Patriots begin Mike Vrabel era with a disappointing loss to Raiders

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Week one of the 2025 National Football League season began filthy when Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter was ejected just six seconds into the league’s opening game for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott before the first offensive play. The act was disgusting, as was the national media commentary that followed.

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles wound up winning the game, 24-20, but the lustre of victory was lost by the filthy, senseless act of young Carter. Enough of such buffoonery.

We move on to the New England Patriots’ dismal 20-13 setback to the visiting Las Vegas Raiders in their season-opening game in Foxboro, the first game of the Mike Vrabel coaching era. You had the feeling that it was going to be a long day for the Pats when the Raiders took the opening kickoff and marched 71 yards for a 7-0 lead.

So much was made of Vrabel’s hiring following the dismissal of Jerrod Mayo. “Things will be a lot different than they were under the one-year Mayo coaching regime” were words that were echoed throughout Patriot Nation. At least the Patriots won their first game — a 17-16 decision over the Bengals in Cincinnati. It was a game that sent the Bengals into a downward spiral that ultimately cost them their season. That was the highlight of New England’s 2024 campaign, which ended with a wretched 4-13 record.

But things were going to be different under Vrabel, a former Patriot star player and the successor to Mayo, who was tasked with righting the ship. That was not the case in game one of the Vrabel coaching era, as the Raiders, coached by former Patriots head coach Pete Carroll, rallied from a 10-7 deficit to dominate the Vrabel Patriots over the last 30 minutes of play.

Jaylinn Hawkins (21) breaks up a pass against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. PHOTO: BOB DECHIARA-IMAGN IMAGES

A key interception of Pats quarterback Drake Maye turned the game in favor of the visitors. Raider quarterback Geno Smith, who in his words, “did not go to the Las Vegas NFL franchise to roll the dice, but to run the table,” rewarded his coach’s faith with a solid performance: 24 for 34 passing for 362 yards, and one touchdown while completing 70% of his passes. Former Patriot wide receiver Jacoby Meyers, who had eight catches for 97 yards, and tight end Brock Bowers, who had five catches for 103 yards, were Smith’s key targets.

Meanwhile, the Raiders defense thoroughly disrupted the Patriots offense, helping their coach place his name in the NFL record books as the first coach in league history to win four games in his first four head coaching debuts (Jets 1994, Patriots 1997, Seahawks 2010, and Raiders 2025), an impressive feat.

Expressing his joy, Carroll said, “We played well enough to come out of here with a big win.”

“We didn’t do enough in the second half,” said Vrabel. “Give them credit. We certainly did not do enough. We had too many missed opportunities, too many penalties, and a key turnover.”

And while the Patriots look to fix their problems, the Baltimore Ravens are attempting to recover from the shock of their devastating 41-40 loss to the Buffalo Bills. It will be discussed for years to come. The Ravens dominated the home team Bills for the better part of three and a half quarters, behind the running of Derrick Henry (169 yards and two touchdowns) and the passing of quarterback Lamar Jackson (209 yards passing and two touchdowns). They stormed to a double-digit 40-25 lead with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter before the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Josh Allen showed why he holds that title. Allen threw for 394 yards, 251 of which came in the fourth quarter, for a historic win — the biggest comeback in 60 years of Buffalo Bills football history.

A key fumble by Henry and a questionable late-game coaching move by Ravens coach John Harbaugh contributed mightily to the Bills’ comeback. Still, overwhelming credit is due to Josh Allen and his Bills team for their monumental comeback victory.

“We just refused to give up, feeling that as long as there is time on the game clock, we have a chance to win,” said Josh Allen. “I felt bad for the fans who left early in the fourth quarter. They missed a great comeback. But they should remember that this Bills team is a resilient, never-say-die group that will always play to the last second on the game clock.”

Matt Prater, signed by the Bills as a replacement for Tyler Bass, kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired in regulation. It is only the fourth time in 2,316 NFL games that a team has trailed by 15 points with under four minutes left and came back to win. The Ravens were 25-0 when scoring 40-plus points entering the game.

The Ravens will have to live with the fact that they blew another game which they dominated. Their late-game swoons are becoming a far-too-regular occurrence.