{"id":44841,"date":"2022-12-18T05:00:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T10:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=44841"},"modified":"2022-12-17T19:11:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T00:11:54","slug":"patriots-news-12-18-key-matchups-against-the-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2022\/12\/18\/patriots-news-12-18-key-matchups-against-the-raiders\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots News 12-18, Key Matchups Against the Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. The Patriots take on the Las Vegas Raiders later this afternoon, as the game was flexed out of SNF. They are still in a precarious situation in regard to the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the win over Arizona, the Patriots leaped over the Chargers and Jets and are currently a game behind (plus the tiebreaker) in the standings to the Dolphins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At this point, it is one day\/game at a time. Now is a perfect time to watch the out-of-town scores. The Dolphins, Jets, and Chargers all have tough matchups this week (this is written on Friday night), so we\u2019ll be interested to see how it goes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But regardless of those, the Patriots have to win in Vegas. And they have a good chance of pulling it off, if they play up to their potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quick Hitters For the Patriots and the NFL:<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Injury Front: <\/b>The Patriots will be down three starters this week and perhaps more when they face off with the Raiders this afternoon. Damien Harris, Jalen Mills, Isaiah Wynn, and DeVante Parker were all ruled out of the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jakobi Meyers, Rhamondre Stevenson, Jack Jones, Yodny Cajuste, and Joe Cardona are all questionable. Although Meyers, Jones, and Stevenson all returned to practice on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

J.J. Watt: <\/b>The former three-time Defensive Player of the Year was very impressed with the Patriots\u2019 Matthew Judon during Monday night\u2019s game and told an Arizona staffer that he wanted to talk to Judon after the game. This was picked up by HBO on the \u201cHard Knocks\u201d show featuring the Cardinals.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the two met after the game, the respect was very mutual. \u201cHey, you played your balls off, brother,\u201d Watt said to Judon. \u201cI appreciate you,\u201d Judon responded in kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo much respect, man,\u201d Judon told Watt. \u201cYou\u2019ve been doing this for a long time, and we\u2019re all watching, man. We\u2019re all following you, man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew Judon: <\/b>Speaking of Judon, the co-leader of sacks in the NFL is crying foul on the NFL after another big performance on MNF against Arizona for continuing to select him for a \u201crandom drug test.\u201d which he says has happened too many times to be random. And he was pretty blunt about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Leave me the F alone, please,” Judon tweeted to the NFL and NFL Players Association, attaching the text telling him to report for testing. “It’s (sic) no way this is random. I take melatonin to sleep sometimes. The rest is just vibes.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Judon reacted with humor after the Buffalo game, but if one reads between the lines, it is obvious that it was already getting old with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

At this point they building another me with all the nose swabs n pee they got from me https:\/\/t.co\/nr7ljgGp21<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matthew Judon (@man_dammn) December 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n