Patriots blow out Raiders 45-17 behind Maye's five touchdowns
Drake Maye threw for 374 yards and four scores and ran for a fifth as New England won its second straight, but lost Will Campbell and TreVeyon Henderson to first-half injuries.
Patriots blow out Raiders 45-17 behind Maye’s five touchdowns
The bottom line: Drake Maye threw for 374 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a fifth, and the Patriots scored the most points they have all season in a 45-17 win at Gillette Stadium. New England is 3-2 and has won consecutive games for the first time this year. It also lost left tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson to injuries in the first half.
Maye’s most complete game of the season
The bottom line: Maye completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards with four touchdown passes and a 3-yard rushing score, a week after winning AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
The details:
- DeMario Douglas caught two touchdowns, a 35-yarder on the game’s opening drive and an 8-yarder in the fourth quarter, finishing with four catches for 65 yards.
- Kyle Williams caught his first touchdown of the season, a 34-yard throw down the left sideline, and added a 49-yard catch. He had three receptions for 91 yards.
- Hunter Henry caught an 11-yard touchdown just before halftime and later recovered the Raiders’ onside kick.
- Rhamondre Stevenson ran for 64 yards and a 5-yard touchdown on 13 carries. He passed John Stephens for fifth on the Patriots’ all-time rushing attempts list with 892 and reached 30 career rushing touchdowns.
- New England converted both its fourth downs and scored on four of five red-zone trips. Las Vegas went 0 for 2 on fourth down.
The numbers: New England outgained Las Vegas 536 yards to 306 and averaged 8.1 yards a play to the Raiders’ 5.4. The Patriots had 29 first downs to 16 and held the ball for 34:27. Each team turned it over once. New England was penalized 12 times for 116 yards and won 45-17 anyway.
The short-handed secondary held up
The bottom line: Playing without four cornerbacks, New England gave up one touchdown drive and held the Raiders to 38 rushing yards.
The details:
- Kirk Cousins went 19 of 28 for 243 yards and a touchdown. Las Vegas ran 57 plays for 306 yards and managed 2.1 yards a carry.
- Brock Bowers had eight catches for 110 yards and a 13-yard touchdown, repeatedly working against Marcus Jones, who gives up eight inches to him, Pats Pulpit noted.
- Elijah Ponder sacked Cousins twice, the second a strip-sack to end the first half. Las Vegas recovered that one.
- Kevin Byard and Kindle Vildor forced a Bowers fumble that Craig Woodson recovered for New England’s only takeaway. Vildor had been promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
- Maxx Crosby finished with one assisted tackle and no sacks. Las Vegas was credited with half a sack as a team, by Malcolm Koonce.
- New England’s only turnover came when third-string running back Corey Kiner, in for the injured Henderson, had the ball punched out by former Patriot Adam Butler on his first carry.
- Ashton Jeanty, questionable coming in, ran 10 times for 27 yards. Matt Gay missed a 49-yard field goal, his first miss of the season.
- The Raiders turned to backup quarterback Fernando Mendoza late. His first NFL drive ended on a failed fourth-down scramble.
Campbell and Henderson went out in the first half
The bottom line: Both were hurt within three plays of each other in the second quarter and were ruled out midway through the third.
The details:
- Henderson hurt an ankle at the end of an 11-yard run, tackled along the sideline by safety Jeremy Chinn. Campbell’s right leg was landed on two plays later at the end of a 4-yard Stevenson run, ESPN reported.
- NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Campbell is believed to have a sprained knee and would have an MRI on Monday. Campbell tore the MCL in that same right knee last season.
- “We’ll see how the week goes,” Mike Vrabel said of Campbell on Monday, per the Boston Herald. “I don’t know how much time he’ll miss, if he’ll be back towards the end of the week, if he’ll be back Wednesday. But we’ll take it day-by-day.”
- Henderson entered the day second on the team with 141 rushing yards on 38 carries.
- Rookie Caleb Lomu replaced Campbell at left tackle and played a career-high 49 offensive snaps, allowing one hurry by Pro Football Focus’ charting. “I don’t think it was too big for him,” Vrabel said. “He was able to settle down, and we didn’t really notice him a lot. So I think that’s probably a good thing.”
- New England has placed 19 players on injured reserve this season, already more than the 17 it used all of last season.
New England hosts the Jets next Sunday.
Our take
We got this one wrong in every direction, and it isn’t close. We said Patriots 20, Raiders 17, take the Raiders and the 3.5, take the Under 45.5. It finished 45-17. The Raiders did not cover and the Under lost.
Here’s what we misread. The whole case was that Maye would be running for his life and the turnovers would decide it. He threw 34 times and gave the ball away zero times. The Raiders defense got exactly one takeaway, and it came off a third-string running back on his first carry. Maxx Crosby finished with one assisted tackle.
And the thing we worried most about turned out to be the thing that won it. New England had four cornerbacks out and gave up 17 points. Bowers got his 110 yards, fine. Nobody else did anything.
Two straight wins, 3-2, and the Jets at home next. The problem now is the left tackle, not the quarterback.