The Raiders Deny Belichick His 300th Victory With Their 21-17 Win Over The Patriots

Las Vegas Raiders #16 Jakobi Myers (WR) 12 yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Photo by Omer Khan/TGSportstv1.

LAS VEGAS, NV - The Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) defense provided sacks and a safety to seal their 21-17 win over the New England Patriots (1-5), and the Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick was seeking his 300th win in coaching in his 500th game today.

Despite getting off to a 1-4 start, the Patriots have an elite defense and are ranked 8th in the NFL. The Raiders offense has explosive play-makers, but the overall productivity of their offense has not lived up to expectations.

Belichick is known for defense and taking away the opponent's best player, and the Raiders All-Pro wideout, Davante Adams, was expected to be in double-coverage for most of the game.

The Raiders had a slight advantage with Head Coach Josh McDaniels, Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham, and quarterbacks Jimmy Garopollo and Brian Hoyer, both former Patriots.

In the first quarter, the Patriots double-teamed Adams, which allowed the first-round draft pick tight end Michael Mayer to have three catches for 53 yards.

New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick looking for his 300th win playing the Las Vegas Raiders. Photo by Omer Khan/TGSportstv1.

Running back Josh Jacobs looked like he was back to his Pro Bowl form while the Raiders chewed up half the clock on an eight-minute, 16-play, 69-yard drive. Once the Raiders got inside the 20-yard line, the Patriot's defense stiffened and held the Raiders to a field goal.

The Raiders, on their next drive, were in control and drove 50 yards downfield, while Adams took a monster hit after bobbling the ball on the 12-yard line, and the ball flew in the air and was intercepted by Jahlani Tavai (LB).

This was Jimmy Garoppolo's league-leading 9th interception, but this interception was not his fault. On the Raiders’ next drive, Garoppolo found Mayer for his fourth reception, which placed the ball at the Patriots' 23-yard line.

The Raiders led 3-0 at the end of the quarter after possessing the ball for 11 minutes.

Garopollo, early in the second quarter, hit his favorite target, Jakobi Myers, on a backside post for a touchdown, as the Raiders now led 10-0.

The Raiders' defense was in a soft zone again that allowed Mac Jones to get into a rhythm and complete consecutive passes. With third and two, the Patriots had a 75-yard touchdown pass called back for holding. Jones responded and orchestrated a nine-play, 57-yard drive, which resulted in a 43-yard field goal, making the score 10-3.

The Raiders did not take advantage of the man-to-man matchups when Adams had single coverage. McDaniels continued to call running plays on second down but was stuffed by the Patriots' defense. New England forced a three-and-out, disappointing the home fans.

The Patriots' game plan was to run away from Maxx Crosby and throw quick passes to his side, preventing him from getting sacks and disrupting their offense.

With the Patriots at the Raiders’ 25-yard line, Jones was flushed out of the pocket and threw an ill-advised interception to the Raiders' Tre'von Moehrig. These are the types of decisions that got Mac benched in the last two games.

Las Vegas Raiders #98 Maxx Crosby (DE) tackling New England Patriots #38 Ezikel Elliot (RB). Photo by Omer Khan/TGSportstv1.

Garoppolo would miss his receivers on his next two throws and opted not to throw the deep ball to Adams. Daniel Carlson converted a 37-yard field goal at the Patriots' 20-yard line to give the Raiders a 13-3 lead.

Las Vegas controlled the first half with the time of possession battle and had the ball for 19:50 compared to New England's 10:10.

The Raiders held the Patriots to a total 108 total yards, 86 yards passing, 22 yards rushing, and both teams had one interception each. Garoppolo was 14 of 22 for 162 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT, and his passer rating was 82, and Jones went 8 of 14 passing for 97 yards, 1 INT, and a passer rating of 48.8.

The Patriots opened the third quarter with an impressive 75-yard drive, ran the ball to the left side, and used play action to keep the Raiders off balance. Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot was inserted into the lineup and ran downhill for the Patriots. Elliot finalized the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run as the wildcat quarterback.

Brian Hoyer replaced the injured Garopollo at quarterback, while the fans booed and wanted rookie Aiden O'Connell to get another chance.

Las Vegas Raiders #8 Josh Jacobs (RB) ran for 77-yards against the New England Patriots. Photo by Omer Khan/TGSportstv1.

Hoyer would throw over the top for a 48-yard strike to speedster Tre Tucker to the Patriots’ 11-yard line, and the Raiders committed another holding penalty. After three incomplete passes and no attempts to All-Pro Adams, the Raiders settled for another field goal. It was obvious that Adams was becoming frustrated with the score being 16-10 Raiders in the fourth quarter.

McDaniels stayed committed to the run, which is the one thing that New England defended well. Hoyer could not complete any passes to Adams on third downs. The timing between Hoyer and Adams was really off, as Carlson made another field goal, this time from 24 yards out to extend the Raiders lead to 19-10.

The Patriots had another defensive holding penalty by the Raiders on third down. Maxx Crosby and Amik Robertson responded with a sack. Jones showed grit and converted another third down with a 15-yard pass to extend the drive.

Linebacker Spillane missed on a near interception, while Jones' pass was completed at the Raiders' 8-yard line. With third and ten, Crosby was penalized for roughing the passer.

On the next play, running back Rhamondre Stevenson walked into the end zone from the 2-yard line, and with 3:33 minutes left in the game, the Raiders were holding onto a 19-17 lead.

There was 2:48 left in the game, and the Patriots returned the favor and committed a pass interference on third down to keep the Raiders on the field. Jacobs stuffed in the backfield, and the Raiders were forced to punt with 2:31 remaining.

Carlson punted the ball down to New England's 9-yard line, and the Patriots had no timeouts remaining. With 1:47 remaining, Crosby and Bilal Nichols met in the endzone and sacked Jones for a safety.

Hunter Renfrow made the most important catch of the day by catching the pooch kick to seal the win. Las Vegas finally scored more than 20 points this season.

After the game, Hoyer stated, "From being in New England for six years, I know they like to take away the best player. I was not going to let them touch the ball." This explained why he opted not to make tight-window throws to Adams.

The Raiders pass defense has drastically improved and has been dubbed the "No Fly Zone." All-Pro defensive end Crosby is worth every penny of his $94 million dollar contract. Crosby is regarded as one of the best in applying pressure and disrupting an offense.

The Raiders are on a two-game win streak and seek to get in a rhythm. The Patriots need to decide whether to rebuild and move on from their offensive players and coaches. Belichick is a Patriot legend and has well-deserved job security.