The New England Patriots opened up their 2025 season in a rainy Foxborough against the Las Vegas Raiders, and did what they have done an awful lot of the last few years: they lost, this time with a final score of 20-13.
It is only Week 1, and there are plenty of opportunities to correct the issues that plagued Mike Vrabel’s team on Sunday. But still, a loss is a loss. And here is what it taught us about the 2025 version of this club.
10 Patriots lessons learned in Week 1
Inconsistency keeps hurting Drake Maye: Drake Maye and the Patriots
entered the season hoping that the former first-round draft pick would take a leap to join the ranks of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. He did indeed make some incredible throws on Sunday against the, including a few nice back-shoulder completions, and a perfect throw to DeMario Douglas for the Patriots’ lone touchdown of the day.
The issue, however, is that, just as last year, he was inconsistent all day, missed multiple easy throws that made the Patriots’ life more difficult, and seemed rattled by pressure in his face. Maye has the ability to make great plays, but it’s going to be his ability to make the easy ones consistently that will allow him to reach his potential and become a great player. Until that happens, the Patriots are going to have to wonder whether or not Maye will ever be the quarterback that they drafted him to be.
The Patriots need Maye to be himself: Whether or not Maye is the guy the Patriots want him to be yet, they have to let him run more. They seemingly drilled into his head that he had to take better care of himself when running, but part of what makes him difficult to defend is his rushing ability. Not letting him run the ball more, and having zero designed runs for him, especially in a game where the rushing attack was rough to begin with, was a mistake.
Yes, you want him to rein it in a little and not put his well-being on the line on every carry. But you also have to let him be who he is if he’s going to live up to his potential. It’s going to be about finding a happy medium where he can make the crazy plays, but also make the simple plays. There’s a lot of work to be done on that end.
Second-half struggles are back on the menu: The Patriots went into the half with the lead, but they were outscored 13-3 over the final two quarters. For a team that talked about playing well in the second half and capitalizing on bad football all week leading up to the game, they did neither on Sunday and looked an awful lot like the Patriots team that collapsed down the end of last season.
Kayshon Boutte shows out: There was a lot of buzz around Kayshon Boutte this year, which left fans and analysts alike wondering if he would still be around come the regular season. The team seemed very committed to him, however, through the summer and on Sunday he showed that that commitment was well deserved: catching six passes, he finished with a team-leading 103 receiving yards.
Stefon Diggs was able to get open at times, and Hunter Henry will always be a threat, but if Boutte can make plays like he did on Sunday, that will be a big boost for this offense.
The pass rush is up and down: The Patriots received good contributions from Harold Landry (2.5 sacks) and Milton Williams (7 pressures), but the pass rush in general was lacking for most of the game. The schemed pressures did not work very well, while a few corner blitzes failed miserably on third down (including one leading to the first Raiders touchdown).
If the Patriots defense is going to be elite, they need to get more from their pass rush. That includes Christian Barmore and Keion White, but also coordinator Terrell Williams.
Running room is hard to come by: The Patriots looked like they were planing to try to run the football more this year, and, by establishing the run, open things up in the passing game. Unfortunately, Rhamondre Stevenson was only able to muster 15 yards on seven carries and TreVeyon Henderson wasn’t much of a factor either, with 27 yards, including 14 on a trick play. There is no way around it, the Patriots are going to have to be better at running the football if they want to have a properly-balanced offense and not one forcing Drake Maye to drop back 54 times.
Pass protection is a work in progress: We already discussed how the rushing attack had a tough time on Sunday, but the pass protection seemed to break down as well, particularly in the second half. Will Campbell played pretty well for the most part, but he had some costly penalties and gave up a strip sack. The hope is that he improves week-to-week and is able to apply the lessons learned on the fly.
The same is true for fellow rookie Jared Wilson, who surrendered three pressures and an extended sack, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
The veterans along the line also have room for improvement. While center Garrett Bradbury played a clean game from a pass protection perspective, Mike Onwenu and Morgan Moses gave up two and one pressure apiece — including on an apparent miscommunication that led to Drake Maye’s third-quarter interception.
Carlton Davis plays well, but gives up a huge play: With Christian Gonzalez still absent due to the hamstring injury he suffered in late July, the Patriots were forced to look to their depth at cornerback and hope that Carlton Davis could be their No. 1 on Sunday. For most of the day, the free agency pickup was up to the task. He had a pass break up in the first quarter, which led to the Patriots’ only turnover, an interception by safety Jaylinn Hawkins. He also was pretty much lockdown corner all day. That is, until the game was on the line.
With the Raiders facing 3rd-and-20 with 3:23 left in a 20-10 game, rookie Dont’e Thornton hit him with a double move, and made a nice catch to move the chains and essentially ice the game. It seems like a questionable decision to not be playing a deep zone on 3rd-and-20 with the game pretty much on the line, but, regardless, the players themselves also need to do their part. On this crucial play, Davis didn’t.
It was quittin’ time in the fourth quarter: Mike Vrabel has spoken all offseason about playing with urgency this year, but he showed little of it in the fourth quarter. With under five minutes left, trailing by two scores, the Patriots decided to punt the ball on a 4th-and-10 from their own 44-yard line. They needed two scores to tie the game, and decided to punt near midfield anyway. That felt like them giving up.
In a league that has become quite aggressive with its fourth down calls over the last few years, the Patriots are still behind the eight-ball. They haven’t been nearly aggressive enough the last five years, and, if that’s a sign of things to come, they are still in the stone ages as far as in-game decision-making is concerned. Sure, Will Campbell had a false start on the play before that, but not going for it felt like conceding the game.
The Patriots need more from Vrabel moving forward.
It could be worse: As bad as the Patriots looked at times on Sunday, the Miami Dolphins looked significantly worse. They were completely blown out by Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts. It looked like the Dolphins might have been ready to implode before the season started, and they did nothing to beat those allegations on Sunday.
When they are good, however, they can be really good. The Patriots better come ready to play next week in what will be a tough environment
