The New England Patriots welcome the Las Vegas Raiders to Foxborough to kick off their 2025 season. New Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel will square off against new Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll in what is expected to be a low-scoring defensive affair. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm ET on Sunday, September 7.

September 5, 2025
Nick Zagzoug – Freelance Writer

The New England Patriots will begin their 2025 season on Sunday in a midday contest against former Patriots HC Pete Carroll and his Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. Carroll, who took over head coaching duties for the Raiders earlier this year, will be met by new Patriots HC Mike Vrabel. Having been given the keys to teams looking to flush dismal 2024 season performances out of their systems, both coaches will look at Sunday’s tie as an opportunity to start their tenures with an encouraging victory.

There is an intriguing symmetry to this matchup: both the Patriots and the Raiders finished 4-13 in 2024, leading to the dismissal of former Pats HC Jarod Mayo and former Raiders HC Antonio Pierce; both teams placed last in their divisions, securing top-10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft; and both teams hired experienced former head coaches over first-time head coaching candidates. There have been a lot of changes for these franchises over the last 8-9 months, and they are about to test the efficacy of those changes against one another.

Williams’s Reinforced Defense Looks to Limit Smith, Bowers, and Jeanty

New England’s new DC Terrell Williams was given plenty of new toys to work with in his first season in New England. He will have to deploy those toys properly if he wants to limit the Raiders’ offensive weaponry.

It starts up front. Veteran journeyman QB Geno Smith is a respectable starting-caliber quarterback, but his skillset is limited while under pressure. Between the high-dollar free agent signings DE Milton Williams and OLB Harold Landry, along with returning DT Christian Barmore, the Patriots should be able to consistently disrupt Smith’s pocket. The Raiders’ offensive line is nothing special, ranking 18th in Pro Football Focus’s preseason rankings, so the Pats’ front seven should be effective.

TE Brock Bowers is easily the most dangerous weapon in Smith’s arsenal. After a 1194-yard rookie season that established the former Georgia Bulldog as one of the premier tight ends in the game, Bowers is primed for an even more outstanding 2025 season catching passes from a legitimate starting-caliber quarterback. The Patriots will have to defend the Raiders’ pass game without their star CB Christian Gonzalez, so expect to see veteran newcomer CB Carlton Davis and returning third-year CB Alex Austin to get the bulk of the reps against Bowers. Though not of the same caliber as Gonzalez, Davis’s size gives him a fighting chance to limit Bowers’s impact.

The #6 overall selection in the 2025 draft, rookie RB Ashton Jeanty will get his first taste of NFL regular season action against the Patriots. Fast, shifty, dynamic, and armed with a plethora of jukes to make defenders look silly, the Boise State product tracks as Las Vegas’s greatest asset behind Bowers. Expect the Vrabel-Williams battery to tap MLB Robert Spillane to limit Jeanty’s ability to break containment beyond and around the line of scrimmage. Spillane’s athleticism and instincts will have to measure up to Jeanty’s natural talent if the Patriots are going to keep the Raiders from easily marching down the field.

McDaniels’s New-Look Offense Aiming for Modest Success Against Crosby-Led Raiders Defense

Patriots fans know they can trust OC Josh McDaniels to put his offense in position to win games, regardless of the limitations of his on-field personnel. Though QB Drake Maye and company struggled to score consistently last season, the Patriots’ offensive squad have to hope that their new additions to the receiving corps and offensive line are enough to put their second-year quarterback in position to make a significant second-year leap.

WR Stefon Diggs is expected to suit up for Sunday’s game following his long rehab stint recovering from an ACL tear in 2024. The $63.5 million man is expected to be Maye’s go-to receiver in their first regular season action together alongside Maye’s favorite target in 2024, TE Hunter Henry. The Raiders’ linebackers and secondary are considered suspect at best following notable departures in the offseason (LB Robert Spillane to the Patriots, CB Nate Hobbs to the Packers, CB Jack Jones to the streets – later picked up by the Dolphins), so McDaniels has an opportunity to establish an efficient passing attack in Sunday’s matchup.

That is, if DE Maxx Crosby doesn’t eat the offensive line alive. Fresh off a superb 7.5 sack, 17 TFL season in 2024, and a three-year $106.5 million extension for good measure, the 4-time Pro Bowler must be salivating at the prospect of facing off against the Pats’ young, unproven trench men. Led by 2025 #4 overall selection LT Will Campbell and bolstered by free agent signing RT Morgan Moses, the revamped Patriots offensive line will try to turn around their 2024 record that saw them ranked as the worst squad in the league.

Prediction: Patriots 20, Raiders 17

I do still expect the Patriots to have plenty of rock fights this season, including this Sunday’s matchup against the Raiders. However, I think the improved team culture established over the summer, coupled with Vrabel and his staff’s ability to make in-game adjustments, will elevate the Patriots to a much more respectable win total that sees the team capitalizing on other teams’ mistakes and winning closely contested slugfests.

As much as I love the journey of QB Geno Smith and the makeup of the Raiders’ young skill position players, I think the Vrabel-Maye era starts the right way. I expect Maye to lead the offense to a turnover-free but slightly conservative offensive production punctuated by an efficient run game, and I expect DC Terrell Williams’s defense to make life uncomfortable enough for Smith to turn the ball over at least once. Though I anticipate the sans-Gonzalez secondary will struggle to contain Bowers, I believe the new additions to the defensive front and linebacker troop will help mitigate the damage and keep the Raiders from tallying up consecutive scoring drives.

I have the Patriots winning a close one that has New England feeling hopeful again.