What To Watch For: Patriots vs. Raiders

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Friday, September 19, 2014

Matt LaPan, GoLocal Worcester Sports Reporter

The New England Patriots will welcome the Oakland Raiders into Gillette Stadium on Sunday for their 2014 home opener. The Patriots are coming off a huge win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 to even their record at 1-1. The Raiders have struggled in both of their games and are 0-2. What should you be looking for on Sunday? Find out here:

Derek Carr vs. Bill Belichick

Patriots fans know that when Bill Belichick and the Patriots play a rookie quarterback, the results are generally good. Belichick is 14-5 against rookie quarterbacks as the Patriots' coach and has never lost a home game to a rookie quarterback.

Belichick was able to show a diverse, attacking defense in Week 2, and will likely do the same against the Raiders. Oakland does not have a great receivers group, meaning the coverage of Darrelle Revis, Logan Ryan and others will look even better than it did against the Vikings.

Stevan Ridley & Shane Vereen

The Patriots have been looking to establish the ground game. Oakland is the perfect opponent to keep that trend going. The Raiders have allowed an average of 200 yards per game on the ground through the first two weeks of the season.

Stevan Ridley appeared to find a bit of a groove late in the Patriots win over the Vikings, and should play an integral role in the Patriots' Week 3 plan. Shane Vereen is a question mark after appearing on the injury report this week with a shoulder injury. If Vereen does play, however, expect him to split carries with Ridley and be a strong threat out of the backfield.

Does Brady Spread the Wealth?

The narrative around New England through two weeks of the NFL season has been that Tom Brady is not targeting anyone outside of Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski. This has drawn the ire of Patriots fans.

Brady himself has mentioned that the offense needs more balance, but will he practice what he preaches? Keep an eye on Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Tompkins, Danny Amendola, Tim Wright and others to see who is getting Brady to look his way.

Prediction: Patriots 31 Raiders 6

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