FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots came out of a busy offseason feeling like they'd addressed the deficiencies on their offensive line and with their overall playmaking ability.
But their first game of the Mike Vrabel era showed New England's offense is very much a work in progress.
New England's offense had a promising start, then sputtered in the second half as the passing game struggled to find consistency and make big plays. It added up to a 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
“We've got a long way to go,” Vrabel said.
After falling behind 7-0, the Patriots had their most efficient drive of the day, capping a 12-play, 82-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Drake Maye to DeMario Douglas. The series included a 27-yard reception by tight end Hunter Henry and a 24-yard catch by Kayshon Boutte.
But New England only had one more play of at least 20 yards the remainder of the game, while going just 4 of 14 on third down. After taking a 10-7 lead into halftime, the Patriots scored just three points over the final 30 minutes.
“We just didn't do enough in the second half,” Vrabel said.
The reason was two-fold.
First, the rebuilt offensive line — featuring four new starters led by rookie left tackle Will Campbell — surrendered four sacks. It also got little push at the line of scrimmage, contributing to an offensive output of just 4.9 yards per play. By comparison, the 2024 Patriots team, which finished ranked 31st in the NFL in total offense, averaged 4.8 yards per play.
Secondly, Maye struggled to find consistency through the air, throwing behind and high above his targets at times.
Maye was 30 of 46 for 287 yards for the game. It included an interception that set up the Raiders' go-ahead touchdown.
Maye believes going three-and-out on their first possession of the game set a tone the Patriots never really recovered from.
“I think I’ve got to do a better job of getting the guys and making throws,” he said. “I thought the guys up front battled hard. I think they blocked pretty well up front. ... I think getting points out of that first drive would have been huge.”
Boutte, who had a team-high six catches for 103 yards, said the conditions never allowed them to get into a groove.
“I think we all have to be on the same track more," he said. "I don’t know if we felt settled in at halftime because we were up, or the weather wasn’t how we wanted, it was rainy. I feel like we could have had more energy going into the second half.”
Still, Maye said his comfort level adjusting to new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' scheme remains high.
“I felt pretty good out there. I felt like I was seeing it well,” Maye said. “Got to make some better throws. ... Just got to be better on my part.”
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