The Raiders could almost be looking in a mirror when they line up against the Patriots for their season opener on Sunday.
There are some eerie resemblances between the two teams.
The Patriots, like the Raiders, are coming off a 4-13 campaign and have made major changes this offseason. They hired an experienced coach in Mike Vrabel, added an established offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels and invested in their roster through free agency and the draft.
New England, just like the Raiders with first-year coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, will now get to see how much those moves paid off.
Here are three other things to know about the Patriots heading into Sunday’s matchup at Gillette Stadium:
1. Second-year leap for Maye?
New England is led by second-year quarterback Drake Maye, who was selected No. 3 overall in the 2024 draft out of North Carolina.
Maye, 23, played reasonably well as a rookie. He completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on a team light on offensive talent.
Maye now is looking to improve under McDaniels, the former Raiders coach who won six Super Bowls as a Patriots assistant working with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
New England has also tried to put better pieces around Maye this season. They signed veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs in free agency and used their first four draft picks on offensive players.
2. Rebuilt offensive line
Patriots quarterbacks were sacked 52 times last year. Only four NFL teams allowed more.
That meant one of New England’s main priorities this offseason was finding ways to keep Maye upright. The team used the No. 4 overall pick in the draft on LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell, who is expected to start at left tackle as a rookie. Campbell is considered questionable for Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury.
The Patriots also used a third-round selection on Georgia’s Jared Wilson, who will slot in at left guard, and signed right tackle Morgan Moses and center Garrett Bradbury in free agency.
The rebuilt group looks much better on paper than the unit New England rolled out last year. But there are no guarantees things will come together as planned with so many new faces on the line.
3. Revamped defense
The Patriots, despite all their problems on offense, were no better on defense last season.
New England allowed 24.5 points per game last year, which ranked 22nd in the NFL. Its 28 sacks were the fewest in the league.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Patriots poured resources into fixing things. They added former Raiders linebacker RobertSpillane, cornerback Carlton Davis III, defensive tackle Milton Williams and pass rushers Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson in free agency.
Those investments should help. So should the presence of Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who instilled toughness into his teams when he coached the Titans for six seasons.
The main question is how much New England can expect to improve in such a short amount of time.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.