Pats Pulpit
The 2025 season is right around the corner. Although the world champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Micah Parsons-less Dallas Cowboys will open the year tonight, the New England Patriots have a few more days of wait and preparation ahead of them: they will enter Week 1 on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 1 p.m. ET.
Their opponent is in itself a familiar one; the Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders are set to cross paths a fourth time in the last six seasons. However, this iteration of the Silver and Black is a different one altogether: like New England, Las Vegas went for a rebuild this season, hiring Pete Carroll as its head coach.
So, with that said, let’s take a closer look at New England’s opening day opponent.
There obviously is nothing to work with as far as the Raiders’ record and stats are concerned. They are 0-0, like the Patriots, and have yet to show their strengths and weaknesses.
New England will get an up-close look at those on Sunday, but let’s find out what the team accomplished in 2024 to get some sense of a) what led to the coaching change, and b) where the team needed go improve the most in order to get back into winning territory and compete for a playoff spot.
Record: 4-13 (4th AFC West)
Scoring differential: -125 (27th)
Turnover differential: -16 (30th)
Offense: 18.2 points/game (29th), 303.2 yards/game (27th), 29 giveaways (29th), -0.058 EPA/pass (28th), -0.283 EPA/run (32nd)
Defense: 25.5 points/game (25th), 333.1 yards/game (15th), 13 takeaways (29th), 0.088 EPA/pass (17th), -0.098 EPA/run (15th)
Like the Patriots, the Raiders struggled mightily in 2024. Led by head coach Antonio Pierce, they won just four games all year; only one of them coming against a team that would end the year with a winning record (Week 2 vs. Baltimore). They started 2-2 and went 2-1 in their final three games, but in between lost 10 straight.
Las Vegas was especially poor on offense. The Raiders had a hard time passing the ball, and they had an even harder one running it. They also struggled with turnovers, throwing 16 interceptions and losing 13 fumbles.
For comparison, the Raiders were solid on the defensive side of the ball. Even though the team still only ranked 25th in the league in points allowed and 29th in takeaways — 10 INTs plus a league-worst 3 fumble recoveries — they fared relatively well against both the run and the pass. It was not enough to overcome an atrocious offensive performance, but it did provide a positive foundation to build on. In fact, Patrick Graham was retained by Pete Carroll as defensive coordinator.
So far, there is nothing to report when it comes to Las Vegas’ 2025. The big developments to note are the losses of some high-exposure free agents such as Robert Spillane, Tre’Von Moehrig and Jack Jones, who ranked 1-2-3 on the team in defensive snaps, as well as the...
