The New England Patriots beat the New Orleans Saints, 25-19, on Sunday for a third straight victory. With the win, the Patriots have already matched last season's win total. 

It was a wild Sunday in New Orleans that included some big plays from Drake Maye, some baffling calls by the officiating, and a white-knuckle finish for New England. But the Pats are now 4-2 on the season and have won three straight for the first time since the 2022 season.

"We just want to keep building momentum, week to week. Not lingering on last week's win and letting this one beat us," Maye said after the game. "Let's go get win No. 5."

The Patriots are off to their best start since 2019 -- the last season Tom Brady was quarterback in New England. 

Maye had a near-perfect first half and finished his Week 6 with 261 passing yards and three touchdowns, including the longest touchdown of his career (53 yards) to DeMario Douglas in the first quarter. Maye also hit Kayshon Boutte -- who made a name for himself in college at LSU -- for two touchdowns, as Boutte finished with five receptions for 93 yards.

The New England run game was ineffective (with only 45 yards on 22 carries by Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson) but Maye hit seven different receivers Sunday afternoon. Head coach Mike Vrabel also had a solid game as he won two challenges against an officiating crew that had an awful afternoon in New Orleans. 

The Patriots had a 61-yard touchdown taken off the board on a bad offensive pass interference call on Stefon Diggs in the first quarter. Another OPI on Diggs negated a 52-yard reception late in the game.

But Vrabel won a big challenge to get the New England defense a fumble in the fourth quarter, and then another late in the game that kept the clock ticking and let the Patriots take a victory formation after the two-minute warning.

The New England defense gave up big plays all afternoon, but the unit forced New Orleans to settle for four field goals instead of touchdowns. The Pats also got a huge takeaway midway through the fourth quarter when Christian Elliss forced a fumble at midfield, which New England got thanks to that Vrabel challenge.

Marcus Jones had a huge game for the Patriots' defense with three pass breakups and a sack on Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Here's how Sunday's wild game in New Orleans played out:

Saints go deep on first play, but settle for field goal

The Saints got a big chunk of yards on their first play from scrimmage, as Rattler hit Chris Olave for a 53-yard connection downfield. The Patriots' defense called a corner blitz of Carlton Davis, which left safety Kyle Dugger to cover Olave, which didn't go well for New England. 

But the defense buckled down and Marcus Jones was all over Olave over the middle of the field to break up a potential touchdown to force the Saints to settle for a field goal.

Drake Maye throws longest touchdown pass of his career

The Patriots offense answered in a big way, as Maye hit Douglas for a 53-yard touchdown to give New England a 7-3 lead.

The big strike came off play action, which was huge for the New England offense all day. It was the longest touchdown pass of Maye's career and the longest touchdown reception of Douglas' career.

Maye's deep touchdown nullified by questionable OPI call

The Saints' offense gashed the defense again, but once again had to settle for a field goal to make it a 7-6 game.

The Patriots got the ball back and it looked like the offense had an even longer Maye-to-Douglas touchdown strike, but the 61-yard score was taken off the boards for this:

Brutal. But the Patriots didn't let it derail the drive. After a make-up DPI call the next play and 20 yards from Henderson over three plays, Maye hit Boutte for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 14-6 lead late in the first quarter.

Bad stretch in second quarter

After the Saints tore up the New England defense for a 60-yard touchdown drive, the Patriots' offense had a terrible and costly stretch midway through the second quarter. Facing a third-and-7 at the New Orleans 39, Josh McDaniels curiously dialed up a handoff for Stevenson. The play went nowhere as the running back slipped at the line of scrimmage and was dropped for no gain. 

The Pats went for it on fourth down, but the play never got going as center Garrett Bradbury sent his shotgun snap wide right and New Orleans took over at the New England 47. The Saints went down the field and Blake Grupe hit a 38-yard field goal just after the two-minute warning to give New Orleans a 16-14 edge.

But it could have been worse, if not for Marcus Jones. Rattler went to Olave on a third-and-4 from the New England 20, but Jones was able to break up the end zone pass for his second PBU of the afternoon. 

