Patriots ground the Raiders in Oakland
Monday, October 03, 2011
The 2-1 Oakland Raiders were off to their best start since 2004, and brought in the NFL’s top rushing team to face the Patriots on Sunday in Oakland.
So, how do you attack the Patriots?
Often. But in New England, the best defense right now is the offense…and the Patriots used the offense to run right by the Raiders 31-19.
Oakland took the opening kickoff by attacking first with the pass, rather than the run behind the top back in the NFL, Darren McFadden. Sebastian Janikowski booted a 28 yard field goal when the drive stalled after 9 plays and 50 yards at the Patriot 10-yard line for a 3-0 lead. The Patriots appeared confused on offense out of the gate, with a holding penalty leading to a timeout before any positive yardage was gained. Former Patriot DT Richard Seymour paid Tom Brady a visit on the opening series by throwing him to the ground after the whistle had blown a play dead, resulting in an unnecessary roughness penalty to keep the drive alive. Seymour later grabbed BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ facemask on a running play, bringing New England another first down just a couple of plays later. Three plays later, Brady found Wes Welker on a 15-yard crossing route for a TD with 6:07 to play in the first quarter. Welker’s 5th TD catch of the season, capping a 9-play, 80 yard drive, made it 7-3 New England.
"He's the heart and soul of this team," Brady said after the game. "He's been that way since the day he got here. He works his tail off. He's a great player, great teammate. He's become a real dynamic player over the years. He's made some huge plays for us, he's clutch, tough, mentally tough, physically tough. He's awesome."
With the Patriots secondary opening the game in zone coverage, rather than man-to-man defending, the Raiders took advantage of open space in the zone to pick up a couple of first downs on third-down attempts. Finally, the zone coverage seemed to help the Patriots generate pressure on quarterback Jason Campbell, forcing the Raiders to punt the ball near midfield at the end of the first quarter.
Beginning a drive at their four yard line, the Patriots moved out from the shadow of their end zone as the second quarter began with a completion to Rob Gronkowski and a run from Stevan Ridley, only to have the drive stall as Brady overthrew an open Welker on a long route up the middle. Darren McFadden (75 yards on 14 carries) began a drive by finding a hole in the Pats’ defense for a 41-yard gain to move the ball into New England territory, followed by a Campbell scramble for 17 more. Then, a bullet to TE Kevin Boss for 23 yards put the Raiders at the Patriots’ 7…and three plays later, Oakland made it 10-7 with a one-yard Michael Bush plunge.
The Raiders moved the ball six plays and 88 yards on the drive, against a New England defense that appeared clueless on just about every snap.
At this point, perhaps the Raiders’ emotions began to work against them, with another unnecessary roughness penalty on the kickoff giving the Patriots good field position at their 36. Brady found Welker for 24 yards, followed by another flag thrown against the Raiders’ defense for holding – the 7th of the game to that point. With time to throw, Brady again found Welker on a superb double-move route for 21 yards to the Oakland one, and Green-Ellis jammed it into the end zone two plays later to retake the lead at 14-10, with 7:44 left in the second quarter.
But with the Patriots’ defense appearing confused, Oakland continued to make them pay…converting on a 3rd and four call with a 28 yard Campbell-to-Darius Heyward-Bey pass for a drive-saving first down. Jacoby Ford burned the defense for 29 yards on an end-around, as Shaun Ellis whiffed on a tackle attempt…and two plays later, the Pats finally got a play they desperately needed, as Campbell threw just his second interception of the season, finding safety Pat Chung in the end zone on a throwaway attempt. Brady moved the offense into Raider territory with two completions to Chad Ochocinco, a run and pass to Green-Ellis, and Stephen Gostkowski hammered home a 44-yard field goal for a 17-10 lead at halftime.
With 268 yards of total offense against the Patriots after just two quarters, it is still clear the defense has a long way to go. So…enter the offense to once again try to save the day.
On the opening drive of the 3rd quarter, Brady found Welker for 32 yards on a 3rd down attempt, and Green-Ellis high-hurdled his way for another first down, before rookie Stevan Ridley found a hole on the right side of his line for 33 yards and his first career NFL touchdown to make it 24-10, with 11:07 to play in the period. It was the second rushing TD of the day for NE, matching the entire team total for the season coming into the game.
The Raiders weren’t through, however. In the midst of completing 6 straight passes on 3rd down attempts, Campbell led his team on a time-consuming 14-play, 87 yard drive that led to a 26-yard field goal from Janikowski. It could have been much worse, however, if a pass interference call against Kyle Arrington hadn’t been overruled by the officiating crew due to incidental contact.
Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky, than good.
And it’s also good to have Wes Welker on your side. Brady found Welker for 19 yards on a 3rd down and six play and Green-Ellis found the middle soft for another 15 yards on the ground. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Welker again got the call, for 28 more yards from Brady (his 9th catch of the day), setting the Pats up with a Brady-to-Deion Branch 4-yard touchdown pass. An 8-play, 80-yard drive for the offense is just what the defense ordered.
And then, the defense got another big play with a second career interception from Vince Wilfork, picking off Campbell with 10:19 left to play to stop a Raider drive in Patriots’ territory. New England almost added a late score (stuffed at the Oakland one with just over a minute left), thanks in part to the running of Ridley, who finished with a career high 97 rushing yards on just 10 carries. Oakland did get a late score against a soft Patriots’ prevent defense, Campbell finding Denarius Moore on a six yard pass with 28 seconds left. As a team though, the Pats rushed for a season-best 183 yards, which came as a pleasant surprise, considering Brady’s prolific performance through the air over the first three games.
It probably came as a surprise to the NFL’s top rushing team, the Raiders, as well.
Post Game Notes
Brady’s TD pass to Welker in the first quarter gives the Patriots a score on every opening drive thus far this season – the only team in the NFL to score on each opening possession…injuries continue to mount, as DT Kevin Love went down with an injury in the first quarter – he did return to the game in the 3rd quarter, and LB Jerod Mayo appeared to injure his left knee, requiring assistance to leave the field with 7:00 to play in the second. Mayo was taken to the locker room on a cart at halftime…RB Danny Woodhead also left the game in the second quarter with a left leg injury, and did not return, and center Dan Connolly also left the game before halftime. Ryan Wendell took his place in the second half...
The Patriots and Raiders, two of the original eight AFL franchises, still share quite a bit of history between them – beyond just Richard Seymour. Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Plunkett was a Patriots’ draft choice in 1971, but spent a large part of his career having success in Oakland…while WR Randy Moss is remembered not just for his hand in a prolific 2007 offense produced by the Patriots, but also for his rather non-descript couple of years spent with the Raiders prior to his arrival in New England…and running back (and Cranston native) Mark van Eeghan played on the great Oakland teams of the ‘70’s before ending his career with the Patriots in the ‘80’s…
Brady threw for two more TD passes, the 13th consecutive game he has thrown for two or more…which ties an NFL record (shared with Peyton Manning). It’s also the 12th straight game for the offense to score 30 or more points, one game away from tying the NFL record…Welker (9 catches, 158 yards) has 375 receiving yards and 25 receptions over the past two games, which is a franchise record for most yards in back-to-back games…the Patriots’ offense was outgained by Oakland 504 yards to 409, with 344 yards allowed in the passing game…
One-and-one:
Nitpick – It still has to be the secondary, even though they showed zone coverage for the first time this season. Overall, they appeared unorganized and were simply not positioned well against Oakland receivers, and allowed Jason Campbell to complete 25 of 39 for 344 yards. However, the secondary again did not receive much help from the pass rush, which failed to sack Campbell even once.
Superlative – The running game lives. New England received a tremendous boost from Ridley (97 yards) and Green-Ellis (75 yards), and rushed for a season high 183 yards…keeping the Raider rushers from teeing off on Tom Brady.
Sneak Peek @ Next Week: New York Jets
Any time the Patriots get ready to face the Jets, it is done so with great anticipation on both sides. All time, these two teams can hardly be closer than the 52-51-1 edge the Jets currently hold. A rivalry in the truest sense of the word, and a great compliment to the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry in baseball, neither team particular cares for the other…unless, of course, the other side offers you a job. Which the Patriots did to former Jets Shaun Ellis and James Ihedigbo in the past off-season, and to Danny Woodhead last year. Bill Belichick was the Jets’ coach for about a day, before coming to New England…and former Patriots’ assistant Eric Mangini left New England (without the blessing of Belichick) to take the Jets’ head coaching position, and you might recall the “Spygate” videotaping incidents that followed thereafter, as well as his signing of former Patriot players Ty Law and Matt Chatham. Add to this volatile mix a Jets 28-21 playoff win last season at Gillette Stadium, which followed a 45-3 shellacking the Patriots handed the Jets during the regular season. Both teams are favorites to reach the playoffs again this season, and will rematch this one on November 13th in New York.
It should be interesting, at the very least, next Sunday at 4:15 in Foxboro.
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