The Las Vegas Raiders entered Sunday leading the NFL in takeaways and allowing 21 points per game. The New England Patriots put up 45 points and 536 yards on them in a 45-17 rout at Gillette Stadium, dropping Las Vegas to 3-2 after its 3-0 start.
Drake Maye completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns, ran for a fifth score, and never turned the ball over. New England added 165 rushing yards on 31 carries, well above the 134.5 yards per game the Raiders have been allowing.
Now the Raiders get one week to clean it up before Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills visit Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 1:25 p.m. PT.
Maxx Crosby and the pass rush struggled to disrupt Drake Maye
The Raiders sacked Maye once, and Maxx Crosby finished with one tackle and two quarterback hits. After the game, Crosby pointed
to New England’s success on early downs.
"They just stayed ahead of the sticks, I feel like, and made some big plays in big moments. Credit to them," Crosby said, perRaiders' postgame recap.
Penalties and blown coverages hurt the young secondary
The first breakdown came on the opening drive, when DeMario Douglas got loose for a 35-yard touchdown after a coverage breakdown. Rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses was later beaten by Kyle Williams on a 34-yard touchdown on second and 18 in the third quarter.
Las Vegas came in as one of the least penalized teams in the league and finished with eight penalties for 101 yards, including a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Crosby.
"We had more penalties than usual. It just wasn't good enough. There are one-on-one matchups, and sometimes flags get thrown in the back end. That's just part of the game. We just have to play cleaner, use better technique, and we'll learn from it and be good," Crosby told reporters.
What Rob Leonard’s defense needs against Josh Allen
Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard’s unit did force one turnover when Adam Butler knocked the ball loose from Corey Kiner and Darien Porter recovered at the New England 38. The offense came away empty after Matt Gay’s field goal try his the left upright.
Against Allen, the Raiders need to disrupt the pocket while keeping him from escaping it. Limiting early-down rushing gains would create more favorable pass-rush situations. The young secondary also needs clearer communication and cleaner coverage technique to stop giving away explosive plays and penalty yards.
"Defensively, offensively, special teams, I don't think any of us played well enough to win today," coach Klint Kubiak said after the game.
Butler outlined the first step on Raiders Gameday.
"We've just got to identify what went wrong. It's that simple. We've shown that we can play and when we're on it, good things happen. We have to get back to that," Butler said.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders defense has one week to fix what Patriots exposed before Bills
