Two weeks ago, the Raiders were one of the NFL’s early surprises at 3-0. Now they’re 3-2, riding a pair of losses and trying to make sense of a 45-17 pounding from the Patriots in Foxborough.
That trip to New England was supposed to be a chance for Las Vegas to duplicate last year’s result. Instead, Klint Kubiak’s team got pushed around and outplayed from the start, with Drake Maye steering the Patriots to a statement win and leaving the Raiders with plenty to clean up.
The biggest frustration remains the ground game, and it’s starting to feel uncomfortably familiar. Ashton Jeanty followed a strong opener, when he rushed for roughly 100 yards, by managing just 2.7 yards on 10 carries against New England. As a team, Las Vegas finished with a little over two yards per rush, which is nowhere near good enough for an offense trying to establish any rhythm.
Jeanty hasn’t helped matters by not running with enough patience and failing to let blocks develop in front of him. The offensive line, meanwhile, has to do a better job creating movement at the line of scrimmage. There’s no quick fix here; this unit may need time to grow inside Kubiak’s wide-zone system.
And while the Raiders did get a couple of bright spots, they were buried under everything else. Brock Bowers stood out, and first-overall rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza made his debut, completing 6 of 8 passes for 48 yards. Beyond that, it was a rough afternoon for just about everybody else.
Maye and the Patriots’ skill players had their way with the Raiders’ defense, and the run defense didn’t hold up either. Las Vegas looked like a young team with some veteran pieces that got humbled on the road, and the margin showed in a game where Maye accounted for five total touchdowns.
The schedule isn’t doing the Raiders any favors, either. Buffalo is next, along with Josh Allen, who was described as the league’s best quarterback.
Defensively, there were problems all over the place. Coordinator Rob Leonard leaned into an aggressive plan against New England’s pass-catchers, and the Patriots made him pay for it.
Wide receiver Kyle Williams repeatedly won against press coverage, while Darien Porter and Hezekiah Masses both struggled. The linebackers also had a hard time dealing with tight ends Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon.
That matchup may not be the last time Las Vegas runs into this kind of trouble. The Bills, Rams, 49ers and Seahawks all present similar challenges, and Leonard is going to need to squeeze every bit of production he can out of the talent he has.
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Patriots Fans Got An Intriguing First Look At The Raiders Top Pick
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Mendoza completed his first five pass attempts and helped move the offense into New England territory before the drive bogged down. Even with the Raiders playing from behind, his debut offered a small but encouraging snapshot of what he might bring once he gets a fuller chance to settle in. [Read more 🡒]
Maxx Crosby Could Wreck A Patriots Plan The Raiders Must Respect
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Josh McDaniels Might Deserve More Credit For One Raiders QB Call
Josh McDaniels Raiders tenure is remembered mostly for the stumble that led to his firing, but his post-Raiders coaching path has not been as simple as that one chapter. He has bounced from that setback to a Super Bowl team, and now one of the sharper what-ifs from his time in Las Vegas is resurfacing because of how the quarterback class has played out.
Before the 2023 draft, there was no clean agreement in the Raiders building on which passer belonged at the top of the board, and the difference mattered for a franchise still searching for long-term stability. Bryce Youngs recent rise has given that debate a new life, while C.J. Strouds 2026 start has only sharpened the discussion around how close Las Vegas came to making a very different call. The frustrating part for McDaniels is that the broader story of his offenses remains murky, especially with the reasons behind the struggles in New England still not fully sorted out. [Read more 🡒]