The New England Patriots are traveling to face the Las Vegas Raiders this week, meaning that Bill Belichick will go against his former disciple Josh McDaniels, and with the game looming, McDaniels downplayed the storylines.

“The horse is dead,” Josh McDaniels said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic.

It is clear that McDaniels does not want this week to become about him against his former head coach. Of course, he had a lot of successful seasons with the Patriots as the offensive coordinator under Belichick. His tenure as head coach of the Raiders has not gone to plan so far.

McDaniels does seem to have some latitude with the Raiders to build a team with his vision. Raiders owner Mark Davis recently came out and emphasized patience with the fanbase. Fortunately, the Raiders picked up a win against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football to move to 2-3 on the season.

The Patriots come into the matchup in a spot that they have not been in since before Belichick was the head coach. They are 1-4, and boast the worst offense in the NFL by some metrics. Mac Jones has struggled mightily.

McDaniels' Raiders won the matchup last year, when Jakobi Meyers threw a backwards pass that was returned for a Raiders touchdown as time expired. Now, Jakobi Meyers is on the Raiders. The game will be played in the same location.

Las Vegas will try to get back to .500 with a win, while the Patriots will try to turn their season around after a 1-4 start.