After back-to-back road games the Patriots return to the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium this Sunday where they'll face the 3-1 Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders got off to a hot 3-0 start to the 2026 season before dropping a close contest with the Chiefs last weekend.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins is tied for the league lead with 11 touchdowns, while superstar tight end Brock Bowers has returned to the lineup and resumed his torrid receiving pace. Cousins is doing more than keeping the seat warm for 2026 first overall pick Fernando Mendoza, looking rejuvenated in new head coach Klint Kubiak's offense.
The Raiders defense has similarly surprised this season, ranking second overall in EPA and 11th in DVOA, while rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses leads the league with three interceptions through four games. He's a big reason why the Raiders lead the league with nine takeaways to start the season, along with their five forced fumbles that indicate a physical attacking defense.
Maxx Crosby remains a significant force on the edge, ranking 15th in NFL in pass rush win rate per ESPN, but it's Vegas' timely and aggressive blitzes that are becoming their biggest factor. Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard doesn't send more than his front four very often, but when he does, he's likely to bring the house with a zero-blitz. The Raiders lead the league in cover zero, nearly doubling the league average despite ranking 27th in overall blitz rate. They have the best pressure rate in the NFL when they send five or more rushers.
There's plenty for the Patriots to digest as they look to stack a second-straight win over a conference opponent after knocking off the Bills last weekend.
Here are three critical things to watch!
1. Bowers Outage
After missing the first two games of the 2026 season, "tight end" Brock Bowers has returned and reminded everyone why he's one of the best young superstars in the game with 16 catches on 25(!) targets for 202 yards and two touchdowns. There's little question that the Patriots defensive game plan must start with critical attention on Bowers.
"Really, Brock is a receiver," said Mike Vrabel this week. "It's impressive what he does at his size, the speed, the route craft, and being able to catch at the catch point. He's like a big slot receiver. He has downfield speed, he runs outward breaking routes, he runs routes like a receiver, but then also he's got the ability to double guys up inside."
The Patriots might consider using a cornerback to cover him, but injury attrition is piling up with four of the six corners on the active roster missing Wednesday's practice this week, including outside starters Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III.
Last week the Chiefs used all of their cornerbacks to share coverage duties on Bowers and it still did little to contain him. The Patriots will need a solid team effort, especially if they're without Gonzalez again. Bowers seems assured to do damage, the Patriots just have to limit it in critical situations like third down and in the red zone.
2. Make the Raiders One-Dimensional
The disparity between the effectiveness of the Raiders run and pass games is striking. Through the air they've been among the league's best, ranking seventh in dropback EPA, 11th in passing DVOA and first overall in pass block win rate.
Flip over to the ground game and the numbers flip – 29th in rush EPA, 29th in rushing DVOA, along with a respectable 12th in run block win rate.
Despite the imbalance, Cousins is having a resurgent season leading the league with 11 touchdown passes while ranking 10th in EPA. Still, the formula seems obvious. Contain Ashton Jeanty (3.4 yards per attempt) and Mike Washington (37.5% success rate) on the ground and put the pressure on Cousins in the passing game.
Interior rushers Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, along with ascending edge players Elijah Ponder and Gabe Jacas, won't have to worry as much about keeping the quarterback in the pocket this week, like they did with Josh Allen. If they can pin their ears back on third-and-long and put the pressure on Cousins, he should look more like the player who led the league in interceptions (16) in 2024 and had the worst completion percentage of his career as a starter in 2025.
Hits on 38-year-old quarterbacks add up quickly if you take away his quick reads and force him to hold the ball.
"He's done a great job of protecting the football," said Vrabel of Cousins. "Again, being able to put the ball where it needs to go quickly is something that I think he's really done a nice job of, and he has a really good grasp of the offense, based on coverage where he wants to go with the football."
3. Keep Pounding
The Patriots produced a season-high of 143 rushing yards last week against the Bills, but it was Drake Maye who led the way with 54 yards on eight carries. Getting more production from the running game with Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson remains a critical goal for the Patriots offense.
And with Stevenson limited in practice early this week, the Raiders might be their biggest challenge yet as they rank 6th in rush EPA but 25th in rush DVOA. Those numbers are a bit distorted after Kenneth Walker ran for 177 yards on two carries, a unique performance by the hottest running back in the league that will be difficult to recreate.
The Patriots run game stats are inching their way up the league rankings. They stand at 23rd in rush EPA, 24th in rush DVOA and 15th in run block win rate. Taking the next step against a solid Raiders front would be huge this week. It would make the passing game easier for Maye, help keep Bowers and company off the field and add a physical dimension to the attack that remains the final frontier for the 2026 Patriots offense.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
