FOXBORO — When you look at the scoreboard following the New England Patriots' 45-17 drubbing of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, most thoughts will go straight to the offense. And deservingly so.
They scored seven times and Drake Maye had one of the best games of his career. And yet, the New England defense, one that sacked Kirk Cousins a season-high three times, stole the show. They were able to pressure the Raiders all afternoon and really limit anything past the first two drives of the game.
"It was a good win at home, and we just continue to build," edge rusher Gabe Jacas told Patriots On SI postgame. "We know we could utilize Kirk Cousins, him not being that mobile. We just know we ha fto affect the middle of the pocket. ... We just gave to win early and win early in the pocket."
The Raiders drove six plays for 66 yards early the first quarter, eventually tying the game up at seven on a Brock Bowers touchdown. But then they weren't able to get anything cooking. Their next two drives were punts, and then once they were gifted a fumble in Patriots territory, a doinked field goal from Matt Gay ended that chance for points.
All afternoon, the Patriots flew around the field. Christian Elliss led the team with seven tackles. Elijah Ponder had a pair of sacks, while Leonard Taylor III added another. Kindle Vildor (who was just signed to the 53-man roster this weekend) forced a fumble. The defense was swarming, and it allowed the offensive side of the ball to thrive without much pressure.
Las Vegas only mustered 38 yards on the ground (27 from Ashton Jeanty), and so that forced the ball to go in the air a lot more. Then the Patriots sent the hounds.
Patriots Captain: "We Wanted To Heat Him Up A Little Bit"
"They did a great job in their blitz package," Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said. "When you pass it that many times, there's going to be those. But overall, I think they did a great job of pressuring us today."
When the defense gets to the quarterback and makes life difficult, that is a recipe for success.
"We wanted to heat him up a little bit, so we started to blitz and do some things like that," Kevin Byard said. "I think (defensive coordinator) Zak (Kuhr) called a great game."
The defense hasn't been the problem all season. But this week, no one would have faulted them considering how banged up they were. Entering Sunday, four (four!) cornerbacks were down for the count. Christian Gonzalez was out with a shoulder injury, Carlton Davis' neck injury flared up again and rookies Karon Prunty and Channing Canada both had hamstring ailments. Nobody would have batted an eye if a depleted secondary got carved up.
But they did step up. Sure, Bowers (eight receptions, 110 yards, one touchdown) was Bowers. But the team adjusted and started to close the gap.
They stood tough, albeit agianst not that great of a receiving room on the other side of the field. Tre Tucker led all Raiders wide receivers with four receptions for 41 yards. The next most? Cody White's two receptions for 44 yards. It was as shutdown as you can get when it comes to New England's corners against the Raiders' wideouts.
"I don't think you ever expect this, but I think there was a lot of respect for their defense, and I played here last year and didn't play, but preparing for them last season and watching their run to the Super Bowl, I think you saw an elite defense that was a Super Bowl caliber defense," Cousins said. "Felt that all week as we were preparing for this game, just that we were playing a very, very good defense."
CBs Stepped Up Without Starters:
Without their top cornerbacks, the team still got valuable snaps out of their trio of healthy cornerbacks ... at least for the time being. Marcus Jones stepped up, even though he was tasked with covering Bowers early in the game. Vildor shined, and Woods — who left the game early with a shoulder injury — played in a lot of two-cornerback sets. For how banged up they were, this unit was excellent.
"I was able to go out there and just execute the game plan that got for us," Vildor told Patriots On SI, who said that he knew all week he'd been ready for this game.
The Patriots are back with a winning record, and depending on how Sunday Night Football unfolds with the Buffalo Bills, could be back in first place of the AFC East. This defensive performance will be one that the team can hang their hat on going into the fall months.
Mike Vrabel, though, knows that this win will only take them so far.
"Today's not gonna matter here in about 10 minutes," he said. "We're gonna have to focus on the Jets in the division here at home. We still have a lot to improve and to clean up."
Based on how the defense looked this week, you best believe that the sky still remains the limited for this group.
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