Patriots Pregame Thread 2025 Raiders @ Patriots - Early thoughts

[Ross12]

I've heard we have some tight ends and running backs who can catch, too.

Very true... the tight ends especially seem to get overlooked quite a bit. Henry is good and Hooper had many nice catches last year as well.

 

[dliverey44]

Short ankles is what it is.

What happens is that the legs and torso are longer like the Brady statue.

Obviously he can't reach down to protect his ankles with the stubbies. lol


Malcolm Koonce is a pretty good pass rusher, not Crosby level but he can get to the QB as well. Both OTs are going to need to play high level football.

 

[PatsFan2]

Raiders are putting 8 in the box. Gonna dare Maye to throw, he will throw short passes not beyond the sticks, lots of 3 and outs. Maybe 1 or 2 completes over 15 yards. Struggling.....

IF he plays like Mac Jones we lose.

 

[mgteich]

Interesting twist to the roster this week, the third TE Jack Westover is now listed as a FB...

New England Patriots Unofficial Depth Chart

@Ian maybe update the roster here, which lists him as a TE?

Its an interesting wrinkle... and really wondering how they will use him moving forward... don't remember him working with the back during preseason, but could have missed it... the rebirth of the H-Back perhaps?

If Westover is a full time FB, will they elevate TE CJ Dippre to the 53 man roster for a 3 man TE set?

There is no such thing as a full-time fullback.

Westover's reps will primarily be at FB. There will be very few reps, as always, for a 3rd TE. Vrabel will use on 6th OL in jumbo sets. Wallace is OK in that role. A 3rd TE would not be active. A very reasonable place for a 3rd TE is on the Practice Squad, being elevated if needed.

 

[Joey007]

Oh this game goes from 5050 to 25/75 odds if Vederian Lowe is blocking Max Crosby. Lmao

I’m exaggerating, but that’s would be very difficult to overcome.

 

[n1997y]

I want to live in whatever alternate universe this is located in.

I think that’s pretty close to what will happen in the real universe

I saw Gonzo looking real good, making plays in that fantasy.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Campbell being out is not what I wanted to hear.

 

[jboston19]

I saw Gonzo looking real good, making plays in that fantasy.

I think I saw Bourne celebrating Bouttes touchdown.

 

[Ross12]

Campbell being out is not what I wanted to hear.

I have nothing anywhere saying he is out. He was present for practice today.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Let's hope putting Campbell on the injury report is just to comply to league rules. Can't have him gimpy for his first game.

That's my guess/hope.

It probably serves a few benefits. Like it or not, Campbell is a rookie. We didn't throw Maye in there for Week 1 but we damn well are with our newly drafted LT.

There is DEFINITELY going to be a learning curve with Campbell and this perhaps provides a built in "he was playing hurt" excuse to take some pressure off the guy.

Against the Raiders I think he's going to be more than fine, but given the injury report, Vrabel is teeing up the Raiders to focus on pass defense when the game plan is probably going to showcase our RBs

So I smell a rope a dope here

 

[DC Patriots]

Is he out? If so that sucks

 

[Patsfan1645]

I fully expect Campbell to play and I doubt that Crosby will see a lot of play in which he has a true one on one match up unless they are running the play away from him. If everyone on this forum can easily see he is the #1 problem for the offense to deal with then I am certain Josh is aware of that fact as well.

 

[BobDigital]

Interesting that a lot of national pundits are picking the Raiders and talking about them being underestimated. Personally. I disagree. I believe they are being over estimated. This isn't to say they didn't improve. I think they did overall. The Coach and QB upgrade alone do that. But this is something i see a lot in modern NFL pundits, even ones in the know.

They constantly overestimate the benefits of higher end skill player where bad offensive lines are concerns. The talk seems to be about ALL the offensive upgrades the Raiders have had and how they are being over looked. Geno, Jeanty, Thorton, Bech.... All good adds. Plus they have improved the coaching... Not just the head coach, but the staff as well, All good moves. I applaud them and think it will indeed them their offense better.

BUT!!!!!! The OL has not improved. I mentioned in my Opening post I will get back to it later once i have looked into it more. Well I am back and ready to give my opinion. And that is that i believe my surface read of the situation to be correct. It has not improved. It was a bottom 5-7 OL last year... and will be again. You can make all the offensive upgrades you like... but if you have one fatal flaw in your offense it will drag the whole thing down.

