Zak Drapeau's Patriots Review: 20-13 Loss to Raiders

by Zak Drapeau 9/8//2025 Sportz Nation

Game Summary

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

The opening game of the season has come and gone and the Patriots start their season with an 0-1 record after falling to the Raiders 20-13. Their home opener was less than what they'd hoped for and even though the home crowd were roaring for mot of the game, the Pats never looked very comfortable in the game.

From the start of the first drive of the game that saw the Raiders quickly pass the ball to an early Tre Tucker-TD to the Pats' first drive as a 3-and-out, the Patriots started the game very cold. The pass defense and the secondary looked fractured and clearly missed their #1 corner Christian Gonzalez who is still injured with a high ankle sprain.

The Patriots would put together the next 3 great drives of the game from the end of the 1st to the end of the 2nd as they settled down and got into a rhythm. Drake Maye was starting to spread the ball around beautifully to multiple guys while facing pressure on most dropbacks. An early missed field goal from Andy Borregales would become a huge factor by the end of the game but would make up for it with another one right down the uprights later. The lone touchdown in the first half came from Pop Douglas who looks to be the best slot option on the team and someone Maye targeted several times in the red zone.

The second half would start and right away the Patriots looked sluggish again. The Raiders would methodically move the chains on their way to scoring in their first drive of the half again, this time being the first TD for their rookie Ashton Jeanty from 2 yards out.

The methodical approach from the Raiders was a clear sign that the Patriots' defense still has a long way to go. Yes Christian Gonzalez will make a huge difference, but the Raiders were not able to run the ball with any consistency. Geno Smith looked like a veteran yesterday, staying in the pocket, hitting 3rd progressions and leading receivers like Bowers and Meyers to highlight days. The pass rush for the Patriots were not good besides Landry's 2.5 sack day against a mediocre Raiders' o-line too.

The 2nd half would see a slow pace from both teams though and would start terrible for the Patriots. Before giving up the Raiders 2nd TD on their first drive of the second half, Drake Maye would throw his first INT of the year as well in an errant throw set up by more interior pass rush from the Raiders.

The rest of the second half would be a slugfest by two teams that took very little chances but also played well enough on both sides to keep their momentum.

Both teams would hit 3 field goals by the end of the game, finishing off a slow 4th Quarter as the Raiders would win the game 20-13 and give Mike Vrabel and the Patriots their first loss.

The Good

Jaylinn Hawkins

The first Star of the game has to go to the 7-year veteran Safety Jaylinn Hawkins. Hawkins would grab a bobble-INT early on in the game and round out his day with a sack as well. Much was speculated about the Safety turnover from the Patriots with the release of Jabrill Peppers and benching of Kyle Dugger who only played 7 snaps. Hawkins would be tied for the most snaps played on the Patriots defense with 63 and looked like the Captain of the secondary. Clearly "one of Vrabel's guys", Hawkins will be a fixture of this defense this season and will hopefully keep being the playmaker of this unit.

Will Campbell

The Patriots #1 draft pick claimed that he would "fight and die for Drake Maye" and he basically did that from the jump. Will Campbell was Questionable to play in the game with an Ankle injury but suited up anyway. His game was not perfect, he had a bad false start that stalled a drive but his pass protection was solid. A sack from Tyree Wilson won't go against him after Drake Maye was doing too much scrambling in the pocket. Only 2 pressures and no hits would be given up by the rookie as he starts his Patriots' career off the right way.

Run Defense

Against a team like the Raiders who obviously want to run the ball with Ashton Jeanty, the Patriots had a great day against the run. The Raiders would run the ball 24 times on the day for only 56 yards and a touchdown. Jeanty would only grab 19-38-1 and would be crowded at or before the line of scrimmage for more than half of his touches. Christian Barmore and Milton Williams deserve a lot of credit for the holes they eliminated up front and Christian Elliss was probably the best backer on the day.

Photo by Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images

Receiver Room

This section is for the pass game as a whole but particularly how Drake Maye was able to spread the ball around. With 30 completions on 46 passes, the sophomore QB would target 10 different receivers and technically have receptions from 9 different players, (including himself on a tipped pass). Maye's favorites include Kayshon Boutte (6-103), Stefon Diggs (6-57), TreVeyon Henderson (6-24) and Hunter Henry (4-66). Pop Douglas would also catch the only TD of the game by was targeted 3 times in total in the red zone signaling a chemistry between the young QB and receiver especially by the goal line.

The Bad

Pass Defense

No other way to put it, the Patriots defense gets a D for a pass coverage grade. Missing Christian Gonzalez was always going to limit their potential not to mention the new faces at Safety in both Hawkins and Woodson. Geno Smith was 24 for 34 with 362 pass yards and 1 TD and 1 pick. The biggest problem was the medium throws on simple routes like crosses and go's. Players like Tre Tucker, Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers all had multiple 20-yard catch and runs as the Raiders looked like the 2024 Bengals. Simply put the Patriots need to improve this area and fast, the raiders have a mid-passing game and if they can expose the Patriots, other teams will carve them up.

Inconsistent Pass Rush

4 sacks on the day is usually a great feat and guys like Harold Landry deserve a lot of praise but as a whole, Geno Smith was only pressured on 26 of his 40 dropbacks. Too many times was Smith sitting in the pocket for way too long and able to complete a throw on a wide receiver run off because of it. The pass rush was notable for being the weakest point of this Patriots defense and even though it looked better than maybe expected... Again, the Raiders do not have a great team and the Patriots pass rush can't only be reliant on Landry or opposing Quarterbacks will be able to eat a sandwich back there.

Coming Out the Gates

Both TD-scoring drives form the Raiders happened in their first of each half. While the drive in the second half started with good field position after a Drake Maye-INT, the fact is that the Patriots looked sluggish to start the game on both sides of the ball. As the halfs would carry on, the Patriots would look much more sharp and physical by just the middle of the 1st and 3rd Quarter! Even that would be too late however and if the Patriots were just ready to play as soon as the whistle started for both halves and you take away either of those early-TDs they're now up 1 point in the game.

Looking Ahead

Next week the Patriots head down to Miami where they haven't won since 2019. Luckily for the Patriots, the Dolphins look even worse than they did Week 1 after losing 33-8 in Indianapolis.

The Dolphins had absolutely no answers on defense and if the Patriots can put together a strong game plan that has to include more of a ground game, this will be a very winnable game for the Pats.

The Dolphins lost their game in the trenches, never giving Tua enough time while also not being able to stop the Colts' run game or much of their pass game at all. With Miami's depleted and frankly weak defense, the Patriots will need to be physical in the trenches and try to break Miami from the start of the game and I really believe they could walk away with a win.

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-Z.D.