The New England Patriots will open their 2025 season on Sunday, hosting the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. In order to star the season 1-0, the team of new head coach Mike Vrabel will need to stick to its much-mentioned set of rules and furthermore reach its goals of properly anticipating and adapting to what the opponent — itself coached by a new HC, Pete Carroll — might throw at it.
Beyond that, of course, the Patriots also need to be ready for the challenge at the individual level. The
players themselves have had quite some time to prepare for the opponent, but now it is about turning practice into in-game reality.
Naturally, that is a job that falls on every player declared active for the upcoming Week 1 game. However, a few of them still stand out in our estimation. And with that said, let’s take a look at the X-factors for the Patriots’ first regular season contest of the Vrabel era.
X-factor vs. Raiders: Offensive tackles
The offensive tackle position was arguably the weakest on the Patriots’ roster in 2024, and that is saying something. It was therefore no surprise to see the team go out and make a concerted effort to upgrade, signing Morgan Moses in free agency and selecting Will Campbell in the first round of the NFL Daft.
On Sunday, the pair will make its New England debut. Campbell is expected to start at left tackle despite being listed as questionable with an ankle injury, with Moses on the opposite side. In their respective roles, they will go up against a potent set of edge defenders: Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce. Crosby in particular is a problem, something both of the Patriots’ tackles pointed out this week.
“He’s a great player,” said Campbell. “They have a great team. There are a bunch of good players on the defense. We just have to go out there and handle our business.”
“Everything he does on the football field is 100 percent,” added Moses. “He’s fast, twitchy. Obviously, [K’Lavon Chaisson] played with him last year, so being able to pick his brain about little things like that. But just going out there and playing football; knowing your assignment and doing your techniques, knowing you have to block that guy to the whistle.”
While Las Vegas also has some disruptive potential on the interior, with ex-Patriot Adam Butler leading the way, Crosby and Koonce offer the main potential for pressure. Accordingly, in order to ensure their offense operating smoothly and Drake Maye having sufficient time in the pocket, the new tackle pairing will have to do its job properly even with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels likely providing help as well.
Other X-factors this week
LG Jared Wilson and C Garrett Bradbury: While the offensive tackle position gets most of the attention, New England’s offensive line as a whole is a question mark entering Week 1. That is particularly true at left guard and center, where the team is set to start a rookie (Wilson) and a veteran (Bradbury), respectively, who both arrived this offseason. While the two had some promising moments this summer, consistency particularly in pass protection was an issue — one the Raiders might try to expose by incorporating line games and challenging looks. The pair, like the other three men up front, needs to be ready.
Safety-net receivers: In order to counter Maxx Crosby in particular, the Patriots are likely to incorporate plenty of quick passes to players such as slot receiver DeMario Douglas, running back TreVeyon Henderson and tight end Hunter Henry. All three of them should see their fair share of targets on Sunday, but they need to get themselves in the right position, and quickly, in order to give Drake Maye the help he needs in case the pocket starts to collapse.
Interior defensive line: Upon Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly arriving in Las Vegas, the Raiders reshuffled the deck along the interior offensive line. The team is expected to start the trio of Dylan Parham, Jordan Meredith and Jackson Powers-Johnson — a group that does have talent but, much like its Patriots counterpart, might lack chemistry in that configuration. New England’s potent defensive tackle duo of Christian Barmore and Milton Williams taking advantage might go a long way toward the team successfully slowing down its opponent.
LB Robert Spillane: Former Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane will be in the spotlight come Sunday 1 p.m. ET. After all, he is now the main man for the Patriots on defense; he’s the on-field signal caller as well as a player expected to be on the field for close to 100 percent of snaps. As such, and facing a team expected to rely quite a bit on the intermediate area in the passing game, he will be under pressure to perform in his New England debut.
Whoever lines up over Brock Bowers: The Patriots have made it clear all week long that they are viewing Bowers as a multi-purpose weapon, a “receiver in a tight end’s body” as defensive coordinator Terrell Williams put it. Slowing down the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year will be a challenge, and one that might not fall on one particular player (especially with Christian Gonzalez out). Regardless of who is on Bowers, though, the matchup will be a key for New England all day long; limiting his impact particularly as a pass catcher would mean limiting the Raiders’ ability to move the ball through the air.
Conditioning: New England’s starters and top rotational players were on the field for only a handful of snaps in preseason, meaning that they have yet to go a full 60 minutes. The same is true for the Raiders, which means that conditioning especially toward the end of the game will be crucial. Mike Vrabel spoke about winning the second half as one of his goals for Week 1, and it all starts with being able to properly execute assignments even with fatigue building up over the course of the contest.
