One big thing: A disastrous second quarter wastes a promising performance from Drake Maye

The rookie QB got the Patriots out to a 10-0 lead. Then, the rest of the team unraveled.

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye handled his business on the Patriots‘ first two drives on Sunday against the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Patriots jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but couldn’t hold it long. New England unraveled during a sloppy second quarter, allowing 22 unanswered points.

New England had a miscommunication on the Jaguars’ first score.

Jacksonville bunched three receivers at the line of scrimmage on the New England 6, with Brian Thomas Jr. on the outside. He ran a quick slant right over the middle, and nobody picked him up. Trevor Lawrence hit the wide-open receiver for a touchdown.

Thomas burned the Patriots again on the next drive, going deep for a 58-yard pass that set up another touchdown. Lawrence had ample time to throw on a play-action pass and launched a deep ball to the speedy receiver. Thomas hauled in the catch with Christian Gonzalez draped all over him.

Tank Bigsby, who finished with 118 yards, punched in a 3-yard touchdown run on the next play.

None of the Patriots punt team got particularly close to bringing down Parker Washington on a 96-yard return for a touchdown.

Brenden Schooler, the first Patriot down the field, was met with two blocks. A pair of Patriots ran past Washington, leaving a crease for the returner to exploit. Washington sprinted through it and past punter Bryce Baringer for the score.

The Jaguars scored 22 points in less than eight minutes, putting New England down double-digits heading into halftime. That, with a lack of production from the run game, made the Patriots’ offense one-dimensional.

Maye, for the most part, was efficient. He did have a couple throws that were nearly picked off, but Jacksonville couldn’t finish the plays. He finished with 276 passing yards and two touchdowns.

This game could have gotten out of hand after that second quarter, but Maye and the Patriots’ passing game kept them in it. They had the ball down by nine with four minutes to go, but a penalty on Demontrey Jacobs and a sack derailed the drive. The defense held Jacksonville to 10 points in the second half.

Coach Jerod Mayo preached about starting fast this week. The Patriots did that. They grabbed an early double-digit lead on a pair of promising drives.

But, they weren’t able to sustain the effort. They got crushed in the second quarter and never recovered.

The losing streak has been extended to six games in a row.

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.