Maye set team highs in several categories, including passing yards (243) and touchdown passes (three), and DeMario Douglas’ 92 receiving yards were the most by a New England wide receiver this season.

But every time the Patriots thought there was light at the end of the tunnel on Sunday, it turned out to be an oncoming train.

The Texans’ offense steamrolled New England’s defense, scoring 27 second-half points and turning a one-point game into a second-half blowout.

The 41 points allowed by the Patriots were the most allowed by a New England defense since they allowed 42 points in a season-opening loss to the Chiefs in 2017.

In total, Houston had six plays of 20 or more yards, two of which ended in touchdowns. The Texans scored on five of their seven possessions in the second half – including a touchdown 92 seconds into the third quarter – and finished the game with 192 rushing yards. Tank Dell had seven catches for 57 yards and a touchdown and Stefon Diggs had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. And after a slow start, Joe Mixon rushed for 102 yards on 7.8 yards per carry. (Mixon and Dameon Pierce each had runs of more than 50 yards.)

On an afternoon when the Patriots defense had to do its best to support a rookie quarterback, it didn’t live up to its bargain.

“Defensively, I would say we just need to improve the fundamentals of tackling, our passing form,” coach Jerod Mayo said after the game. “You have to improve.

“I told all these people, ‘You should feel like shit today.’ You should feel like shit.’ ”

Mayo praised Maye and said, “We let him down.”

“From a team-wide perspective, we let him down right now,” Mayo said. “It was his first game and I feel like I let him down. I’m sure all the coaches feel like we’ve let everyone down. We just have to get better.

The Patriots scored two touchdowns on Houston’s first two drives, creating a 14-0 lead before the end of the first quarter and setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

“The biggest thing for us was not playing our football,” cornerback Marcus Jones said. “We had people doing different things. One thing we pride ourselves on is responsibility. The next guy will tell you, “Hey, you have to do this.” When it comes down to it, there are no egos. We love the way we criticize each other. We try to implement this consistently. After that, defensively things started to go the way we wanted.

“We just can’t put ourselves in a hole.”

About 100 hours before the Patriots-Texans kicked off at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon, Ben Brown was a member of the Raiders’ practice squad to give Las Vegas’ starting defense a good look ahead of this week’s game against Pittsburgh.

He started at center for New England on Sunday.

Brown, who said he was surprised to get the call to start Sunday, appeared to have had no issues with Maye when it came to the center quarterback-to-center quarterback exchange.

“Honestly, I felt very prepared,” Brown said. “I felt like the coaches had prepared me. I felt confident out there. I had some great players by my side. I think it’s a shame that we couldn’t win, but I’m confident that this team and we can turn things around. The ship on the right.

“I was just ready for my chance,” he added. “That was the big goal this week; to be ready as soon as I get here. In the end we didn’t manage to win, but we’ll clean things up because we have a good football team. And we will change that.”

“Kudos to Ben; He improved and played well,” said right-back Mike Onwenu. “That says a lot. We thank him for doing that today.”

The Patriots’ inactives were running back Rhamondre Stevenson (foot), long snapper Joe Cardona (calf) and offensive lineman Layden Robinson (ankle/wrist). Wide receivers Javon Baker and Tyquan Thornton and defensive tackle Eric Johnson were healthy scratches, and Joe Milton III was the emergency quarterback… The Patriots have started six offensive linemen through the first six games of the season. Since the start of last season, New England has used 16 starting offensive linemen in the last 23 games… Left tackle Vederian Lowe suffered an ankle injury in the first half and did not return. After the game, he was seen hobbling around the locker room…Bryce Baringer’s 55-yard punt in the second quarter allowed him to extend his streak of games with a punt of 50 yards or more to 23 games. It is the longest current streak in the NFL…It was the first win in the Texans’ franchise history at Gillette Stadium. Before Sunday it was 0-7.

Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.