Las Vegas Raiders v New England Patriots
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Drake Maye found himself in a spot he became all too familiar with during his rookie season on Sunday afternoon. The second-year quarterback was visibly dejected while standing at the podium, fielding questions as to why his New England Patriots were on the losing end of the 2025 season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders. 

While the 20-13 final score may suggest this was a tightly contested matchup between two rebuilding AFC clubs, the distance between them felt much farther apart than that. That was most apparent in the second half, where Las Vegas outscored the Patriots 13-3 and the New England offense largely fell on its face. 

After taking a 10-7 lead into the locker room, the Patriots offense went as follows: 

  • Interception
  • Three-and-out
  • Three-and-out
  • Punt
  • Punt
  • Field Goal

"No, it sure didn't," coach Mike Vrabel said of his midweek message to win the second half, falling flat. "Again, it's frustrating. We have to understand how sometimes these games are going to go. We just didn't do enough in the second half. Give them credit. We certainly didn't do enough. We had too many missed opportunities, too many penalties, the turnover, and things that just -- didn't take advantage of bad football and then were able to have bad football ourselves." 

Added wide receiver Kayshon Boutte on New England's second-half struggles: "I just feel like we could've had more energy coming into the second half."

Despite Boute putting together a 103-yard performance on six catches, the Patriots offense had a noticeable lack of explosiveness. Part of the reason was likely due to Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham keeping two safeties deep for most of the afternoon, but it was a stark difference from what the Las Vegas offense was able to enact on New England. A total of five different Raiders pass catchers had receptions of 20 yards or more. As for the Patriots, they had two such players. Moreover, Las Vegas finished the afternoon with a total of nine 20-plus yard passing plays, which was triple the amount of New England (three). 

Beyond the lack of explosion, maybe the most concerning takeaway was that Maye didn't look entirely comfortable within the new-look offense spearheaded by Josh McDaniels. The second-year quarterback endured some growing pains throughout the preseason, and they reared their head here in the opener.  

In the first half, New England was called for a delay of game penalty, despite getting out of the huddle with roughly 14 seconds on the play clock. That turned a third-and-12 at the Vegas 17-yard line into a third-and-17, and Andy Borregales ended up missing the 40-yard field goal attempt after failing to convert on third down. 

"Yeah, just trying to get into a good play," Maye said of what happened. "I think just got to be better with bringing the back back in the backfield, timing it up with the play clock. I saw it at the end, and I think I surprised Garrett [Bradbury] trying to get the ball. I think that's what happened. Just got to be more efficient getting out of the huddle. I've got to preach to those guys and give us more time to operate. I think that starts with me and getting those guys in the huddle, getting them out of the huddle, kind of being efficient, and just going from there." 

Similar to what we saw in the preseason, Maye was also a bit sped up, which contributed to a number of his throws sailing a bit high. He missed DeMario Douglas on a high throw that likely would've moved the chain on the opening drive, and then came around to bite him in the second half with an interception on the first possession out of the break. 

"I think I missed it high," Maye said of the pick. "I think I've got to step into it more. I think I may have got hit up front. But that's just part of playing quarterback in this league. You've got to step into the throw and take hits and be accurate. Yeah, there's plays throughout the game I wish I had back, and I can think of three or four for me that can help dictate the game. It's a bummer thinking back and looking back at those." 

New England enters the 2025 season with plenty of hype of not only doubling its four-win win total from the past two seasons, but also pushing for a playoff berth. That promise won't come to fruition unless the offense moves with more regularity, sprinkled with some explosive shots down the field in the weeks to come.