The Las Vegas Raiders are sitting at 3-1 and looking to rebound from a 30-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. A trip to Foxboro, Massachusetts, and the first 10:00 a.m. West Coast time game is up next. The New England Patriots and head coach Mike Vrabel are a good team, but they aren’t unbeatable. If the Raiders do these five things, they can get back to their winning ways.
1. Pressuring Drake Maye
Maye had a get-right game against their division rival, the Buffalo Bills, last week. Throwing for 269
yards and three touchdowns, plus leading his team in rushing with 54 yards. How was he able to do this? As a whole, the Bills’ defense only produced five quarterback hits and one sack. Yet somehow he still fumbled three times. In his other three games, he was sacked three times in each contest and was constantly under duress.
2. Establishing the run
In 2026, the Raiders have one rushing touchdown; only two players have positive rushing totals and collectively they are averaging 93 yards per game. Despite such abysmal production, they still manage to score 29.5 points per game. Establishing the run keeps the Maye and Patriots offense off the field. It also takes pressure off Kirk Cousins and sets up the play action for big plays in the passing game.
3. Defend the run
Not every team has a former Super Bowl MVP at running back. However, the Patriots have a thunder and lightning combination of their own. Rhamondre Stevenson wears down defenses like body shots and leg kicks in the early rounds of an MMA fight. TreyVeyon Henderson is the home-run hitter who is one missed tackle away from running for daylight. Neutralizing them both forces Maye to win the game by himself, something he’s only done once this year.
4. Get wide receivers more involved
The Patriots shut down the Bills’ tight end duo of Dalton Kincade and Dawson Knox. The Raiders run more 12/13 personnel (two- and three-tight-end sets) than anyone else in the league. Brock Bowers, specifically, is who they will be keying on. Potentially being without Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis to cover Bowers, the Patriots’ defense is going to have to come up with something ingenious to stop him. Lining up the rest of the Raiders’ pass catchers against practice squad players is a mismatch they must capitalize on.
5. Ball security
For two straight weeks, the Raiders’ kick returners have put the football on the ground and given it back to the kicking team. It cost them the division lead against the Chiefs and put them in an 11-point deficit against the New Orleans Saints. This is a trend they can not afford to continue. Especially when it is a one-score game prior to the turnover. It’s quite simple, with better ball security the Raiders are still undefeated.
