Predicting Patriots vs Raiders Week 3 - PatriotsLife roundtable
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| Forget the tuck rule, questionable calls have been a part of the Raiders-Patriots "rivalry" since 1976. Here are pissed off Patriots fans in 1976 after the infamous roughing the passer call in the 1976 divisional round (Stan Grossfeld / Globe File Photo) |
It's pretty obvious that when you poll a couple Patriots bloggers, they are probably going to pick their team to win. So, instead we look at where we do differ- the final score. So far this season, no one has picked the Patriots to lose. Don't expect that to change this week against the lowly Raiders.
Here's a roundup of some of our writers predictions for the home opener - Oakland vs New England.
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Patriots by 18
The Patriots once lost a home opener to the Kevin Kolb led Arizona Cardinals.
Could the Derek Carr led Raiders become the second team in 14 years to do the same? Probably not.
The Raiders could quite likely be the worst team in the league. The only surprise for this game will be if the Patriots don't end up blowing them out. Oakland has been susceptible to the run so far this year and so look for the Pats to exploit this with Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen and the gang. The defense should be able to exploit the rookie quarterback to grab a couple of turnovers. Expect another laugher that might contain some garbage time points for Oakland.
I would not be surprised if Brady does not light things up though, given where the weaknesses on the Raiders lie, and so the sensationalized sports radio will have plenty to complain about all week despite Pats winning handily. Everyone wins?
28-10
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Patriots by 25
The Pats won convincingly last week against a toothless Peterson-less Vikings squad, but their offensive performance still left more questions than answers. The perfect recipe for that is a cross-country visit from the Oakland Raiders, who let the Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Texans drop 30 on them last week.
Offensively, look for the Pats to once again try to establish the run early. These Raiders have already given up a whopping 400 yards on the ground through two games, and the Patriots offense is a much better unit when they get a balanced attack going. With that said, I also expect them to use this week to try to get the passing game going a little bit, something which could be much easier if play action fakes are effective. Tom Brady is certainly due for a statistical breakout after two pedestrian efforts to start the season, and spreading the ball around amongst his secondary targets is certainly on everyone's mind after being a "hot button" topic this week.
Defensively, all will depend on whether the Pats can shut down the run. The Raiders are built to be a run-first team, but haven't been able to get their ground game going through two games. With Maurice Jones-Drew likely out, look for Darren McFadden to get a lot of touches early, as success on the ground will dramatically lighten the load on rookie QB Derek Carr. However, if the Pats shut down the run/get a big lead early and force Carr to throw too much, the game could turn ugly. Carr has played about as well as you could expect a rookie QB to given the circumstances, but he's still a rookie running a "training wheels" dink and dunk offense who can be rattled by pressure. The Pats defense has forced seven turnovers through two games, and it would be mildly surprising if they don't tack on a few more to that total Sunday.
The talent disparity between the Raiders and Patriots was already wider than Vince Wilfork's belly. Throw on the Raiders traveling across the country for a 1 pm game (10 am body time), the Patriots good heath compared to the Raiders being somewhat banged up, and the Patriots recent dominance of AFC opponents at home (an amazing 30 straight wins at the Razor), and it's hard to envision anything but a blowout. You don't overlook any opponent in the NFL, but there are few franchises in sports as inept as the Raiders.
Patriots 35, Raiders 10
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Patriots by thirteen
It is week 3 and the Patriots home opener. Expect the energy level to be high in Foxboro! However, their matchup against the Oakland Raiders has all the makings of a trap game. Expect this game to be somewhat close in the first half causing Belichick to make some serious second half adjustments.
Offensively, I predict the following:
- Brady to have 295 passing yards, two TD's, and a lot of helmet slapping
- Gronkowski having 80 yards receiving and a touchdown
- Edelman will have 85 yards and a TD
- Brandon LaFell's first catch will be a deep ball from Tom Brady, leaving him with 3 receptions for 55 yards
- Amendola and Dobson will chip in with a combined total of 50 yards
- Stevan Ridley will rush for 85 yards and a TD
Defensively, I predict:
- Chandler Jones having 2 sacks
- Revis holds James Jones to 2 catches
- Pats defense will cause Carr headaches and two turnovers in the second half
Final Score: Patriots 30 Raiders 17
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Paul Murphy (@_prmurphy)
Patriots by 17
For 36 years, I have rooted against the Oakland Raiders. Ever since that thug, Jack Tatum crippled Darryl Stingley with that cheap shot, I have wanted the Raiders to lose every game.
My favorite NFL coach is Marty Schottenheimer who instituted Raider Week. He was relentless in his quest for victory over the Silver and Black. He is rated the top Raider hater of all time.
I realize Marty was only 5-13 in the playoffs. Please check out his head to head record against Oakland.
As for the Patriots, they don't harbor the distaste that Marty did, or that I do. It will be a pedestrian win over an inferior opponent. A foe that I wish would move to London, permanently.
New England 26 Oakland 9
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Patriots by 21
The Pats will win this game with ease because of their defense, which will be brimming with confidence after a great performance against Minnesota.
They'll force rookie Quarterback Derek Carr into several mistakes which will lead to a lot of points for Tom Brady and the offense. Brady's numbers won't dazzle, but like I said, he'll be helped by a defense that is on form and forcing turnovers. And there's also the fact that Bill Belichick has never lost at home to a rookie quarterback with the Pats, and I don't have any reason to believe that will change tomorrow when Derek Carr rolls into Gillette Stadium.
