5 things to know about the Raiders ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Patriots
Just like the Patriots, the Raiders are also ushering in a new era at head coach as they hope to get back into playoff contention.
Tom Brady will face the Patriots on Sunday. Well, sorta.
The Patriots host the Raiders in Week 1 as Brady enters his first full season as one of Las Vegas’ minority owners. Brady actually joined the franchise in the middle of the 2024 season and reportedly had a hand in remaking this past offseason. But he won’t be in Foxborough on Sunday due to his broadcasting obligations with Fox Sports.
There are plenty of enticing storylines, though, that make Sunday’s Raiders-Patriots matchup an intriguing Week 1 battle. As the Patriots ring in a new era with Mike Vrabel at head coach, the Raiders are also starting a new era at head coach, too.
Let’s take a look at five things you need to know about the Raiders ahead of Sunday’s game.
They have a new HC-QB duo, and they’ve been successful before.
When the Raiders hired head coach Pete Carroll this offseason, one of the first roster moves they made was to reunite him with the last quarterback he coached with the Seahawks: Geno Smith.
Even though the Seahawks parted ways with both Carroll and Smith, the duo was pretty successful together in the two seasons that Smith was Carroll’s starting quarterback. They went 17-15 in the 32 games Smith started in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, making the playoffs in 2022.
Now, Carroll and Smith weren’t too great together against the spread over those two years. Seattle had a 15-18-2 record against the spread over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, including the playoffs. But Smith has a 27-23-2 all-time record against the spread as an underdog, which the Raiders are for Sunday’s game (Patriots are favored by 2.5 points).
As for how each has fared against the Patriots, Carroll has gone 3-1 against his former team since he was let go after the 1999 season. All three of those wins were in the regular season, with the one loss memorably coming in Super Bowl XLIX.
Smith, meanwhile, is 2-3 against the Patriots in his career. His first win actually came during his rookie season with the Jets in 2013, while he picked up his second win against the Patriots last year. In that game, Smith carved the Patriots’ defense, 33 of 44 passes for 327 yards and a touchdown.
Smith finished the 2024 season with a 10-7 record, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 4,320 yards, 21 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and a 93.2 passer rating.
They might have the best tight end in the NFL.
Smith’s wide receivers in Las Vegas (Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, Dont’e Thornton Jr.) might not be as talented as the trio he had in Seattle (Jaxson Smith-Njigba, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett) over the last couple of years. However, Brock Bowers might triumph over all of them in talent.
Bowers set the rookie tight end record for receiving yards in a season with 1,194 yards last year. He also set the rookie record for receptions, regardless of position, with 112. He also added five touchdowns.
For those who play fantasy football, you might have recognized that Bowers was listed as TE1 in your drafts this year. Well, ESPN projects he’ll have another strong year in 2025 (110 receptions, 1,154 yards, six touchdowns) and his receiving yards total (1,025.5 yards) is the highest among all tight ends at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Last season, opposing tight ends averaged seven receptions for 50 yards per game against the Patriots. Obviously, New England’s defense has changed a lot this offseason, but the Patriots did a relatively strong job of limiting tight ends in 2024.
They also might have the best edge rusher, too — possibly giving Will Campbell a nightmare matchup in his debut.
Similar to Bowers, Maxx Crosby also has a case to be named the best player at his position, although he has a bit more competition for that claim among edge rushers.
Even if Crosby isn’t the best pass rusher, he’s undeniably one of the best defensive players in the league. He’s one of the few pass rushers who is highly effective as a pass rusher and run stopper. As a run stopper, Crosby recorded 179 total tackles between the 2022 and 2023 seasons, leading all edge rushers in run-stop win rate in 2023 (36 percent). He was also second in run stop win rate in 2024 (37 percent).
In terms of his pass-rushing abilities, Crosby had 7.5 sacks in just 12 games last season. He had 27 in the prior two seasons combined, while his 20 percent pass-rush win rate ranked ninth among all edge rushers in 2024.
So, that’s what Campbell has to deal with in his first game in the NFL, although it should be noted the Raiders have lined up Crosby across the opposing team’s right tackle in the past, too. The last time Crosby faced the Patriots, he had a half-sack and four pressures as his takedown of Mac Jones for a safety helped seal he win for the Raiders.
They have the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite.
Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, some argued that running back Ashton Jeanty was the best prospect in the class, but his position hurt his value. The Boise State product threatened to break Barry Sanders’s longstanding FBS college rushing record last season, going for 2,601 yards on seven yards per carry to help him finish second in the Heisman vote.
The Raiders were ultimately able to snag Jeanty with the sixth overall pick in April’s draft, with the Patriots passing on him to select Campbell with the fourth overall pick. He’s slightly favored (+275) over Titans quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward (+350) to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Jeanty should be an upgrade over what the Raiders had at running back last season. Alexander Mattison was their leading rusher, going for 420 yards on just 3.2 yards per carry.
Last season, the Patriots were arguably one of the worst teams in the NFL at stopping the run. They ranked 23rd in rushing yards allowed, while opposing running backs averaged 116 yards per game on 4.6 yards per carry.
It’s been a long time since they’ve won a game in Foxborough.
The Patriots closed Foxboro Stadium by defeating the Raiders in the memorable Tuck Rule Game in the 2001 season. That marked the start of a four-game winning streak against their fellow AFC foe, as the Raiders haven’t won a game in Foxborough since October 1994.
Granted, the Raiders have only played the Patriots in Foxborough three more times since that snowy night in January 2002. The NFL’s scheduling quirks are the reason for that, with Sunday marking the first time the Raiders have made the trip to Gillette Stadium since 2020.
Still, the majority of players in Sunday’s game weren’t even born yet when the Raiders took down Drew Bledsoe and the Patriots in October 1994. In fact, Mike Vrabel’s NFL career had yet to begin at that point.
For those wondering what went down in that 1994 matchup, Bledsoe completed just 23 of 55 passes for 321 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Jeff Hostetler quarterbacked the Raiders to a comeback victory, turning a 17-7 deficit into a 21-17 win.
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