The New England Patriots were supposed to feel different in 2025 with new head coach Mike Vrabel replacing Jerod Mayo, but Week 1 wasn't a great start to that trend.
Despite a decent start, Vrabel's Patriots looked a whole lot like Mayo's Patriots on Sunday in a 20-13 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders to start the season 0-1. It's just Week 1, but that is a reason to be concerned.
Drake Maye, offense fall flat in first game of season
Vrabel isn't an offensive coach, but second-year quarterback Drake Maye was supposed to take a step forward and drive that unit. The offense got off to a good start with a first-quarter touchdown pass from Maye to Pop Douglas, but they stalled out after that. Maye finished 30-for-46 for 287 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the film is worse than the box score in that regard.
New England finished 31st in yards per game and 30th in points per game last season, and it mustered just 13 points and 336 total yards against a Raiders defense that, quite frankly, doesn't have a lot of talent in the back seven at all. Pete Carroll covered some of that up by playing mostly zone coverage — the Raiders played just one snap of man despite the Patriots' lackluster receivers — but this offense still should have been able to be more productive.
Vrabel built an identity with the Tennessee Titans as a physical coach who likes to run the football, but the Patriots tallied just 60 yards on the ground on 18 carries. Not having Derrick Henry makes it a little tougher for Vrabel, but that is still a number that has to come up over the course of the season.
New England defense gets sliced and diced by Geno Smith
The Patriots have some more talent defensively than they do around Maye on the offensive side of the ball, ranking below average in both yards and points last season under Mayo. However, Geno Smith carved up the New England secondary all day long by pushing the ball down the field, and that was enough to get a win for the Raiders.
The new Las Vegas quarterback finished with 362 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, on 24-for-34 passing despite getting no help from the running game.
Getting Christian Gonzalez back at cornerback will help the pass defense and give Vrabel someone he can rely on to play man coverage and take away the opponent's top weapon, so better health will help them on that side of the ball.
Vrabel is supposed to be a culture-changer, but the Patriots looked like the same disorganized group that they were last season under Mayo, who was heavily scrutinized for exactly that. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson got just five carries and, while he did have six catches, was not a massive part of the gameplan despite a lack of explosive players around him.
The penalties were also a big issue for New England, which finished with nine penalties for 70 yards in this game. Those add up and are very costly, and it's something that a coach who instills culture and discipline like Vrabel should not have happen.
Of course, it's only Week 1 and there is a good chance that New England can improve on these things moving forward. Season openers are oftentimes sloppy and disjointed as teams look for things that work for them on both sides of the ball, but these are still concerning signs that are worth monitoring in the coming weeks up in Foxborough.
