Houston deserves credit for making plays. The Texans have an elite quarterback and great playmakers, especially at wide receiver with Diggs and Tank Dell. Still, we’ve seen the schemes the Patriots are running work in the past. Above, the Pats ran the same pressure they brought on the third-down completion to Diggs. In this instance, Mapu’s blitz gets home for a sack.

Whether it’s schematic tweaks or better execution, the foundation is there for the Patriots to improve on defense. The coaches might do a self-scout to determine why their schemed pressures are being sniffed out while the players are already speaking about accountability for their part.

Although they’ve lost key contributors to injuries, the Patriots are too talented on defense to be ranked 29th in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) through six games.

Quick-Hit Film Notes From the Patriots Loss to the Texans

– WR Pop Douglas was excellent, with a career-high 92 receiving yards and his first career TD. Douglas caught three catches for 59 yards and a score vs. man coverage. He was also open on the Boutte touchdown, Maye’s first interception, and another third-down crosser that Maye missed. Whether it was Eric Murray or Jalen Pitre, the Texans nickel corners could not cover Douglas in press-man. His separation ability was electric.

– WR Kayshon Boutte showed great long speed to pull away late from Texans CB Derek Stingley on his 40-yard touchdown. Boutte also ran a nice corner route for a 13-yard gain. Boutte’s run blocking and vertical routes as an outside receiver have earned him a larger role. Kudos to him for continuing to push behind the scenes for playing time. He’s playing well.

– TE Hunter Henry has a knack for uncovering when the quarterback goes off-script. He has done it with every Pats QB, but now he has Maye, who will take that to the next level. He did a really nice job working himself open off his initial stick route on the 30-yard gain.

– RB Antonio Gibson converted two third downs and ran a good pick-flat in the red zone. However, he only had one successful run and five stuffs. Most of that was on the blocking, but Gibson did bounce a duo run early when he probably should’ve followed the interior blocking.

– WR Kendrick Bourne continues to work his way back from a torn ACL last October. Bourne was targeted on a screen and an out on his 34 snaps (54%). His role will likely increase soon.

– WR Ja’Lynn Polk had two high-leverage drops in the two-minute drill before the half and on a third down play in the fourth quarter. Both targets would’ve been first downs. Polk was also open for a deep target on a go route when Maye targeted Douglas on his first interception. Coach Mayo on Polk: “he needs to get over the mental hump.”

– With several injuries along the O-Line, the Patriots run blocking was inconsistent. They struggled with coming off combo blocks to pick up second-level penetrators, blocking the backside on power/trap schemes, falling off movement/climb blocks, and getting split on their doubles. Look, they have a new five out there, seemingly quarter-to-quarter.

– RT Trey Jacobs spoke to Patriots.com last week about getting out of his stance quicker to cut off the corner. That seems to be the main reason for the pressures he’s allowing, which come when rushers turn his corner and get underneath his outside hand. Jacobs has good length and a strong two-hand punch, but it’s hit or miss when he vertical sets.

– C Ben Brown has likely earned another start with a clean sheet and only one error in the run game on a pin-pull scheme. Brown only had a 31% one-on-one rate, so Houston didn’t test him much. We’ll see if he gets targeted by the Jags next week.

– LT Zach Thomas hung in there while replacing starter Vederian Lowe (ankle). Thomas had some issues as a smaller tackle with power and was beaten inside by Will Anderson on a sack. However, he has decent quickness out of his stance to cut off the corner.

– QB Pressures: Jacobs (two sacks, hit, hurry), Thomas (sack, two hurries), Onwenu (two hits, hurry), Jordan (two hurries), Lowe (hurry), Brown/Sow (clean sheets).

– CB Christian Gonzalez admitted that “I ain’t feel like I played too well” following Sunday’s loss. He had some tough assignments vs. Texans WR Stefon Diggs. Gonzalez lined up over Diggs 11 times, allowing four catches for 39 yards and a TD. He allowed a third-down conversion and the red-zone score. Diggs also beat him on a double move, but the rush got home on the Mapu/Ellis sack. It was a tough matchup with several reps on an island with Diggs, one of the NFL’s best receivers, and Gonzo did have a great rep to squeeze Diggs into the sideline on a go route. Plus, the numbers don’t look all that bad: 8 targets, 6 catches, 44 yards, TD.

– EDGE Keion White had two impactful pressures in this game that saved big passing plays for Houston. First, White hurried Stroud into a throwaway when he had Diggs open on a flood concept (mentioned above), and his QB hit wiped out another likely conversion on third down (Q3, 5:30). Although he came off him late, White’s QB hit was on old friend Shaq Mason using his two-hand swipe move. Those pressures were big plays for the defense.

– DT Jaquelin Roy has been a nice addition. Roy had a sack on an arm-over finisher for the second straight game and two run stuffs, including one on the goal line where he had great two-gapping technique. Roy can play both nose tackle and 3-4 end, giving the Pats some flexibility to move DT Davon Godchaux around in their base fronts. He’s a solid player.

– NT Davon Godchaux led the Patriots with six run stuffs. He now leads all defensive linemen with 18 run stops on the season via PFF. Godchaux has been impossible to single-block, and his lateral movement has been really good this season against zone schemes. The run defense issues certainly aren’t on him – the big guy needs help.

– CB Marcus Jones’s second-quarter interception was good team defense in the backend. Stroud came to Schultz up the seam late and threw off-platform, which caused a slight underthrow. Although the ball wasn’t great, it was textbook out-of-phase coverage by S Marte Mapu to drive the catch point without interfering. Then, Jones became a free player when he passed off a crosser to FS Kyle Dugger and did a nice job arriving on the scene to catch the deflection. Mapu was beaten initially up the seam by Schultz, but again, did really well to recover.

– The off-ball LB issues for the Pats continued in this game. The run fits from the second level have been inconsistent, with guys over-pursuing and ending up in the same lanes. The Pats base package is also having issues covering the middle of the field vs. play-action, especially in cover two zones (Diggs 26-yarder). Coach Mayo pointed out the run fit issues as well.

– CB Jonathan Jones also had a down game with three big completions allowed to Texans WR Tank Dell, all on in-breakers against man coverage. Marcus Jones also got beat by Dell on third down. The Pats played a season-high man coverage rate, and Dell was a problem.

– The 20-yard touchdown run by Mixon came on the same “wham” scheme as his previous 59-yard run. The 54-yard TD was an zone toss where there were three missed tackles.

– QB Pressures: Mapu (sack), Roy (sack), Elliss (sack, hurry), White (hit, two hurries), Jennings (hit, hurry), Godchaux (two hurries), Tavai (hurry), Uche (hurry), Wise (hurry). Run stuffs: Godchaux (6), Tavai (3), Roy (2), Dugger (2), Jennings (2), Elliss/White/Wise (1).

– Coverage: J. Jones (5/5/71 yards/TD), Gonzalez (8/6/44 yards/TD), Tavai (5/4/29 yards/TD), Uche (1/1/20 yards), M. Jones (3/2/14 yards/INT), McMillan (3/1/9 yards), Wilson (1/1/5 yards), Mapu (2/0/PBU), Hawkins (1/0).