Las Vegas Raiders Rolled 36-20 by New England Patriots
The Las Vegas Raiders made some costly mistakes early and then simply were run over by the New England Patriots.
The Raiders, who were almost mistake-free in the first two games, lost two fumbles and committed two costly penalties when they had a chance to take control in the first half, and the Patriots took command by rushing for 250 yards in a 36-20 victory on Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
And it wasn’t quarterback Cam Newton, who led the Patriots (2-1) in rushing the first games, who did the running.
Sony Michel rushed for 117 yards on nine carries, Rex Burkhead added 49 yards on six carries and two touchdowns in addition to catching a touchdown pass, and J.J. Taylor had 43 yards on 11 carries for New England.
“We came together and just played hard,” said Michel, who has averaged 4.0 yards per carry in his career. “You always want to create big plays. It’s good for our guys to know that we’re capable of doing it. It builds confidence and we want to continue to do it. When we do it, it brings that energy.
“It kind of broke open for me. I felt pretty good out there.”
Said Newton: “Sony did a lot of heavy lifting out there. ...(We're) just finding ways to win. That's it. We've played three different teams, three different type of teams, and each game there's been 100 percent consistency in the feel of knowing that we're going to be in the best situation to win and still having the opportunity to win.
"You're with guys who play for each other, play for the common goal, and that's what it's all about.”
Newton rushed nine times for 27 yards while also completing 17 of 28 passes for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
“We played the best 30 minutes of football in the second half, which is what we needed,” sad Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, who claimed his 275th NFL regular season victory, joining George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328) as the only other coaches to reach that number.
“(The Patriots) didn't get down about it, they just went out there and responded.”
Once the Patriots went ahead they controlled the ball, holding it for 34 minutes and 39 seconds during the game compared to 25:21 for the Raiders (2-1).
New England rushed for their 250 yards on 38 carries, a 6.6-yard average, and the Raiders didn’t help themselves by missing numerous tackles.
“We fumbled the ball in the red zone, we missed a field goal that we should make, we can’t stop the run in the second half,” Raiders Coach Jon Gruden said after the game. “There are some issues that add up to a loss.
“ … New England did a nice job. They did a better job than we did today.”
The Patriots built a 13-3 lead on Newton’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Burkhead with 34 seconds left in the first half, and Burkhead scored on a five-yard run with 6:41 left in the third quarter to make it 20-10.
Then Burkhead’s two-yard touchdown run with 5:17 left in the game made it 29-13 a virtually put the game away, even though Nick Folk missed the extra point after kicking field goals of 33, 23, and 32 yards.
Even though they tried, the Raiders could not rally to win the way they did against the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints in the first two weeks of the season.
For good measure, after the Raiders were penalized on the ensuing kickoff, quarterback Derek Carr was sacked and his second fumble of the game was recovered by defensive end Deatrick Wise in the end zone for a touchdown to make it 36-13 with 5:10 left.
That’s two touchdowns in seven seconds on the clock.
Again, the Raiders did not give up, as Carr hit the wide receiver, Hunter Renfrow, with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:54 left in the game, but it was too little and much too late.
Carr completed 24-of-32 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, but the Raiders obviously were hampered by the loss of rookie speedster Henry Ruggs III, who missed the game because of knee and hamstring injuries.
“It’s one game,” said Carr, adding that it’s no time to panic. “'If we're gonna blow up everything after the good things that we’ve done after one game, then this game ain’t for some of those people. We are just fine. We’re gonna be fine.”
It didn’t help that tight end Darren Waller, who led the Raiders with 18 receptions in the first two games including 12 last week, was taken away by the New England defense.
Waller didn’t make his first catch, which went for eight, yards until a little over four minutes remained in the game and he finished with two catches for nine yards.
“We have a lot of good receivers,” Gruden said. “We didn’t come here to target Waller every play. Credit New England, they had a nice game plan. They got pressure on our quarterback a few times.
“We had Waller open. The film is out there for everybody to look at.”
Renfrow led the Raiders with six receptions for 71 yards, Zay Jones added three catches for 32 yards and rookie Bryan Edwards had two receptions for 48 yards, including a 34-yarder.
Josh Jacobs again led the Raiders in rushing with 71 yards on 16 carries but lost a fumble when the Raiders were still in the game and driving in the first half, even though the replay indicated the Jacobs actually recovered and was on the ground when cornerback J.C. Jackson took the ball away.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby, who led the Raiders with 10 sacks last season, got to Newton twice but was not credited with any other tackles. Linebacker Nick Morrow led the Raiders with nine total tackles, including seven unassisted, and Johnathan Abram’s interception was the Raiders’ only turnover.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Raiders next Sunday when they host the Buffalo Bills (3-0), who rallied for a 35-32 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
How to watch or listen to the Las Vegas Raiders versus the Buffalo Bills Sunday?
TV: CBS 1 PM ET/10 AM PT
Radio: Raider Nation Radio
Odds: Unavailable at this time
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