General manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll reshaped the Las Vegas Raiders' roster this offseason. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was the only key coach retained, as he is now under his third Raiders regime, but Carroll's stamp would surely be all over the defensive philosophy.
Amid all the turnover of Graham's unit, fans had a lot of questions about the defense, particularly the linebacker and cornerback rooms. There would certainly be some ups and downs early in the season, particularly as the end of the depth chart sorted itself out and players attempted to mesh.
In the first half of Sunday's Week 1 game, the New England Patriots had three drives of at least nine plays against the Raiders' defense on their way to 201 yards of offense. Drake Maye went 15-for-20 for 150 yards and a touchdown through the air, and the Las Vegas pass rush hardly touched him.
The Raiders' defense answered the critics (for now) in Week 1
It wasn't awful from a per-play perspective for the Raiders' defense, as they relinquished 5.3 yards per play in the opening half. They also gave up only 10 points, but they just couldn't disrupt Maye enough, and something had to change or else the dam was going to break for the New England offense.
According to ESPN's Ryan McFadden, Maye had a 95.8 passer rating against four-man rushes in the first two quarters. In the second half, the Raiders sent four defenders after the Patriots' signal caller on 80% of his drop backs and generated nine pressures with three sacks as Maye posted a 61.9 passer rating.
In the second half, McFadden noted that the Raiders pressured Maye 11 times. An ineffective ground game led to him going 30-for-46 for 287 yards in the contest, but 54 of of his 137 second half passing yards came on the Patriots' final drive, which led to their only second half points, a field goal.
RELATED: Raiders received bulletin board material being disrespected in latest power rankings
Maye seemed sure to burn the Raiders some with his legs on Sunday, but he was a non-factor there as well, tallying just 11 yards on four carries. New England averaged just 3.3 yards per rush in Sunday's contest as a team.
As for the Raiders' perimeter cornerbacks, Eric Stokes and Kyu Blu Kelly, both held up well on Sunday. According to Pro Football Focus, they allowed 11 catches for 110 receiving yards on 15 targets, but they only gave up a total of eight yards after the catch, which means their coverage was not bad.
The Patriots' offense is hardly a juggernaut, and the Raiders' next two opponents will certainly be a stiffer challenge. But a strong defensive showing in the season opener is something to build on, and for one week, all the negative narratives were shot down.