Last Sunday, the New England Patriots (1-1) were able to find a way to get in the win column with a 30-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. While the offense wasn’t as consistent as Patriots’ fans would like it, Stevan Ridley was still able to run for 101 yards and a touchdown in the win. The star of the game was the defense. After giving up a touchdown to Matt Cassel and company on the opening drive, New England was able to intercept Cassel four times, including the first interception for Darrelle Revis as a Patriot and a first for Dominique Easley’s pro career. The Patriots will now head into their first home game of 2014 (Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, CBS) where they will play a team that is going thru even bigger issues.
The Oakland Raiders (0-2) come into Foxboro Sunday afternoon after two losses to the New York Jets and Houston Texans. In those games, the team managed to score 14 points in each contest. The Patriots’ defense will be facing rookie quarterback Derek Carr. Carr, the team’s second round pick out of Fresno State, has 414 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. The team added running back Maurice Jones-Drew in free agency to complement Darren McFadden, but Jones-Drew missed last week’s game vs. the Texans due to a hand injury. James Jones was another piece the Raiders picked up in the offseason at wide receiver. However, Oakland has the second worst offense in the NFL thru two games.
As for the defense, the Raiders picked up linebacker Lamar Woodley and defensive end Justin Tuck in the offseason as well as taking linebacker Khalil Mack out of Buffalo with their first round selection last May. While Oakland as a team only has one interception this year (Charles Woodson), this is a unit that is second in the NFL in passing yards allowed despite giving up 24 points per game. For head coach Dennis Allen, this is not the start that he wanted after the team finished 4-12 a season ago.
Before this Sunday’s Patriots-Raiders game, here are my three keys to the game:
1. Can The Raiders Contain Chandler: One of the Patriots’ big defensive stars last week was defensive end Chandler Jones. In the win over Minnesota, the third-year defensive end out of Syracuse had two sacks and returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown. Jones was able to excel in a different defensive scheme last week that better suited his talent. In fact, the two key pieces from the 2012 draft (Jones and Don’t’a Hightower) combined for four sacks last week. While Carr is only a rookie, he has not been sacked much to start the season. His offensive line has only allowed him to be sacked twice this season. Plus, Carr is able to take off and run a little bit. His 57 yards on five carries actually leads the team, five yards ahead of Darren McFadden. If the Patriots allow Jones to rush the quarterback this week, he should have another big game and allow the secondary to be able to force turnovers off Derek Carr mistakes.
2. Charles In Charge Of The Secondary?: With New England’s passing offense struggling at the moment, Oakland might not be the matchup the Patriots want at this point. Yes, the Raiders have not played great football the first two games. However, as we mentioned before, this is the second best pass defense in the NFL up to this point (albeit against Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick). Strong safety Tyvon Branch had 12 tackles last week against Houston, but I’m keeping an eye on Brady’s former teammate at the university of Michigan, free safety Charles Woodson.
Woodson is 37 years old, but he does have the team’s only interception this season. Last season, Woodson only had one interception, but forced three fumbles with Oakland. Woodson is also joined by cornerback Carlos Rogers, who came from the 49ers in free agency, to help the secondary. This game could be a surprise test for the Patriots’ pass offense that hasn’t seen any receiver other than Julian Edelman and a limited Rob Gronkowski at tight end. Is this the game someone like Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson, or Kenbrell Thompkins emerges and gain the trust of the quarterback? We will find out.
3. Don’t Let The Flags Fly: If the Patriots are going to get off to a great start and pull away from Oakland, one of the things they have to do is avoid the drive killing penalties. The Patriots may not have needed the big scores in the second half last week, but penalties have been a huge issue for Bill Belichick’s team. In the first two games, New England has committed 24 penalties, which is second in the league behind the San Francisco 49ers. This includes 15 penalties last week against the Vikings.
Of course, the focus for a Patriots’ fan every week should be on the offensive line. Left tackle Nate Solder is one of the veterans for that unit, but has committed four penalties. He had one drive last week, where he committed three penalties in a two-play span. Solder was one of those players that was expected to take a step up when the team traded Logan Mankins.
While Oakland only has two sacks this season, you want to avoid putting the offense in obvious passing down situations via penalties. Otherwise, the Raiders’ defensive line will have chances to get pressure on the QB. However, that task is tougher now when you consider that linebacker Sio Moore, one of the team’s best defensive players, will miss this game due to an ankle injury
PREDICTION
When you take a look at this matchup, New England has a big advantage on paper. Just like last week when Stevan Ridley ran for over 100 yards, I want to see the Patriots run the football with Ridley and Shane Vereen against the league’s worst run defense. If New England can cut down on penalties, they should be able to get out ahead early and not look back. Plus, I don’t think the Raiders have the receivers to keep up in a scoring battle. James Jones is the only receiver with over 100 total yards in two games and Vincent Brown was signed this week to help that corps out. That being said, this is the game where the Patriots will continue the upward progression of their offense and where Bill Belichick will develop a scheme that confuses Derek Carr and forces a couple of turnovers.
PATRIOTS 34 RAIDERS 17
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