their lead to 27-7.

Honorable mentions:

• Hunter Henry found the end zone for the first time this season and also connected with Maye on a 30-yard catch-and-run on an off-script scramble completion.
• Thanks to center Ben Brown, who signed on Thursday and heard of his start on Sunday morning, because he immediately jumped into action. In addition to handling the calls on the line on short notice, Brown allowed no pressure according to PFF’s in-game tracking.
• Elsewhere on the offensive line, Trey Jacobs gave up two sacks (one strip sack), while Zach Thomas also gave up a pair at left tackle for injured Vederian Lowe. Again, neither is in a great situation that speaks to New England’s depth (and injury situation) at the tackle position.
• Marte Mapu had a pair of splash plays with an impressive pass breakup that led to Marcus Jones’ INT and a split sack. However, his work in the run game is worth revisiting on film.
• Keion White seemed to have more success generating pressure during live time, as he finished with a pair of QB hits and a pass deflection on a screen.
• Christian Gonzalez said after the match that he didn’t think he played his best game. By his standards, that might be true, but Gonzalez still held Stefon Diggs to just four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown.
• Solid recovery day for New England’s special teams, but Houston’s decision to let JaMycal Hasty return a handful of punts paid off. Going forward, Isaiah Bolden could be worth a look at that spot.