Patriots Pregame Thread 2025 Raiders @ Patriots - Early thoughts

[Real fan 02]

Geno Smith is a good smart veteran who can also hurt you with his legs.
Raiders offense will score points on pats D.
Key is if Maye can play smart turnover free ball.
I expect pats will turn the ball over.
I like Raiders 27-24 in this one

Defense needs to suffocate the run and make Gino drop back to pass. We had 0 pressure on him last season and we saw what he was able to do. Gino has turned his career around later in it.. but he still has turnovers DNA in his game.

We've been horrible in September last few seasons. Need to get a big win to set the stage for the season.

 

[signbabybrady]

Josh will scheme to not let Crosby go bonkers, We let gino Smith do whatever he wanted last year with Seattle. We have a far better front 7 and should cause havoc upfront. We need to make gino Smith look like the Jets version gino Smith and not the QB who got a 100 million dollar contract. Gino is a veteran of course however Drake is up an coming guy and presents more in his tool set for a defense to have to deal with.

I like your thinking Barmore and Milton wreak havoc right out the gates and put the whole league on notice

 

[Real fan 02]

I believe, on offense the Pats will establish the run first with a heavy dose of Henderson and Stevenson.

Mickey D has had weeks to prepare for the franchise that fired him. The Pats have solid receiving options, I just hope Maye can step up and deliver. Dont Arch Manning this game at home.

On defense, I get the impression that the Pats defense is going to be real good. Amari Cooper was a beast with the Browns a couple of years ago. Then a uneventful 2024. Maybe he is back? Bowers is a real deal solid TE who put himself on the map last season. Meyers has produced in LV when he has seen targets.

Agreed. We've been 3-7 in September since 2021. Pitiful. We have enough on defense to stuff LV run game and make Geno a drop back passer where he'll give you some opportunities for INTS. Woodson or marpu on Bowers would make the most sense.. On offense negate Crosby with actually running at him.. Campbell is a beast as a run blocker... Henderson is a anytime TD if he gets in open field. Utilizing him to move the ball and rham in the red area. Pop,Diggs Henry will be open all day.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I hope they line up Crosby over Will Campbell hoping to expose him and Josh runs the ball right at him again and again.

This is one of my big focal points as well. They showed the inclination in to run left behind Campbell and he was steamrolling the edge guys. If they do that he’s going to be able to beat down opposing edge rushers and wear them downward, which should help him in pass protection. Hopefully he can get it done against Crosby, who will seriously test him.

 

[Real fan 02]

I like your thinking Barmore and Milton wreak havoc right out the gates and put the whole league on notice

Yes.. we've been piss poor in September since 2021.. 3-7 record. With a great coach, great young QB and a great defense it's important we get out the gates and let the NFL know we are coming..

 

[denverpatsfan]

Geno Smith is a good smart veteran who can also hurt you with his legs.
Raiders offense will score points on pats D.
Key is if Maye can play smart turnover free ball.
I expect pats will turn the ball over.
I like Raiders 27-24 in this one

Yup
28-21 Raiders
Pete Carrol can coach. Edge to the Raiders here.
Geno is a veteran. He has seen it all. Not sure this Pats D is quite up to speed yet to fool him.
Maye is gonna struggle with Skippy's offense. Probably for a good part of the season. The kid barely played in the preseason. What makes you people think they will hit the ground at full speed.
Like I mentioned in a previous post. They had better come up with a plan for Crosby. Last time they faced him he wrecked the Pats in the 4th quarter. It was like they had never known they were gonna face a player of his caliber.
This team will win 8 or 9 games and be improving by the end of the season. But they lose to this Raiders team week 1.

 

[Real fan 02]

Yup
28-21 Raiders
Pete Carrol can coach. Edge to the Raiders here.
Geno is a veteran. He has seen it all. Not sure this Pats D is quite up to speed yet to fool him.
Maye is gonna struggle with Skippy's offense. Probably for a good part of the season. The kid barely played in the preseason. What makes you people think they will hit the ground at full speed.
Like I mentioned in a previous post. They had better come up with a plan for Crosby. Last time they faced him he wrecked the Pats in the 4th quarter. It was like they had never known they were gonna face a player of his caliber.
This team will win 8 or 9 games and be improving by the end of the season. But they lose to this Raiders team week 1.

24 -10 patriots. Better coached team then last year.. this teams been embarrassing at home last few seasons. That stops! we have enough on defense to slow raiders. Henderson is the key here stuff the run, . Make geno a drop back passer. He had 0 pressure on him last season when we saw him. Different story now. This team is hungry.. raiders have had our number last few times. We start out week 1 with much needed win.

 

[Pape]

Mike Vrabel is 2-1 vs Pete Carroll, head to head... each time one of his running backs has topped 100 yards, he won... The titans won their first two and lost the third... in the third game Derrick Henry was held to 88 yards... in the two victories, DeMarco Murray ran for 115 and in the second Derrick Henry went King Henry racking up 182 yards... can either Rham or Henderson be able to keep the raiders defense on their heels? Gonna come down to the efficiency of Maye under center... if he can spread the ball out there and clear the box out so you don't have 9 guys crowding the line, it could be a good day... but if not...