All signs right now point to a big Pats win.
35-14 Patriots
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Pats by 24
Welcome to week 3 NFL fans.
So here is my week 3 preview, Raiders @ Patriots.
What I said in my season preview...
"Pats may have been forced on the road their first two weeks, but the poor Raiders have to come east to the Jets in week 1 and then the Pats in week 3. Just a crappy draw for rookie QB Derrick Car, who hopes to find better NFL fortunes as a starter than his older brother David ever did. Pats win 34-10."
The Vikings were worse in all aspects of the game than anyone expected, even knowing that Adrian Peterson was not going to play ahead of time. The Vikings seemed very easily deflated once the Pats took the lead. So I don’t think we learned too much from that victory.
Despite some mildly positives for the Raiders, (Carr looks like a legit QB, defense has looked good in pass defense), the Raiders aren’t good and as I noted have now had to come back to the East coast to be the opponent at Gillette for the Patriots home opener. A bad series of events and it shows in the score.
Patriots win 34-10.
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Patriots by 14
The Patriots will want to send a message with this game and will dominate early with plenty of turnovers and Ridley running through this soft Raiders defense. However, Derek Carr has shown some flashes of greatness in his past two games and don't be surprised if he takes the ball and gashes the defense a few times by running the ball himself. The Patriots will be up by a lot in the third quarter, but will give up junk points to Carr in the 4th.
The player to watch in this game is Tim Wright. Brady himself said he needs to spread the ball around more and Wright seems like a prime target. It is understandable why he has been so quiet so far given he has been on the team for about a month. However, if the Patriots are going to run and play action a lot in this game look for them to run two tight end sets and Wright being wide open on play action.
Patriots 34 Raiders 20.
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Patriots by 23
Struggling to see a way that the Patriots lose this one. The home opener is always a special occasion, and with it coming a little further along the schedule this year the Foxborough faithful will no doubt be carrying a little extra juice this Sunday. The criticism coming from the Boston media this week regarding Brady’s ‘EdelGronk’ tunnel-vision should mean that we will see him spray the ball to just about every receiver that plays a snap for big yardage, while I am predicting another big game for Stevan Ridley – lets say another 100 yards out of the backfield.
I think the breakout performance this week (and if Brady chooses to make a point come Sunday there should be a lot of them) will come courtesy of Tim Wright. While Belichick may already have gathered some vindication on behalf of the Bucs play with Logan Mankins on Thursday, Wright will prove that he was worth the effort against the Raiders with increased minutes and more targets.
I can’t see the defense having to do too much this week to stop rookie QB Derek Carr. Bill Belichick is 14-5 against rookie QBs as Patriots head coach (no losses at home), and while the Raiders’ young guy looks promising, the potential in this defense has been brewing for several years, and it looks as though it is coming to the boil. Expect another strong week from Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower rushing the passer, while the loaded secondary picks up a few more interceptions off some rookie mistakes. I also have my fingers crossed for a few more glimpses of Dominique Easley.
Final Score: Raiders 17 – 40 Patriots
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Patriots by 17
The Patriots performances so far this season have been uneven but with the Raiders coming to town it might just be what they need to get right. The Patriots are the better team and as long as they play like it for four quarters it will be the confidence builder they need going forward.
The Raiders have been giving up yards by the bunches to opposing teams running backs. Look for the Patriots to take advantage of this with Steven Ridley. In his rookie year he put up 97 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders and with Shane Vereen questionable with a shoulder injury look for Ridley to get at least 25 carries.
With the running game working, look for Tom Brady to utilize the play action pass. This could be the week that Aaron Dobson really shines and shows us what he is capable of.
Patriots 31 Raiders 14.
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Patriots by 21
The Pats will see the improvements from all phases of their game last week carry over to this one.
Belichick-coached defenses generally do well against rookie quarterbacks, and that will be the case tomorrow. The defense will get consistent pressure on Derek Carr and force him to make throws that he can't make. Expect a few turnovers.
Tom Brady will be able to find more open receivers this week instead of trying to force throws to Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski. I would expect to see at least two, maybe three touchdown passes from him.
34-13 Patriots
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Andrew Ludwig (@aludwig25)
Patriots by 21
I personally believe the Raiders are just a bad organization from top to bottom and have been for 11 years now. They have had ten years of top first round picks and still can't put together a competitive team. Don't look for anything to change this year.
The Patriots will be able to do whatever they want on offense and look for them to get exotic and aggressive on defense to try to confuse the young Derek Carr. The offense will get back in sync and we will be see Brady start to use his other weapons and spread the ball around more, Ridley will continue his strong ground game and rush for another 100 yards. Chandler Jones and Hightower will continue their pass rushing effectiveness and get Carr uncomfortable early.
The Patriots will move to 12-1 in home openers (since 2002) in dominating fashion.
35-14 Patriots.
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Patriots by 31
The entire offense is on the upswing, and I expect everything to come together on Sunday against a Raiders team that is in complete disarray.
There really isn't much to analyze here, especially because we are coming off a pretty successful win against Minnesota. The defense will have a great game, and so will the offense, especially when you consider the opponent. I have a feeling Chandler Jones will have two sacks, and Tom Brady will throw four touchdowns.
Patriots 41-Raiders 10
