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.
Maye unable to rise in second half
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.
Boutte paces five-man wideout room
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.
Ground game bottled up by Raiders
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 by halftime. Only 3.46 yards per carry were found by the season opener’s close.
That changed how the offense could do business. Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 15 yards on seven chances. The starter was held for no gain on a pair of third-and-1 situations along the way. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson provided a sudden change of pace, beginning with a broken tackle and seven yards on a counter play. The national champion out of Ohio State logged 27 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards on 11 touches in all.
Veteran Antonio Gibson, who broke off a kick return of 41 yards to begin Sunday, saw the football go his way twice on offense against Raiders.
Rookies on the left, vets on the right
New England’s offensive line was built by youth on one side and experience on the other. It held up in pass protection for the first half of the matinee.
Will Campbell made his NFL debut as the left tackle on Sunday despite being listed as questionable with an ankle ailment. Next to the LSU product stood another SEC arrival in left guard Jared Wilson. A pair of false starts and a holding penalty were charged to them, respectively. The rookie draft investments were joined by a combined 319 starts between center Garrett Bradbury, right guard Mike Onwenu and right tackle Morgan Moses.
But Maxx Crosby was playing games nearby the vets. In the third quarter, those games hit home. A twisting, inside pressure by the perennial Pro Bowl defensive end set up a fluttered ball and an interception. Tyree Wilson pushed back the blindside for third-and-5 sack soon after as New England’s quarterback stepped up in the pocket. Malcolm Koonce got the next takedown around the left side for a strip that the No. 4 overall pick in April’s draft fell on.
Defensive front awakens through Landry
The first running back taken in the 2025 NFL draft was in town. And Ashton Jeanty was there to do more than some sightseeing. The unanimous All-American out of Boise State picked up nine on his first career handoff. From there, he turned 19 carries into 38 yards and a barreling touchdown at the goal line.
The Patriots started top-dollar disruptors Christian Barmore and Milton Williams on the interior defensive line. Their presence was felt against the run. But after the Raiders quickly traveled 66 yards down the field and into the end zone, the pass rush awoke for a defense that ranked last around the league in sacks last year. Harold Landry III notched the first of September as a blitz was dialed up. The team captain, who signed in March after being released by the Tennessee Titans, would end up with 2.5 while splitting a sack with fellow outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson.
Sunday saw longtime edge-setting starter Anfernee Jennings become a healthy scratch.
Down an All-Pro, New England’s secondary endures 362 yards by air
A hamstring injury sustained during the first padded practice of training camp lingered into the first game of September. Ruling out reigning All-Pro Christian Gonzalez set sights elsewhere in the secondary. Alex Austin started in his place across from veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III.
Both had a hand in passes intended for All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers, who finished hobbled yet with five catches for 103 yards on eight targets, led by a long of 38. And while on the safety bubble leading up to the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline, Kyle Dugger got the call in the slot as part of the big nickel. Rookie Craig Woodson roamed deep in the secondary. The same went for Jaylinn Hawkins, who let up a 26-yard touchdown to wide receiver Tre Tucker on the first series before intercepting a tipped pass and following it up with a third-down sack the next time out.
Geno Smith outlasted all efforts. In his Raiders debut, the well-traveled quarterback completed 24-of-34 passes for 362 yards with one touchdown and one turnover. He had old friend Jakobi Meyers for 97 yards on eight catches by afternoon’s end. And he had a 6-foot-5 rookie with a 4.3 40-yard-dash speed, too. On third-and-20 with 3:23 remaining, Dont’e Thornton came down with a 36-yarder to seal it.
Borregales pushes from 40 away
Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer’s department proved eventful on Sunday. With long snapper Julian Ashby delivering, 2025 draft classmate Andres Borregales converted on 2-of-3 field goals and his lone extra point.
The rookie kicker’s first attempt from the field was pushed wide right from 40 yards away. He split the uprights from 35 and 44 with his next opportunities.
A holdover holder was also part of the equation alongside the selections out of Vanderbilt and Miami. Bryce Baringer pinned the Raiders down inside the 20 on a pair of occasions. He punted six times, including a long of 59 and a short of 21 yards, on a day that saw standard elevations Mark Robinson and cornerback Corey Ballentine factor into kicking game.