Another touchdown strike by Maye before halftime

Maye and the offense didn't let their last possession of the first half go to waste. The play action was New England's best friend again as Maye hit Hunter Henry on a third-and-1 for 12 yards after faking a handoff to Henderson. A few plays later, Maye hit Boutte for a 29-yard touchdown on another beautiful throw by the QB and another lovely catch by the receiver.

Maye fought his way into the end zone for the two-point conversion to give the Patriots a 22-16 lead at halftime. The QB was a brilliant 11-for-13 for 185 yards and three touchdown passes in the first half. 

Patriots add field goal out of halftime

The Patriots could have really poured it on with a double-score, but had to settle for a field goal out of halftime. Maye hit Diggs for a big 12-yard pickup on a fourth-and-4 at the New Orleans 36, and Maye picked up 20 yards on the ground on first down.

But the drive stalled inside the New Orleans 10, as Stevenson lost three yards on a second-and-goal carry and the Pats were hit with a Delay of Game on third down. Maye and Diggs only picked up six yards on third-and-goal, and the Patriots settled for an Andy Borregales 24-yard field goal to take a 25-16 lead. 

Saints settle for another field goal after Marcus Jones makes another big play

Jones had a huge PBU on New Orleans' next possession to force the game's first punt, but the Patriots had to punt themselves after a three-and-out. 

Jones came up with another huge play to end the Saints next drive, as he sacked Rattler for a three-yard loss on third-and-6 from the New England 33. Grupe connected on a 54-yard field goal to make it a 25-19 game early in the fourth quarter. 

Pats hit with three straight penalties

Maye made an excellent play on New England's next drive when he shed a pass rusher and stepped up to hit Mack Hollins to move the chains on a third-and-11.

The Patriots were then hit with three straight penalties on their next third down. An illegal shift on Stevenson wiped out a first-down connection to Mack Hollins and set up a third-and-12. Morgan Moses was then hit with a false start that set up a third-and-17.

Maye went deep to Diggs on the next play and the receiver brought in a 52-yard reception downfield, but he was flagged for another OPI to negate the play. At least this one looked more like offensive pass interference than the first one Diggs was hit with, but this one was much more costly.

Maye's deep pass to Hollins on third-and-27 hit off the receiver's fingertips and forced a New England punt with 9:27 left in the game.

Overall, the Pats were hit with 11 penalties that cost them 65 yards. 

Patriots defense forces fumble, offense gets nothing

The New England defense got the football back after just two plays. Juwan Johnson brought in a reception at midfield, but Christian Elliss punched the ball out before the New Orleans tight end hit the ground. Craig Woodson recovered, but the play was initially ruled a catch and no fumble.

Vrabel challenged the call and won after a replay review, which gave the ball to the Patriots at midfield. But the offense didn't get much outside of a first-down run by Maye on a third-and-1, and had to punt for a third straight possession with 5:51 left.

A field goal would have made it a two-score game, but the Patriots' offense came up empty.

Patriots defense forces punt, offense kills the clock

When the Saints got the ball back, the New England defense stood tall again. The rush put pressure on Rattler, who threw incomplete on second- and third-and-7 to force another Saints punt with under four minutes to play. 

Maye hit Boutte on second-and-7 for enough to move the chains and force the Saints to burn their second timeout. Henderson was dropped for a two-yard loss on first down, which forced the Saints to use their final timeout with 3:25 left, and then Maye was tripped up as he scrambled on seocnd-and-12 for just a one-yard gain.

On third-and-11 with less than three minutes on the clock, Maye calmly went to Boutte along the left sideline for a 21-yard connection on a come-backer that essentially clinched the game for the Patriots. It was initially ruled that Boutte stepped out of bounds, but Vrabel threw the challenge flag again and won again, which let the Pats bleed more time off the clock ahead of the two-minute warning.

What's next for the Patriots?

The Pats are back on the road in Week 7 against the Titans, which will pit Vrabel against the team he coached for six years and led to a 54-45 record during the regular season. The Titans made a run to the AFC Championship Game in 2019 under Vrabel, but only made the postseason two more times and didn't win another playoff game the rest of his tenure.

The Titans are 1-5 on the season after losing to the Las Vegas Raiders, 20-10, in Week 6.

Here's another note for the Patriots and their 4-2 record: If the Bills lose Monday night to the Falcons in Atlanta, New England will be in first place in the AFC East.