New scheme, new coaches... new everything... makes me wonder how far along the installation of the new offense is... head full of doubts until we see the O start to click on the field

This game is a real toss up for me...

 

[40yrpatsfan]

LV has weapons and a good QB - they're gonna score on us. Maye has to match them all afternoon. This will be a high scoring affair. Pats 31-24.

 

[PancakeBlockPaul]

Looking forward to not seeing fundamental football screwups. Less stupid penalties. Better clock management and field location awareness. Not the dumb sht we were fed last year. I think the line will hold and they won’t play musical chairs also which KILLS any sort of continuity/gelling of the OL. I’ll be mighty disappointed if the D is mediocre. Even more so if the O isn’t running like a well oiled machine (I know, it’s the first game but I can hope right?)…If not the whole O clicking and in sync, at least the line needs to be.

 

[Pape]

Looking forward to not seeing fundamental football screwups. Less stupid penalties.

1000% this

 

[RobertWeathers]

We are down 13-3 and Maye runs in for a TD in 4th Qtr.

Borregales ties it up in the last seconds to make it 13-13 and wins it in OT to make it 16-13

...a Dynasty is born.

 

[Grogan14]

If Maye does not turn the ball over they will win.
He has not been tested in preseason and did not play much in the last game.
I am not confident that he will have the experience to not make costly mistakes against a pressure defense. Hope I am wrong

 

[Grogan14]

We are down 13-3 and Maye runs in for a TD in 4th Qtr.

Borregales ties it up in the last seconds to make it 13-13 and wins it in OT to make it 16-13

...a Dynasty is born.

In an unexpected September snowstorm

 

[Triumph]

Agreed. We've been 3-7 in September since 2021. Pitiful. We have enough on defense to stuff LV run game and make Geno a drop back passer where he'll give you some opportunities for INTS. Woodson or marpu on Bowers would make the most sense.. On offense negate Crosby with actually running at him.. Campbell is a beast as a run blocker... Henderson is a anytime TD if he gets in open field. Utilizing him to move the ball and rham in the red area. Pop,Diggs Henry will be open all day.

Jeanty is small.

Welcome to the NFL.

 

[Triumph]

LV has weapons and a good QB - they're gonna score on us. Maye has to match them all afternoon. This will be a high scoring affair. Pats 31-24.

Chip Kelly is the Raiders OC and I've always considered him a Hack.

Geno turns 35 in a couple of months and is a turnover machine too, 15 INTs and 9 fumbles last season.

 

[fnordcircle]

I'm not sure I've ever been more unsure of a Patriots' team than this one. Maybe the Cam year - but I was half convinced he'd thrive in this offense. Well, at the very least I thought he'd be solid and flash sometimes.

Josh's stuff is difficult to learn and - yet again - we have a young QB who has to learn a new system every year he's been in the league. Our OL is such a huge question mark. On top of that I'm curious how much Vrabel et al's approach to roster/locker room management is going to rub some of them the wrong way. I can't imagine people are overjoyed that Peppers is gone he seemed like an important locker room guy.

But then we also kept a number of our most intriguing players out of the preseason. Our DL might be a ****ing wrecking crew. Diggs and Henderson might open up the offense like nothing we've ever seen post Brady.

If Maye takes a step back I'm going to join NEM in hating Josh, though. At some point you've got to consider a system that churns through players who succeed in other systems as more of a liability than a boon. We'll see.

 

[Real fan 02]

Mike Vrabel is 2-1 vs Pete Carroll, head to head... each time one of his running backs has topped 100 yards, he won... The titans won their first two and lost the third... in the third game Derrick Henry was held to 88 yards... in the two victories, DeMarco Murray ran for 115 and in the second Derrick Henry went King Henry racking up 182 yards... can either Rham or Henderson be able to keep the raiders defense on their heels? Gonna come down to the efficiency of Maye under center... if he can spread the ball out there and clear the box out so you don't have 9 guys crowding the line, it could be a good day... but if not...

New scheme, new coaches... new everything... makes me wonder how far along the installation of the new offense is... head full of doubts until we see the O start to click on the field

This game is a real toss up for me...

Last season.. we had a new everything with the same results losses! Now we have a coach who's got his grip on the team, and a direction. That matters heavily. This is normal to feel this way.. however I'm confident in some coaches with championship pedigree that can lead this team to a win to set the stage for the season.

 

[Taxed in Maine]

We are down 13-3 and Maye runs in for a TD in 4th Qtr.

Borregales ties it up in the last seconds to make it 13-13 and wins it in OT to make it 16-13

...a Dynasty is born.

The Raiders defense isn't good enough to hold them to 3 points through 3+ quarters.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Yup
28-21 Raiders
Pete Carrol can coach. Edge to the Raiders here.
Geno is a veteran. He has seen it all. Not sure this Pats D is quite up to speed yet to fool him.
Maye is gonna struggle with Skippy's offense. Probably for a good part of the season. The kid barely played in the preseason. What makes you people think they will hit the ground at full speed.
Like I mentioned in a previous post. They had better come up with a plan for Crosby. Last time they faced him he wrecked the Pats in the 4th quarter. It was like they had never known they were gonna face a player of his caliber.
This team will win 8 or 9 games and be improving by the end of the season. But they lose to this Raiders team week 1.

Well, you definitely made Sam happy.