FOXBORO — The Patriots are officially back on track and should be considered one of the top threats in the AFC after thoroughly dominating the Raiders 45-17 at home on Sunday.
The Raiders entered Week 5 with a better record than the Patriots but were completely overmatched by last year’s AFC champions.
The 3-2 Patriots are now above .500 for the first time this season after consecutive wins over the Bills and Raiders.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had his best performance since last December, and the defense, despite being down two starting cornerbacks, put the clamps on Raiders signal-caller Kirk Cousins.
Despite the lopsided result, head coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t perfectly content with his team’s performance, specifically citing their 12 penalties for 116 yards.
“Still have to lock (in) to improve and to clean up,” Vrabel said. “There’s a lot to work on. Penalties are ridiculous, so we’ll have to focus on that and figure out things that we can improve on, which there’ll be a lot of.”
The Patriots started strong with a three-and-out on defense with key plays on incompletions by backup cornerbacks Charles Woods and Kindle Vildor, who were filling in for Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III — both out with injuries.
The offense got the Patriots out to an early 7-0 lead with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Maye to a wide-open DeMario Douglas.
The Raiders quickly tied it up with 6-foot-4 tight end Brock Bowers dominating 5-foot-8 cornerback Marcus Jones with two catches for 37 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown.
The Patriots continued their scoring ways with a 5-yard touchdown run from Rhamondre Stevenson. Maye began the game a near-perfect 6-of-7 for 85 yards while drawing two defensive pass interference penalties.
Woods forced a punt with a pass breakup on third down, defending a target from Cousins to wide receiver Cody White.
The Patriots were forced to punt on their ensuing drive. Both left tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson departed for the locker room during the series with injuries. The Raiders were forced to punt, as well, after outside linebacker Elijah Ponder sacked Cousin on third down.
The Raiders quickly took possession back from the Patriots. Third-string running back Corey Kiner coughed up the ball and lost a fumble on his first touch of the game, giving the Raiders the ball at the Patriots’ 38-yard line. The Patriots’ defense held them to a 49-yard field goal attempt, which hit off the left upright and fell no good.
The Patriots then completed a double score on each side of halftime. Maye led the offense on a five-play, 61-yard drive that culminated with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry. Coming out of halftime, Maye completed a four-play, 61-yard drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams. That was his third passing TD of the game.
After the two teams traded punts, the Raiders kicked a 46-yard field goal to cut the Patriots’ lead to 28-10.
The Patriots increased their lead once again with Maye rushing for a 3-yard score after being assisted by some Raiders penalties on the nine-play, 71-yard drive.
Patriots safety Craig Woodson recovered a fumble by Bowers that was forced by Kevin Byard to give the offense the ball back. The Patriots increased their lead to 38-10 with a 28-yard field goal from Andy Borregales.
The Raiders cut the Patriots’ lead to 38-17 with a touchdown run from Dylan Laube to start the fourth quarter.
Maye pushed the Patriots to 45 points with his fifth touchdown of the game, this one an 8-yarder to Douglas.
BEST
QB Drake Maye: What a performance. Maye looked like the MVP runner-up in this win, completing 26-of-34 passes for 374 yards with four touchdowns and no turnovers. He also rushed for a score on four carries for 29 yards. His performance was made even more impressive by the fact that A.J. Brown and Mack Hollins are both on injured reserve.
OLB Elijah Ponder: Ponder forced a punt with a third-down sack midway through the second quarter then finished off the first half with a strip sack. He now has 4.5 sacks through five weeks. The 2025 UDFA is on a torrid pace.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson: Stevenson was clearly the Patriots’ best running back even before Henderson went down with an injury. He was making defenders miss on the way to 64 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries while also making three catches for 21 yards.
Honorary mentions: CB Charles Woods (two pass breakups), WR Efton Chism (five catches, 57 yards), CB Kindle Vildor (pass breakup), WR DeMario Douglas (four catches, 65 yards, 2 TDs), TE Hunter Henry (three catches, 44 yards, TD), WR Kyle Williams (three catches, 91 yards, TD), S Kevin Byard (FF), S Craig Woodson (FR).
WORST
RB Corey Kiner: Once Henderson left the game, Kiner filled in as the backup running back. He lost a fumble on his first touch. Kiner did finish strong in garbage time and ended up with six carries for 52 yards, plus a 7-yard catch.
CB Marcus Jones: It was a disadvantageous matchup for the 5-foot-8 cornerback against 6-foot-4 tight end Brock Bowers. But Jones allowed a touchdown to the Raiders’ top offensive player.
WR Romeo Doubs: Doubs was the one pass-catcher who didn’t flourish on Sunday. He’s having difficulty making the tough catches and fending off defenders through contact right now.
WHAT WE LEARNED
• The Patriots opened in an old-school 3-4 defense with defensive linemen Milton Williams, Cory Durden and Joshua Farmer, linebackers Ponder, Dre’Mont Jones, Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss, and defensive backs Jones, Charles Woods, Woodson and Byard.
• On offense, they ran their first play out of 12 personnel with Henry and fellow tight end Eli Raridon in the backfield with running Stevenson, plus Doubs and Efton Chism.
• Rookie tight end Tanner Arkin filled in for fullback Reggie Gilliam in the backfield.
• Rookie first-round pick Caleb Lomu filled in for Campbell after the second-quarter injury.
• The Patriots treated Bowers like he was a wide receiver. During games, strength and conditioning coach Brandon Martuccio holds up cards to indicate the opposing personnel package. The numbers on the cards indicate how many running backs and tight ends are on the field. So, 11 personnel, for example, means one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers. When Bowers was on the field, he was not included in the tight end numbers. When it was running back Ashton Jeanty, Bowers, tight end Michael Mayer and two wide receivers, Martuccio would hold up a card with the number 11.
• Woods left the game with a shoulder injury, leaving just Jones and Vildor at cornerback spot. That forced the Patriots to use four safeties on defense: Byard, Woodson, Jaylen Reed and Mike Brown.
