The Pete Carroll era in Las Vegas is set to begin on Sunday with a trip to New England.
The Raiders are trying to put last season’s clown show behind them even and move the franchise in a buildable direction.
Keys
Worrisome Corners
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham would love to have a defense that can be aggressive and blitz to make the opposing quarterback uncomfortable.
It might be hard to do this with Eric Stokes and Kyu Blu Kelly starting at the corners. The Raiders new all summer that there were gaping holes on defense and it can be argued that those questions weren’t sufficiently addressed.
Going up against Drake Maye and Josh McDaniels will be a challenge. McDaniels has failed as a head coach but he’s demonstrated that he’s a top flight offensive coordinator.
Maye is in year two and has a better coaching staff than last season.
The Raiders will need to be able to generate pressure with the front four or rush five but anything more than that will leave them open to big plays in Maye breaks contain.
Who Can Make a Play On the Outside
The Raiders didn’t do much to upgrade the wide receiver position. Jakobi Meyers requested a trade and was told “no.”
Tre Tucker is slated to start opposite of Meyers with the recently acquired Amari Cooper providing depth.
That leaves tight end Brock Bowers as the Raiders’ biggest threat in the passing game and as good as he is, the Raiders need to stretch the field and there’s a real question whether they have that player on the roster.
The Patriots gave Terrell Williams his first crack at being a defensive coordinator. Williams spent six years with head coach Mike Vrabel in Tennessee so the Raiders you anticipate that the scheme on Sunday will have Vrabel’s hands all over it.
Geno Turnovers
Last season, Geno Smith had the most interceptions, 15, he’s had since his rookie year when he had 21.
There is no room for error with this offense.
The Raiders are already going to be in the bottom half of the league in defense so Smith can’t get in the habit of giving the defense a short field especially with a running game that is still a “wait and see” unit.
Smith has to be the better quarterback on the field by a wide margin if the Raiders want to have a chance to defeat the Patriots.
