The New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders faced off in a Week 3 matchup on Sunday. The Raiders came in 2-0 and off an impressive win against the New Orleans Saints. The Patriots came in 1-1, having lost to the Seattle Seahawks. Still, it was the Patriots who managed to run away with this game on the back of running back Rex Burkhead‘s three touchdowns. It was expected to be a close game, but the Patriots asserted their dominance on the ground and came away with the victory.
First Half
In the first half, the game was looking to be a low-scoring affair with the only points of the first quarter coming from the Raiders kicker, Daniel Carlson. In the second quarter, the game began to open up, with the first touchdown coming from a Burkhead pass reception from Cam Newton. However, the Raiders responded fast and furiously with a Hunter Renfrow pass reception from Derek Carr.
When halftime came, the Patriots led by a score of 13-10 but the momentum was on the Raiders’ side.
Second Half
The second half started out slow but picked up fast, with two Patriots scores coming in quick succession. Burkhead rushed for a touchdown, and Nick Folk kicked for a field goal to make it 23-10 at the end of the third quarter. To start off the fourth quarter, the Raiders kicked a field goal and made the game 23-13. From there on out, the Patriots asserted their dominance with two touchdowns to put the game on ice. The Raiders attempted to put their foot back in the door late with a touchdown from Renfrow, but it was in vain. The Patriots won the game, 36-20, keeping pace with the 3-0 Buffalo Bills.
Highlights
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Coming up for the Patriots, they head to Kansas City to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in a huge matchup. As for the Raiders, they host the 3-0 Bills and face their stiffest test so far this year.
Newton will have to be at his sharpest to give the Patriots a chance against the Chiefs, and Carr will have to pick his targets wisely against the opportunistic Bills defense. The Patriots don’t really need to improve on anything as of right now, but the Raiders do have many improvements to make. They must attack the line with more organization because they sometimes looked lost against the Patriots blocking schemes. Another area they must improve upon is taking advantage of their opportunities, as the Raiders left points on the board in Patriots territory twice, which is one reason why the momentum shifted.
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