Pats Pulpit
Two head coaches began their next chapters in Foxborough. One would end up in the loss column there.
Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots fell to Pete Carroll’s Las Vegas Raiders by a score of 20-13 in Sunday’s 2025 season opener.
Here’s a glance back on the drizzly 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium.
Drake Maye knew there would be chances for layups and chances to step behind the arc. But the 23-year-old Patriots captain’s misses outweighed the makes. He completed 30-of-46 passes for 287 yards with one touchdown and one interception on a Sunday that got away.
Beginning in “11” personnel, the initial drive ended in a three-and-out after a short scramble and an overthrow to the sideline. Things then appeared to settle for Maye and his supporting cast. Hunter Henry slipped down the sideline for a pickup of 27 yards. A bootleg to fellow tight end Austin Hooper soon added 10 more. And on a third-and-3 blitz at the goal line, slot receiver DeMario Douglas capped it off by corralling an out-breaker versus safety Jeremy Chinn that was sent to where only he could get gloves on it. A 7-7 game was the result of the 12-play, 82-yard surge to close the first quarter.
Maye had a delay-of-game penalty before halftime arrived. But by then, he had taken a fourth-and-1 shot for defensive pass interference and gone up 10-7. It soon went the other way for the sophomore quarterback, however. A hit at the release point led to Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao collecting an airmailed interception. A 14-10 deficit followed. It swelled after the No. 3 overall pick in the last year’s NFL draft stepped into pressure as the punt team stepped on. Multiple Maye passes were batted at the line of scrimmage. One ended up as a completion to himself. A strip-sack was recovered by New England in the fourth quarter of a 20-10 game.
With undrafted rookie Efton Chism III among the inactives 90 minutes prior to kickoff, the Patriots went with five out wide.
Stefon Diggs began in the slot. Eleven months removed from a torn ACL, the 31-year-old warmed up to catch six passes for 57 yards on seven targets. Mack Hollins started on the outside. As did Kayshon Boutte, who gained 24 yards on third-and-10 against zone coverage on his initial target. And after exiting for the blue medical tent with the training staff, the 2023 draft choice returned to finish with six catches for a team-high 103 yards.
Rookie Kyle Williams rounded out a receiver room that battled multiple drops. The Washington State product made his first catch to move the chains along the boundary with 35 seconds to go.
The forecast called for the running backs. The Patriots turned to all three. But there was resistance in short yardage. Only a pair of first downs were converted on the ground...
