There were 15 minutes left in Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium, and even though the Patriots were trailing 27-14, you likely stayed put if you were there or kept watching.

Why?

Two words: Drake Maye.

You saw the difference he can make, and of course the mistakes too. That’s the way it is with rookies in any sport, in any job, really,right?

You live with the bad hoping it will be outweighed by the good. The problem is that didn’t happen as Maye turned the ball over three times, two of the team’s four turnovers resulting in points in the Texans’ 41-21 win.

Maye tossed two interceptions and fumbled under pocket pressure, which was expected. On the flip side, his 40-yard amazing drop in the bucket TD strike in a successful two minute drill to Kayshon Boutte just before the half was a thing of beauty. And a great way for your franchise QB to get his first career NFL TD toss.

Or, as veteran tight end Hunter Henry said, “I thought it was a great moment for our offense.” Maye could run his way to first downs like he did to keep a scoring drive alive early in the fourth quarter. A drive he finished with his third TD pass of the day, a crossing route catch-and-run of 35 yards to Pop Douglas.

That’s a combination Patriot fans are hoping lasts for at least the next three or four years, as they got there first legit look.

Maye has the respect of his peers. You could tell why the whispers were supposedly getting louder from the locker room to play him. Veteran receiver Kendrick Bourne went so far to say afterwards that Maye had “an aura” about him.

“That’s important,” Bourne said. “Some people have aura, some people don’t. He doesn’t have to try. He’s that guy.”

Maye was also playing with a bit of a heavy heart as his former North Carolina teammate, Tyler Craft, died over the weekend from a rare form of lung cancer at age 23. Maye wasn’t asked about it after the game, but certainly addressed his performance,especially in the two-minute drill.

“I think the two-minute time is a great time for a quarterback to kind of get some passes and get some plays that we’re comfortable with under my belt, “ he said. “It was a lot easier in two-minute than in practice when the guys actually come back there and tackle me in the back. Able to make some plays. Boutte made a great play, and those guys – I think Pop down the sideline, that’s a great play on his part, and just get the guys the ball, and that’s the biggest thing I’ve got to do. I think get them the ball and let them make plays.

“You saw Hunter on a flat route early on. We’re backed up, make a guy miss, get a 1st down, little things like that, try to get the ball out of my hands and get it to those guys. I make a lot of money getting paid to get 1st downs.”

This is the way it’s going to be for this season, the good, the bad, and sometimes the great and then the ugly. This isn’t Houston,which had a supporting cast around C.J. Stroud — although nobody really knew it early last season. Stroud spoke with Maye briefly after the game, and sometimes of his advice is “Honestly, just take completions, stay in the positive and make guys around you better. I would say those are the three things I would want to know and it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not easy.

“He has a hopefully a team helping him and, you know, like I had last year. I had so many guys helping me. So definitely hope that helped him what I said but those three things definitely helped me on top of just being disciplined.”

Perhaps that will be how it is for New England next season. They’ll work on getting better players around Maye, praying he’ll stay healthy, etc. He took a pounding similar to what veteran Jacoby Brissette took as a sacrificial lamb the first five weeks of the season.

“I feel all right. I think you’re playing quarterback in the NFL, you’re going to be sore the next day,” Maye said. “That’s part of it. Probably can do a better job of getting down or throwing it away. I think I took a couple sacks today maybe where I could have thrown it away or thrown check-downs instead of getting a sack.”

Live with the mistakes, celebrate the progress.

“Yeah, and we fully expect or anticipate him To

be better going forward.,“Pstriots voach Josh Mayo said. “It was his first start. Obviously here at home there was a lot of expectations on him. I thought he handled it well. Got to build on it.”

Something to look forward to. The next three months will be a window into 2025 and beyond.

The 2024 Patriots may not have many wins, but they do have, well, hope.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on X (@Telegraph_TomK).