The Patriots looked every bit like a team finding its footing in a 45-17 win over the Raiders, and Mike Vrabel’s old grading scale fits the afternoon perfectly: there was plenty of good, a little bad, and just enough of the “s-t that gets you beat” to keep the film room honest.
Start with the headline act. Drake Maye was outstanding, the kind of quarterback performance that changes the temperature around a team in a hurry.
He completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and accounted for five total touchdowns, throwing four and adding another on a 3-yard run. If a second straight AFC Offensive Player of the Week award lands in his lap, it won’t be a surprise.
“I felt like he was in control,” said Mike Vrabel after the game. “Gave him some time, and we always talk about when we have clean pockets and his ability to transfer up into really good pockets that we’re going to gain yards - and being able to recognize man or zone, or where he wants to go with the football, and the timing of it.”
Maye wasn’t carrying the load by himself, though. DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism, Kyle Williams, Caleb Lomu, Elijah Ponder and Kindle Vildor all showed up in meaningful ways, and Dre’Mont Jones delivered one of the game’s bigger plays with an 11-yard tackle for loss. The overall operation was crisp enough that the Patriots kept rolling even after losing left tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson to injuries on three plays in the second quarter.
That was part of what made the day feel so complete. New England’s offense stayed efficient outside of Maye’s numbers, and the defense did its job despite being down four cornerbacks. That’s how a good team handles business against an opponent like Las Vegas, even one that came in at 3-1.
The one area that landed in the “bad” bucket was the work against Brock Bowers. The Raiders’ top target was no mystery, but the Patriots still had trouble slowing him down. Bowers caught eight passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, and without Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis in the secondary, New England never really solved him.
Still, that was more of a blemish than a problem. If that’s the worst thing in the breakdown, it says a lot about how well the Patriots played overall.
The real irritation came from the penalties. The flags flew early and often, and while some of the calls were on the ticky-tacky side, New England still finished with 12 penalties for 116 yards. That’s the kind of number that can sink a team when the game is tighter.
It didn’t cost the Patriots against the Raiders, but Vrabel made clear afterward that he wasn’t brushing it off.
“The penalties are ridiculous,” he said. “We’ll have to focus on that and figure out things that we can improve on, which there’ll be a lot of.”
In Other News...
Josh McDaniels May Be Unlocking What Patriots Fans Wanted From Drake Maye
Drake Mayes best stretch as a pro arrived at just the right time for the Patriots, and it gave New England something it has been searching for since drafting him: a passing game that finally looks dangerous. In the Week 5 rout of the Raiders, Maye threw four touchdown passes in a 45-17 win, and the offense looked far more comfortable than it did earlier in the season.
The surge did not come out of nowhere. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky pointed to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for the adjustments helping Maye settle in, crediting the way the system has been reshaped around the quarterbacks strengths. For a Patriots team that has spent much of the start of the year trying to find its identity, the bigger question now is whether this version of the offense can hold up as defenses adjust back. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots May Have Found A New Weapon In Eli Raridon
Eli Raridon is starting to look like more than a rookie tight end trying to find his footing. In the Patriots win over the Raiders, he turned in the busiest receiving day of his young career, showing the kind of versatility New England hoped for when it brought him along as both a blocker and a pass-catching option. Even before that, Raridon had already flashed enough to matter, scoring a touchdown in his NFL debut and giving the offense a different look at a position that often has to do a little of everything.
Mike Vrabel has made it clear he sees the talent, and Raridons early progress has only added to the intrigue. He missed some time with a thigh injury, but he has still been on the field for a notable share of the offense and keeps finding ways to stay involved. For a Patriots team still sorting out where the next useful pieces come from, the question now is less whether Raridon can help and more how quickly that role can keep growing. [Read more 🡒]
Drake Mayes Resurgence Just Raised A Bigger Patriots Offensive Question
Drake Mayes recent surge has given the Patriots something they badly needed: a passing game that can finally threaten defenses beyond the short stuff. On ESPN, Mina Kimes pointed to the way New England has protected its quarterback and how much better Maye has looked over the last two weeks, especially when hes taking shots downfield. Even without A.J. Brown, the vertical game has started to show some life, and that alone changes the feel of the offense.
The bigger question now is what happens when Brown is back in the mix. Kimes noted that his return could give the Patriots another layer in a passing attack that has already been finding answers through the air, and his presence would almost certainly force defenses to choose their problems more carefully. For a team trying to build on Mayes improvement, that kind of boost could be the difference between a nice stretch and a real offensive turning point. [Read more 🡒]