The New England Patriots will take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5 with the opportunity to improve to 3-2 on the season, but accomplishing that will be a challenge.
The Patriots will be at home when they take on the Raiders on Sunday. New England is dealing with many injuries, especially in their secondary, as Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III are both slated to miss the game.
The Patriots' secondary will be under the microscope to play well without their starting corners against a Raiders offense that has been in rhythm all season long behind quarterback Kirk Cousins, and for the last two weeks, superstar tight end Brock Bowers.
New England will also look for Drake Maye to keep up his current level of play after he found his groove in
Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots will have to navigate around Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard’s defense without Mack Hollins in the rotation and apply pressure on the Klint Kubiak-led offense.
Patriots Wire went behind enemy lines with Raiders Wire’s Levi Damien to forecast the affair.
1. Surprisingly, the Patriots did a good job of bottling up Bills running back James Cook last week. What kind of different challenge do you think the Raiders can present with Ashton Jeanty?
Thus far this season Jeanty hasn’t presented much of a challenge to anyone. Yeah, he had a good game in the opener against literally the worst team in football (Dolphins), but since then he hasn’t done much.
He suffered an ankle injury in training camp and has not been right since. While he still has his speed, he isn’t as agile, so he is having difficulty breaking tackles like he has long been known for.
2. The Patriots have been severely banged up on offense and defense. What area are you most excited to see the Raiders potentially exploit?
That actually seems more like a question you could answer for me, honestly. The Raiders offense doesn’t have a lot of areas that are particularly strong. Kirk Cousins has played well which has masked their issues at wide receiver and in the run game.
Their toughest position is tight end. On the other side, the pass rush has been good. Crosby leads the way and each week he seems to get a different contributor stepping up to play well.
3. Maxx Crosby is a clear game-wrecker. Given Drake Maye's fumbling issues, do you think his ability to force takeaways is the key to the game?
This season for the Raiders the one who has been forcing turnovers most is LB Nakobe Dean. He had forced fumbles in the fourth quarter of each of their first three games, helping them jump out to 3-0 to start the season.
And as previously mentioned, Crosby has been getting some pass rush help this year, so Maye and the Patriots offensive line will have to worry about more than just him getting in the backfield to try and force him to turn the ball over. That was a big key in their win in New Orleans and I could certainly see that being being a key in this one too.
4. What is the biggest reason for the turnaround in Las Vegas this season?
It has been the combination of Klint Kubiak and Kirk Cousins. Kubiak has been a master at scheming the Raiders into success and having Cousins there as a smart, savvy veteran who worked with Kubiak for three seasons in Minnesota has been how he’s able to implement his plays.
The upgrades at linebacker with Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker has been a big deal too. The Raiders really missed Robert Spillane last season and the LB corps was among the worst in the league.
5. Who wins and why?
I had the Raiders winning this one when I put together my game-by-game pick this offseason. And I still feel that way. This team in New England looked like it was primed for a dropoff and that started with what the Seahawks did to them in the Super Bowl.
The man at the helm of that offense in Seattle is now at the helm of the offense in Las Vegas. The Raiders proved their 3-0 start was not an accident when they took the vaunted Chiefs down to the wire last week.
Raiders 27, Patriots 20
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing Patriots' Week 5 matchup vs. Raiders
