To say that I am disappointed is beyond words. Yes, I stated in yesterday’s article that I thought the Patriots would lose. That doesn’t mean that I am cheering for the team to lose. I would gladly have egg on my face if the Patriots had won the game, and I would have been happy with the result. Remember how last season started out with the victory at Cincinatti. We went on to win only 3 more games.They didn’t look good. I believe it is going to take 4-5 weeks for the team to get their you-know-what together. Too many breakdowns, missed assignments, bad throws, and just not enough positive results.Good
Kayshon Boutte is rounding into the Patriots’ #1 receiver. He had 6 catches on 8 targets for 103 yards. He took a hard shot and came back in the second half.
Harold Landry had 2.5 sacks and 3 Tackle For Loss (TFL).
After being gashed in the 1st Quarter by Ashton Jeanty, the Defense shut down the running game of the Raiders. For the game, LV ran 24 times for 56 yards a 2.3 YPC. Jeanty had two runs in the 1st Quarter of 9 yards each, but not much after that for the game, going 19 carries for 38 yards, a 2.0 YPC. However, Geno Smith used those two runs to establish Play Action and he gashed them with it.
Rookie Craig Woodson had 7 tackles with 5 solo, to go along with 2 TFLs. Christian Elliss led the team with 8 tackles, of which 5 were solo.
Bad
Will Campbell was having a good game up to the point where he was called for two False Start penalties late in the 4th He was incorrectly blamed for two sacks. The 1st was actually Drake Maye’s fault. Williams had the DE walled off and Maye moved up the pocket and right into the arms of the pass rusher. The second was on what was called a strip sack but was actually a Maye Fumble. Maye flat out lost the ball when he reared back to throw (Maye has small hands) and it was not knocked out of his hand. The second False Start changed a 4th and 5, to a decision to go for it, to a punting situation. Otherwise, Williams had a good game.
The Patriots made Geno Smith look like Joe Montana. Smith was 24 of 34 (70.5%) for 362 yards and a TD. Smith had 9 passes of 20+ yards in the game and averaged 10+ Yards Per Attempt. That was historic. Even when the Patriots sold out on the Blitz, Smith excelled when under pressure. Smith was cool, calm, and collected. Just the opposite of what Drake Maye was.
Pop Douglas had only two catches on 8 targets. However, that number is a little misleading. Maye badly overthrew him twice when he was wide open.
Jaylinn Hawkins had three really good plays on Defense with a sack and 2 TFLs. However, it was his lost responsibility on the cross pattern by Tre Tucker for the long TD on the opening drive for Las Vegas.
Robert Spillane needs to have a bigger impact. He had just 3 tackles and missed a tackle on Ashton Jeanty’s TD. He took the wrong angle and got sucked into a block that sprung Jeanty.
Ugly
Drake Maye looked like a High School QB. His nervousness / hyperactive play at the beginning of the game is a problem that needs to be fixed. He missed a wide-open Pop Douglas on the sideline and followed that up with a bad miss in the end zone to Pop Douglas again. He also threw a Hospital Ball in the flat to TreVeyon Henderson, where he never even looked to see what defense they were in. Far too often, Maye stared down his receiver. In the 4th Quarter, the Raiders ratcheted up Maye by blitzing and putting pressure on him. Maye ended up 30 of 46 (65.2%) for 287 yards a TD and an INT. The INT was when he was under pressure and couldn’t step up in the pocket. The pass sailed over the head of the receiver.
The Patriots ran the ball three times in the second half. One by Antonio Gibson, one was a Maye scramble, and the third was a handoff to Douglas on a reverse for 4 yards. The Offensive Line was never able to establish the running game.
The Raiders’ Defense was prepared for TreVeyon Henderson in the passing game and in the screen game. Henderson had 6 catches on 6 targets for 24 yards. Chip Kelly, the Raiders’ Offensive Coordinator, was the OC for Ohio State last year.
Special Teams were awful. Borregales badly missed a Field Goal. Berringer had a brutal 20-yard punt with 5 minutes left in the game. The Special Teams players had two penalties.
Carlton Davis gave up a huge 3rd and 20, reception to Donte Thornton for 36 yards with 3:23 left in the game. Thornton is known for one thing only, and that is a go pattern. How does Davis allow him to get behind him?
The Patriots couldn’t stop Brock Bowers (what a surprise) and Jakobi Meyers. Bowers went 5 receptions on eight targets for 103 yards. Meyers had eight catches on 10 targets for 97 yards. I couldn’t believe the Patriots had Marcus Jones matched up on one-on-one against Bowers. What a mismatch!
Other Game Notes: Next Gen Stats had the Patriots’ Offensive Line with the following stats:LT Will Campbell – 2 pressures, 1 sack (Maye stepped up right into the DE – not his fault)LG Jared Wilson – 3 pressures (2 quick), 1 extended sackC Garrett Bradbury – cleanRG Michael Onwenu – 2 pressuresMorgan Moses – 1 pressureMaye was IndecisiveJosh McDaniel has coached Drake Maye into being a passer and taking away his instinct to run. Several times he had the option to run and chose to hang back and pass rather than tuck it and run. This is causing some indecisiveness in Mayer. I also didn’t see any deep passes from Maye.Bedard’s Opinion on Drake MayeMaye is young, just turned 23 years old, and he has two years of playing (starter) in college and 14 games in the NFL. In 4 years, he has had 4 different Offensive Coordinators. Josh McDaniels’ Offense is the most complicated of the four. According to Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal, it may take 4-8 games for Maye to get used to this Offense. Maye had never taken a snap under Center before he came to the NFL. He still seems uncomfortable when asked to be under Center and execute a play-action pass, especially when he has to turn his back to the Defenders and then turn quickly and re-acquire the receivers. I also don’t like the fact that Maye has small hands for a QB. This might be the biggest cause for the number of fumbles that Maye has.Patriots Bring Durden onto 53-Man Roster, Waive Jeremiah PharmsThe Patriots made a sneaky transaction on Saturday by signing DT Corey Burden to the 53-man Roster and waiving DT Jeremiah Pharms. The 6’4”, 305-pound NT was signed as an UDFA after the 2023 NFL Draft by Detroit but was waived on cutdown day. The LA Rams signed him to their Practice Squad and signed him to their 53-man Roster mid-season. After 4 games, he was waived and re-signed to their Practice Squad.He signed a futures contract and went to the Rams Training Camp only to be waived again on the cutdown day. After clearing waivers, he was signed back to the Rams’ Practice Squad. In December, the NY Giants signed Durden off the Ginats Practice Squad. In 2025, he was waived by the NY at the cutdown day and signed as a Patriots Practice Squad player, that is, until Saturday.
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About Mark MorseMerrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.View all posts by Mark Morse
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