The New England Patriots faltered in their season-opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, showing there’s still a lot of work to be done in the rebuild.
The New England Patriots opened a new era under head coach Mike Vrabel with an underwhelming 20-13 loss Sunday afternoon to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The offense sputtered in the return of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels while Raiders quarterback Geno Smith carved up New England’s defense under first-year coordinator Terrell Williams.
New England dropped the opener in front of the crowd at Gillette Stadium. Now sitting at 0-1 before next week’s trip to Miami, here are five takeaways from the Patriots’ loss.
1. Defense will send pressure
Williams and Vrabel wasted no time embracing their identity and sent extra rushers against Smith all afternoon. The impact didn’t show out as Las Vegas passer still racked up 366 yards through the air on the afternoon.
