After a surprising 3-0 start to the season, the Las Vegas Raiders have dropped their last two games. The lost to the New England Patriots on Sunday was easily the most concerning moment of the year, as Vegas was absolutely embarrassed, losing 45-17.
Overall, it was a day to forget for the Raiders. The offense didn’t do enough, and the defense was abysmal. From top to bottom, it was the kind of game that could turn things in the wrong direction for Las Vegas. Of course, fans are hoping that’s not the case, but there were too many concerning moments on Sunday.
Instant reactions to Raiders’ Week 5 loss to the Patriots
1. The Las Vegas secondary looks like a complete liability. That wasn’t the case coming into the game, with the Raiders’ defensive backs playing surprisingly well in the first four weeks of the season. However, on Sunday, Drake Maye and the Patriots offense had their way through the air.
Maye completed 26-of-34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns. New England’s passing game wasn’t just productive, it was explosive, with four different Patriots receivers catching passes for over 25 yards. To make matters worse, Maye had been struggling most of the season, but he was back in MVP-finalist form against the Raiders’ secondary.
2. The secondary wasn’t alone in playing bad, as the run defense was also embarrassing on Sunday. New England ran the ball 31 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns. That breakes down to 5.3 yards per carry, and it’s nearly impossible for a defense to have success when giving up that kind of production on the ground.
Beyond just being gashed in running lanes, the Raiders were routinely falling off of ball carriers as they tried to tackle. If Las Vegas can’t clean up it’s tackling and stop the run, the defense will continue to see long days.
3. Brock Bowers is a special football player. Obviously, this isn’t anything new. All Raiders fans know how good the young tight end is, and his abilities were even on display in the embarrassing loss. Bowers was targeted 10 times, and caught eight of those targets for 110 yards and one touchdown.
The tight end did have a brutal fumble late in the game, but the rare mistake didn’t overshadow another great outing for Bowers.
4. Raiders must find consistent receiving production outside of Bowers. Bowers is frequently targeted because he’s pretty unguardedable, but his target numbers are certainly helped by Las Vegas’ lack of reliable weapons at wide receiver.
After Bowers, the Raiders’ second-leading receiver was running back Ashton Jeanty with three receptions for 50 yards. The ball was spread around, with 10 total players catching a pass, but no receiver had more than 44 yards.
5. There is a natural fear that reality might be setting in for the Raiders. Las Vegas was the worst team in the NFL last season, winning just three games. While there was excitement surrounding the future of the franchise, expectations were low for Las Vegas in 2026.
The team started to change that narrative by winning its first three games. Even with the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4, the Raiders were applauded for looking competent and having a respectable loss to what appears to be a good Chiefs team. That wasn’t the case on Sunday, though.
Las Vegas was embarrassed and looked like a team that could be headed to another disastrous season. It’ll be on the Raiders to prove that isn’t the case.
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