Remember the Bucs vs Chiefs super bowl hype. People favoring KC... asking how the Bucs will stop this explosive offense, how they could slow down Mahomes and that offensive machine! EVERYONE ignored the OL. And i had my misgivings about it... but didn't bang on that point like i should. I favored the Bucs comfortably sure because of it.. but i should have favored them more. That last injured in the AFCCG was the final nail in the coffin vs any decent pass rush (and the Bucs had one). They went into that game with a crap OL and got run over. In hindsight everyone said it was obviously a mismatch... yet it was ignored... The shiny flashy skill players were the focus... They had their eye on those distracting things and not the meat and potatoes of the offense. I will NEVER forget that lesson.

To the Raiders credit, they tried... they made a vet signing and drafting some guys with some quality draft capital. Yet the same 5 are starting as last year. What they tried didn't work. And this OL has not improve much if at all by all accounts i have read.

So i am not being shy or hesitant this time. I am officially calling ******** on this Raiders offense. They will make big plays and flash on occasion. They have talent... but will they consistently sustain much with that OL? Hell no.

As for our OL issues. It remains to be seen. We had one of the worst OLs in modern NFL history last year. So it wasn't as if we wouldn't improve... it would be hard not to. It was how much. And no ones knows. But i will say this. When it comes to our OL At least there is reason to be hopeful. Especially in the run game which we KNOW will be have at least upper end NFL quality blocking. The Raiders can't even say they have hope of that.

So no. I am not overly worried about this Raiders offense. They will be lucky to finish middle of the pack with that OL (which is not nearly being criticized enough... unlike the Pats OL which people are questioning... rightfully so).

So I am picking the Pats to win. I am picking our DL to make life very very hard on the Raiders. And i am picking Henderson to have a better day than Jeanty on the stat sheet. Cause he will have the better blocking.

 

[Pape]

There is no such thing as a full-time fullback.

ok

Westover's reps will primarily be at FB. There will be very few reps, as always, for a 3rd TE. Vrabel will use on 6th OL in jumbo sets. Wallace is OK in that role. A 3rd TE would not be active. A very reasonable place for a 3rd TE is on the Practice Squad, being elevated if needed.

Sooooo... Full back ... Thanks for clearing that up

 

[Joey007]

Is he out? If so that sucks

No one said he’s out guys. I was speaking in a hypothetical lol

 

[Patsfan1645]

Interesting that a lot of national pundits are picking the Raiders and talking about them being underestimated. Personally. I disagree. I believe they are being over estimated. This isn't to say they didn't improve. I think they did overall. The Coach and QB upgrade alone do that. But this is something i see a lot in modern NFL pundits, even ones in the know.

They constantly overestimate the benefits of higher end skill player where bad offensive lines are concerns. The talk seems to be about ALL the offensive upgrades the Raiders have had and how they are being over looked. Geno, Jeanty, Thorton, Bech.... All good adds. Plus they have improved the coaching... Not just the head coach, but the staff as well, All good moves. I applaud them and think it will indeed them their offense better.

BUT!!!!!! The OL has not improved. I mentioned in my Opening post I will get back to it later once i have looked into it more. Well I am back and ready to give my opinion. And that is that i believe my surface read of the situation to be correct. It has not improved. It was a bottom 5-7 OL last year... and will be again. You can make all the offensive upgrades you like... but if you have one fatal flaw in your offense it will drag the whole thing down.

Remember the Bucs vs Chiefs super bowl hype. People favoring KC... asking how the Bucs will stop this explosive offense, how they could slow down Mahomes and that offensive machine! EVERYONE ignored the OL. And i had my misgivings about it... but didn't bang on that point like i should. I favored the Bucs comfortably sure because of it.. but i should have favored them more. That last injured in the AFCCG was the final nail in the coffin vs any decent pass rush (and the Bucs had one). They went into that game with a crap OL and got run over. In hindsight everyone said it was obviously a mismatch... yet it was ignored... The shiny flashy skill players were the focus... They had their eye on those distracting things and not the meat and potatoes of the offense. I will NEVER forget that lesson.

To the Raiders credit, they tried... they made a vet signing and drafting some guys with some quality draft capital. Yet the same 5 are starting as last year. What they tried didn't work. And this OL has not improve much if at all by all accounts i have read.

So i am not being shy or hesitant this time. I am officially calling ******** on this Raiders offense. They will make big plays and flash on occasion. They have talent... but will they consistently sustain much with that OL? Hell no.

As for our OL issues. It remains to be scene. We had one of the worst OLs in modern NFL history last year. So it wasn't if we would improve... that would be easy. It was how much. And no ones knows. But i will say this. When it comes to our OL At least there is reason to be hopeful. Especially in the run game which we KNOW will be have at least upper end NFL quality blocking. The Raiders can't even say they have hope of that.

