The Oakland Raiders were hoping to prove they can compete with the big boys of the AFC, but they showed they still have some work to do after falling to the New England Patriots at home.
The Patriots dusted off their running game by putting up 183 yards on the ground and showed their most balanced offensive performance of the season. The defense continued to give up a boatload of yards, but they made just enough big plays to hold the Raiders to 19 points. Head Coach Bill Belichick is known for his “bend but don’t break” defense, but on Sunday it appeared to be “bend and hope the offense throws you the ball.” Sure enough, it worked.
QB Jason Campbell’s interception to Patrick Chung in the end zone proved to be the turning point in the game. Campbell had time to throw, but was eventually forced to step up in the pocket and he threw the ball right into Chung’s hands. The Patriots capitalized on the mishap by scoring the next ten points and went on to win 31-19 to move to 3-1 on the season.
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New England – Three Performances of Note
1) Welker Continues to Shine
Coming off a PFF record grade for a WR in Week 3, WR Wes Welker (+3.3) once again proved to be one of the best receiving weapons in the league and his 2010 ACL surgery appears a distant memory. Once regarded as merely a short pass artist, Welker has continued to expand his repertoire in 2011 as QB Tom Brady has looked his way on some deeper throws. On Sunday, he broke free for deep out and corner routes, and he even added a beautiful catch on a back shoulder throw down the field. His touchdown was quintessential Welker as he caught a flat route and beat CB Joe Porter to the edge and dove into the end zone. Welker continues to play at a record breaking level and it will be interesting to see how teams try to cover the uncoverable (copyright: Khaled Elsayed) in future weeks.
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2) Brandon Spikes, Attacking the Line
Spikes was an outstanding run defender as a rookie in 2010, and after a slow start in 2011, Sunday’s game may be a step back in the right direction. He graded at a solid +1.7, and there were a couple of plays which brought back memories of 2010. Early in the first quarter, Spikes drove downhill on a run play, stood up OG Cooper Carlisle at the point of attack, and made the tackle on RB Darren McFadden for a one yard gain. It may seem simple, but this attacking style that is Spikes’ biggest strength. The first few weeks, he seemed tentative and more reactive, so getting him back to attacking the line of scrimmage will prove important, especially with the possible loss of LB Jerod Mayo to injury.
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3) Logan Mankins
Logan Mankins (-2.0) has been the model of consistency since our grades started in 2008. This is only his tenth game grading “in the red” over that time, so expectations for him are certainly high. Though he technically did not give up a sack, Mankins was beaten badly by former teammate Richard Seymour on one pass play which led to the only sack of Brady. Seymour was also able beat his block to the inside on a couple running plays which led to short gains. Mankins usually excels in the running game, but his lack of push led to a much weaker showing from the Patriots when they ran to the left. It’s been a fairly average start to 2011 for Mankins, and we will see if our fourth rated guard from 2010 is able to bounce back.
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Oakland – Three Performances of Note
1) Old Friends
The Patriots traded DT Seymour just before the 2009 season, and this was their first meeting since parting ways. Seymour has continued to be a good player for the Raiders, and the Patriots are hoping this year’s first round pick, OT Nate Solder, is worth losing two years of production from a dominating interior defensive lineman. In this game, Seymour (-0.9) was fairly average overall, but he committed three key penalties which were difficult for the Raiders defense to overcome.
Seymour actually started strong by forcing a holding penalty on OC Dan Connolly, but he followed it up with unnecessary roughness and facemask penalties. Handing over 30 yards on the opening drive made it easy pickings for Brady and the Patriots offense and they scored a touchdown to go up 7-0. Again, Seymour’s game was not terrible, but his undisciplined play proved costly.
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2) Run Defense Gashed
Stopping the run is generally a team effort and there was an even distribution of blame in this game for the Raiders. Ten different players graded negatively, led by DE Trevor Scott (-1.4 Run Def) and SS Tyvon Branch (-1.2 Run Def). A 33 yard touchdown run by rookie RB Stevan Ridley was a backbreaker early in the third quarter as it put the Patriots up 24-10. The play was run to the offense’s right where DE Kamerion Wimbley and LB Quentin Groves were easily moved off the point of attack. Branch had a shot, but missed the tackle and MLB Rolando McClain was washed out at the second level on a good block by OG Brian Waters. This was not the only big play run thought as the Raiders gave up 134 yards on 12 runs to the offense’s right, good for 11.2 yards per carry.
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3) Despite turnovers, Campbell has solid game
Campbell (+4.0) had a very good game, unfortunately two of his biggest mistakes became the biggest plays of the game. He did a nice job of stepping up in the pocket when necessary, and made the Patriots pay on their ten blitzes (+2.5). Campbell showed off his arm with a beautiful throw on a deep out from the far hash mark to Heyward-Bey for a third down conversion. Overall, Campbell is having a good season, and as long as the running game remains strong, Campbell should make enough plays to keep the Raiders competitive on offense.
Game Notes
● For the second week in a row, the Patriots had only one true active tight end. TE Rob Gronkowski played all 67 snaps, while offensive lineman Thomas Welch was signed off the practice squad and played 25 snaps at TE.
● Of Campbell’s 39 throws, only six were to the right side of the field
● After three great weeks throwing the ball downfield, Tom Brady was only 1 for 7 for 22 yards on balls thrown 20 yards or more.
PFF Game Ball
Wes Welker, WR New England Patriots
Welker gets the game ball for the second week in a row as he hauls in nine receptions for 158 yards, 70 of which came after the catch. Of his nine catches, six went for first downs and three went for 20 yards or more. Throw in some nice downfield blocking and Welker is an easy choice for player of the game.
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