The Raiders had the look Sunday of a team coming off a hugely emotional win faced with a high-caliber opponent and a cross country road trip.
Not that they’ll concede any of that following a 36-20 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots rushed for 250 yards, had three touchdowns from Rex Burkhead and three field goals from Nick Folk in improving to 2-1. The Raiders were limited to a 1-yard pass from Derek Carr to Foster Moreau, a too-little-too-late 13-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow and field goals of 29 and 25 yards from Daniel Carlson.
Burkhead caught an 11-yard pass from Cam Newton and had rushing touchdowns of 5 and 2 yards. Sony Michel led New England with 117 yards on just nine carries, including breakaway runs of 35 and 48 yards in the third quarter.
New England put the game away with a defensive touchdown, with Deatrich Wise Jr. contrbuting on a goal line sack/fumble against Carr that he recovered for the touchdown that put the game away.
Carr was 24 of 32 for 261 yards and two scores, including the final touchdown to Renfrow.
Highs, lows and all you need to know on the Raiders’ Week 3 game against New England:
Red zone woes: After being sharp in the red zone through two weeks, the Raiders had one touchdowns in four possessions inside the 20-yard line.
Taking the points: Carlson’s 25-yard field goal got the Raiders within 23-13 on their fourth red zone trip. On third-and-7 from the New England 9-yard line, Carr found no receivers open and threw to Jalen Richard for 2 yards to the 7-yard line. Coach Jon Gruden took the points trailing by 13 points rather than going for a touchdown.
New England answered emphatically with a 10-play, 86-yard touchdown drive and Burkhead’s third toucdhownfrom the 2-yard line. A missed extra point by Folk kept the Raiders within 29-16 with 5:17 left.
Any positive vibes from that miss evaporated quickly when Devontae Booker was penalized for an illegal block, the Raiders were backed up to the 2-yard line and Carr was dumped by ex-Raider Shilique Calhoun and Deitrich Wise Jr. The ball came free, with Wise getting the touchdown for a 36-13 New England lead.
Running it up: New England’s ability to get yards consistently on the ground after the Raiders missed on a scoring attempt to open the third quarter. Michel broke loose on a 38-yard run and the Patriots drove 69 yards in seven plays for a 20-10 lead with 6:41 left in the third quarter.
Burkhead did the honors with a 5-yard scoring run for his second touchdown.
The Patriots made it 23-10 with 1:28 in the fourth quarter on Folk’s 32-yard field goal Michel’s 48-run got that drive rolling.
Coming up empty: The Raiders got themselves in position to lead or tie to open the second half, only to have Carlson miss a 41-yard field goal attempt wide left. It was his first miss after five in a row through two games.
The big play was a 34-yard hookup from Carr to Bryan Edwards, but a forced second-down pass to Waller from the New England 22 and a pressured dumpoff to Jalen Richard for no gain brought about the field goal attempt.
Edwards injured an ankle on the play and did not return. The Raiders were already without Henry Ruggs III, their other starting rookie wide receiver.
Big-time answer: The Raiders have been anything but a quick-strike offense through two weeks. Then trailing 13-3 with 34 seconds left in the half, they went 75 yards in four plays to score on a 1-yard pass from Carr to Moreau in 28 seconds.
With no choice but to go downfield, Carr threw deep to Nelson Agholor, who drew a 28-yard pass interference call on reigning NFL Defensvive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore clearly hooked Agholor’s arm on the play.
Two plays later, Carr found Renfrow against double coverage, and the second-year receiver tumbled in to the end zone with an apparent touchdown. Not quite. A replay review correctly placed the ball at the 1.
Whether he’s in or short… Just an incredible throw and catch.#LVvsNE | CBS pic.twitter.com/qjQL7zmtB6
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 27, 2020
Carr then play-faked and tossed to a wide open Moreau for the score.
The drive negated an 86-yard, 12-play Patriots drive that took 5:04 off the clock and concluded with Newton’s 11-yard scoring pass to Burkhead.
Where’s Waller?: After 16 targets and 12 receptions Monday night, tight end Darren Waller didn’t have a single pass come his way in the first half. The Patriots were mixing their coverages, with Gilmore, Joejuan Williams and others contributing.
Waller didn’t make his first catch until 4:07 remained and the Raiders trailed by 23 points.
Arnette, Nassib come through: Following a lost fumble by Derek Carr at their own 42-yard line on a pressure by Chase Winovich, New England drove to the 10-yard line before the Raiders stiffened and allowed a 23-yard field goal by Nick Folk.
Rookie corner Damon Arnette broke up a pass in the end zone on second down and Carl Nassib deflected a Newton pass on third down with the Patriots taking a 6-3 lead with 6:56 left in the half.
Abram with the pick: Johnathan Abram set up the Raiders’ first score with an interception of Newton which was brought about by a pressure from defensive lineman Clelin Ferrell.
However, an illegal man downfield penalty by Denzelle Good erased a first down inside the 5 and the Raiders were forced to settle for a 29-yard field goal from Carlson within the final minute of the first quarter.
It gave the Raiders the lead, but wasn’t a great return on a possession which began at the New England 14 after Abram’s 24-yard return.
FUUUMBLE!: Josh Jacobs lost a fumble on a second-and-5 carry and the Raiders at the Patriots 12-yard line it was recovered by JC Jackson. The Raiders in the first two games of the season had no such issues in the red zone. Carr had completed 3 of 3 passes for 54 yards on the drive.
Jacobs had appeared to recover his own fumble on the play. Even CBS analyst Gene (index card) Stereatore seemed to think so on the broadcast.
Jacobs finished with 71 yards on 16 carries.
First-timers: Wide receiver Rico Gafford and defensive tackle Daniel Ross both suited up for the first time after being inacitve the first two weeks of the season.
Gafford was active because of the injury to Ruggs. Ross was among the eight defensive linemen who suited up, replacing Kendal Vickers, who played sparingly in the first two games.
Two practice squad players were promoted, but only one was active against New England. Linebacker Kyle Emmanuel suited up, but cornerback Madre Harper did not. Both players will revert to practice squad Monday in lieu of any other transactions regarding the 53-man roster.
Masked man: Gruden, after being fined $100,000 for failing to adhere to NFL mask protocol, found a black mask to his liking and any time spent without it appeared minimal.
First false start: The Raiders went their first two games with six penalties and no pre-snap violations. That ended on their first possession when rookie left guard John Simpson was called for a false start. Maxx Crosby followed with a fourth-and-3 neutral zone infraction on a would-be punt that allowed the Patriots to retain possession. Crosby sacked Newton later in the drive to force a punt.
