There is no love lost between the Las Vegas Raiders and the New England Patriots. After watching a certain outrageous play in a postseason game kickstart a dynasty, not even a certain minority owner joining the organization could mend the fences. The Raiders and Patriots will always have bad blood.
During the 2025 NFL season, Las Vegas got the first laugh, as they took down New England on their home turf to kick off the year. This was especially gratifying because Josh McDaniels was standing on the opposite sideline, as were many other former members of the Silver and Black.
But the Patriots got the last laugh, as they ultimately stormed through the AFC once again and appeared in the Super Bowl. Of course, there, they met the Seattle Seahawks, led in part by Klint Kubiak, and ended up on the wrong side of a whooping. But New England is, unfortunately, back.
To learn a bit more about the Raiders' heated historical rival and a potential path to victory, we went across the train tracks and spoke to Sara Marshall, site expert for Musket Fire, FanSided's dedicated Patriots page. She disclosed some vital intel about Las Vegas' Week 5 foe.
Las Vegas Raiders must defeat reloaded New England Patriots for franchise pride
Q: The Patriots were inches from a Super Bowl last year. What is the current confidence level that the team can be back in that conversation this season?
A: Last year’s success was completely unexpected, but obviously embraced, and there is far more optimism about what they can accomplish this year than there has been in recent history.
Looking ahead to their 2026 schedule, however, it is already projected to be among the most difficult in the NFL, which brings confidence down quite a bit. It’s probably a 60/40 split at this point, so it isn’t great, but not terrible. They have made roster upgrades that needed to be addressed, but it might not be enough against some of the toughest opponents in the league, and that could prevent them from replicating last season’s success.
Q: Speaking of the Super Bowl, are the team and New England fans excited to get an early crack at Klint Kubiak during the 2026 season? Is it a revenge game of sorts, or is it out of mind, now that he's in a different uniform?
A: I’d say it’s more out of mind because he’s with a different team. I think there is definitely a sense of wanting revenge over his former team, the Seahawks, in Week 1, even if it isn’t for the Lombardi Trophy, but it would also be fair to say that, as one of the few teams that beat the Patriots last year, they will want to take down the Raiders this time.
Q: Drake Maye probably should have won MVP last season. Do you believe that the Patriots did enough this offseason to ensure that he can come home with the award in 2026?
A: Adding A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs certainly improves the receiving corps to a level the Patriots haven’t had in quite some time, even well before Tom Brady left for the Bucs in 2020.
Those were good moves, along with boosting the offensive line with Alijah Vera-Tucker and signing fullback Reggie Gilliam - all of whom will play an integral role in how Drake Maye performs this year.
Is it enough to get them back to the Super Bowl? Hopefully! They accomplished a lot with much less last year, so it would be a mistake to completely rule out the possibility.
Q: How does the AJ Brown trade transform the New England offense? Raiders fans saw what Josh McDaniels did with Davante Adams in 2022 before things fell apart.
A: It certainly gives the offense a stronger identity, and McDaniels will now have the chance to get even more creative with his play-calling, something he has been known for throughout his career as an offensive coordinator.
Brown will allow Maye to throw down the field with more ease and also draw the attention of opposing defenses to create other opportunities for his teammates. That will be a huge change from what we saw over the last two years.
Q: Outside of the Brown trade, what was the biggest or most impactful move that the Patriots made this offseason?
A: It is a position that is constantly overlooked, but adding Alijah Vera-Tucker to the offensive line is massive after what we saw in the Super Bowl.
The group was one of the weakest parts of the offense in the latter half of the season, and that all came to a head in the Championship game. Some of that can be blamed on Will Campbell, who was dealing with a worse injury than we knew at the time, coupled with his and Jared Wilson’s inexperience.
Now, Wilson will take over his natural position at center as Vera-Tucker takes over at left guard. His veteran experience and leadership should help Campbell, too, ultimately making Maye’s job a lot easier.
Q: What is the Patriots' greatest weakness that the Raiders could potentially take advantage of?
A: Their pass rush is probably their weakest group right now, even if Mike Vrabel seems comfortable with the group that they have.
Seeing K’Lavon Chaisson leave in free agency and some of the top free agents sign elsewhere, with only Dre’Mont Jones coming to New England, could prove to be a big mistake by the front office. Hopefully, it won’t be, but it feels like something teams like the Raiders can expose.
Q: Would you rather face Fernando Mendoza or Kirk Cousins?
Kirk Cousins!
Other Las Vegas Raiders 2026 season previews:
Week 1 - Miami Dolphins
Weeks 2&14 -Â Los Angeles Chargers
Week 3 - New Orleans Saints
Week 4 - Kansas City Chiefs
Week 6 - Buffalo Bills (Coming Soon)
Week 7 - Los Angeles Rams (Coming Soon)
Week 8 - New York Jets (Coming Soon)
Week 9 - San Francisco 49ers (Coming Soon)
Week 10 - Seattle Seahawks (Coming Soon)
Weeks 11&15 - Denver Broncos (Coming Soon)
Week 12 - Cleveland Browns (Coming Soon)
Week 16 - Tennessee Titans (Coming Soon)
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