So no. I am not overly worried about this Raiders offense. They will be lucky to finish middle of the pack with that OL (which is not nearly bring criticized enough... unlike the Pats which people are questioning... rightfully so).

So I am picking the Pats to win. I am picking our DL to make life very very hard on the Raiders. And i am picking Henderson to have a better day than Jeanty on the stat sheet. Cause he will have the better blocking.

So whats your thoughts on Brandon Carroll being the line coach for the Raiders. Does he move the needle with that line? After glancing through his career I dont think he does. Lots of years coaching in college but only a handful working with the line. His first short stint in the NFL was with his dad as an assistant line coach from 2015-2020 before going back to the NCAA. He reemerges this year in the NFL once again with his old man in the families new gig along with his brother Nate.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Interesting that a lot of national pundits are picking the Raiders and talking about them being underestimated. Personally. I disagree. I believe they are being over estimated. This isn't to say they didn't improve. I think they did overall. The Coach and QB upgrade alone do that. But this is something i see a lot in modern NFL pundits, even ones in the know.

They constantly overestimate the benefits of higher end skill player where bad offensive lines are concerns. The talk seems to be about ALL the offensive upgrades the Raiders have had and how they are being over looked. Geno, Jeanty, Thorton, Bech.... All good adds. Plus they have improved the coaching... Not just the head coach, but the staff as well, All good moves. I applaud them and think it will indeed them their offense better.

BUT!!!!!! The OL has not improved. I mentioned in my Opening post I will get back to it later once i have looked into it more. Well I am back and ready to give my opinion. And that is that i believe my surface read of the situation to be correct. It has not improved. It was a bottom 5-7 OL last year... and will be again. You can make all the offensive upgrades you like... but if you have one fatal flaw in your offense it will drag the whole thing down.

Remember the Bucs vs Chiefs super bowl hype. People favoring KC... asking how the Bucs will stop this explosive offense, how they could slow down Mahomes and that offensive machine! EVERYONE ignored the OL. And i had my misgivings about it... but didn't bang on that point like i should. I favored the Bucs comfortably sure because of it.. but i should have favored them more. That last injured in the AFCCG was the final nail in the coffin vs any decent pass rush (and the Bucs had one). They went into that game with a crap OL and got run over. In hindsight everyone said it was obviously a mismatch... yet it was ignored... The shiny flashy skill players were the focus... They had their eye on those distracting things and not the meat and potatoes of the offense. I will NEVER forget that lesson.

To the Raiders credit, they tried... they made a vet signing and drafting some guys with some quality draft capital. Yet the same 5 are starting as last year. What they tried didn't work. And this OL has not improve much if at all by all accounts i have read.

So i am not being shy or hesitant this time. I am officially calling ******** on this Raiders offense. They will make big plays and flash on occasion. They have talent... but will they consistently sustain much with that OL? Hell no.

As for our OL issues. It remains to be scene. We had one of the worst OLs in modern NFL history last year. So it wasn't if we would improve... that would be easy. It was how much. And no ones knows. But i will say this. When it comes to our OL At least there is reason to be hopeful. Especially in the run game which we KNOW will be have at least upper end NFL quality blocking. The Raiders can't even say they have hope of that.

So no. I am not overly worried about this Raiders offense. They will be lucky to finish middle of the pack with that OL (which is not nearly bring criticized enough... unlike the Pats which people are questioning... rightfully so).

So I am picking the Pats to win. I am picking our DL to make life very very hard on the Raiders. And i am picking Henderson to have a better day than Jeanty on the stat sheet. Cause he will have the better blocking.

Too much reading while I’m add work. You had me at Raiders being overrated, I agree 10000%

 

[jdlboot14]

Very disappointed to hear Campbell is on the report... I actually do see a world where he's on there, even if its a small ankle thing, to give our #4 overall a little buffer if he struggles.
But, I do expect him to start. If we know anything about him, he's a gamer. So, warts and all, he'll gut through anything. It's just a matter of if coaches want to give him a "rest" and not hurt his confidence on week 1 - they have a built in excuse now. Problem is, I'd take Campbell on one leg over turn-style Lowe.

 

[Joey007]

Will Campbell going his entire college career injury free, then having an injury days before week 1, is pretty on brand for us in recent years.

 

[Brotherblues]

Vrabel also names Jared Wilson the starting LG.

Kinda bummed about Campbell.