Patriots vs. Raiders: Week 1 Preview

Patriots vs. Raiders: Week 1 Preview

All right, let’s deep dive this game between the Raiders and the Patriots. Starting with that matchup between Josh McDaniels offense and the Pete Carol defense. Cayla Burton part of this conversation. Phil, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you know Josh McDaniels today gave Pete Carol some credit for evolving, right? Being able to be a coach who can kind of move ahead with the times. We’re wondering if Josh McDaniels can do do the same. So, what do you expect from a Josh McDaniels offense on Sunday against this defense? He has evolved. P. Carol has and he’s had to and his pupils have had to because the Kyle Shanahan offense kind of broke the Seattle 3 defense years ago and so they’ve had to change. That said, Josh McDaniel’s history against Pete Carol and his pupils over the years has been excellent and maybe that Stratamatic is anticipating that Trayvon Anderson is going to go off because they’re facing a Prol defense on Sunday. Remember all those James White games? How about against Dan Quinn in the Super Bowl where he sets a record and basically with Tom Brady wins that game for them. James White in the divisional round before the second Rams Super Bowl. 15 catches against the Gus Gus Bradley defense and obviously in Super Bowl 49. Tom Brady tore apart Pete Carol’s defense there too. So Josh McDaniels has found answers to what Pete Carroll can do. I think the question, Kayla, is will Drake May be able to keep up with everything that’s happening on the other side of the line of scrimmage and process the same way that Brady did because you can pepper those running backs all day long. They do have to be open. You can’t just go there blindly. So, Ken Drake may make those quick reads and take advantage the way Brady did. And he may not be able to do that week one. That may develop over time, which is what I anticipate at least for week one going against the Pete Herrell defense going against Crosby. I you know it’s going to be interesting to see how Drake May one handles the pressure one how that two how that offensive line holds up specifically on that left side not even on the if if things start to change and Max Crosby decides to line up differently and he’s going up against guys like Morgan Moses like how does Moses contain him and then it’s also about the other guys the defense and this is where I think the Patriots offense can take advantage and specifically Josh McDaniels Treny what we’ve seen in OTAA is what we’ve seen in camp is that he has a lot in his bag this We I talked about it on quickslance. It’s going to be personal. You know, he got fired from this Raiders team on Halloween night when he was trick-or-treating with his kids. And so, he won’t mention that. It’s personal. It is. And it should be personal. But I just think that what he has in terms of play action, having Tayvon Henderson maybe lined out wide occasionally. Like this is where he can get a little spunky with different things. Phil, you asked Caleb the question and said, “Well, what can you expect from Drake May? What kind of game do you expect Drake May to have on Sunday?” You know, I think he’s done well to handle what Josh McDaniels has thrown at him. I mean, he’s he’s going to ask him to play a little bit different way. And they tried this last year, too, with Alex Vanpelt and the scheme they were running here. But Drake May, we know he’s got this this big play hunter gene in him, this this hero ball gene, and it’s part of the reason he was drafted in the top five a couple years ago. He’s got this unbelievable physical skill set that allows him to have success while he is hunting those big plays. But Josh McDaniels is going to help him be the guy who tries not to go broke while taking a profit. So, can you adapt that part of Brady’s game? And I thought in the two most important practices of the summer, in my opinion, in Minnesota, where he’s seeing all kinds of funky defenses from Brian Flores, and there was a lot of pressure bearing down on him, I thought he was poised. I saw him changing plays at the line of scrimmage before the play, alerting plays, hand signals. I think he has a pretty good grasp of what Josh McDaniels is going to ask him to do. And so I think you’re going to see a fluid operator behind center. Maybe not necessarily all the big plays that people are hoping to see, but I think you’re going to see an efficient quarterback on Sunday against what is one of the worst defenses in the NFL is my prediction. When you did the math on uh Drake May’s like per game average, he was 210. Does he go over? He’ll exceed that. He’ll exceed that. Outside of math, are we talking big game? What? Like what? This is This is an opportunity for a big game. I don’t think he’s going to have many of those. I’ll just say that right up front because I don’t think he’s got the pieces around him to put together a lot of quote unquote big games. Let’s talk 300 plus yard types of performances. I think he might be able to do that this week and it’s because outside of Max Crosby, this defense is lacking talent. Old buddy Landon Roberts still roaming around the middle of that defense in Vegas. Adam Butler is their second best defensive lineman, another former Patriot. They’ve got corners you never heard of, safeties you never heard of, Kayla. They have a former safety Jamal Adams who’s now playing linebacker. This is a bad unit. They’ve got two smart coaches and Pat Graham and Pete Carol, but talent-wise, the Patriots actually should be able to take advantage this week. You know, I think what will help that, and I know you’ve been bullish on him, is Tayon Henderson. Do you how how much do you expect him to be worked into the passing game? We think of him as a running back, but he’s a passing running back. I think he I think it will be a slow kind of intricacy of him getting involved because he’s a rookie still. Like, yes, he was in preseason games. Yes, he had that 100 yard kickoff return taking it all the way to the house. and he has shown that he can be a reliable not only back but weapon lined up outside. So I think that they may give him packages and dosages. Like I don’t think that it’s going to be Trayvon Henderson. Trayvon Henderson. Trayvon Henderson. I think Trey, it’s going to take some time. Let’s see how he kind of adjusts to that week one. Like he’s still a rookie. He still has to get used to going up against this Raiders defense and lining up against guys like Crosby. But I think that we will see him being lined up outside making some maybe slant catches, screen catches, maybe on a crossing route. Thought we could see a time or two, but packages is where I see Trevon. I am curious because he’s physical and he’s fast. If they do get him into open space and they create for him, can he go be off and running? So maybe he doesn’t have, you know, seven, eight, nine catches for 100 yards, but maybe he has two really big plays that break things wide open. All right, on the other side of the ball, the Patriots have to stop sixth overall pick Ashton Genty. Kayla, are you worried about the Patriots ability to stop Ashton Genty? Yes, to a degree. I don’t think I’m extremely uh worried, but I am worried because Ashton Genty is a baller. He’s a dog. He’s bulky. He’s explosive. He will break through. When I say breakthrough, breakthrough tackles. And the thing is, I look at guys like, yeah, there’s Barmore out there. They have a the Patriots do have a solid front seven, but Milton Williams, uh, Phil is not really great in the run game. He wasn’t great in the run game in Philly and they actually took him out of some scenarios when other teams started to run the ball. So, I’m curious to see. Now, I’m not calling Williams a bad player. They paid him to be a great player and I think that will develop over time. But, just right now with Ashton Genty being how great he is, I just think that you’re going to have to stack up the box occasionally because then you have tight ends, you have guys like Brock Bowers making catches outside. I just think it can be tricky with Ash. Speaking of Brock Powers, no Christian Gonzalez, how do they how they real? I don’t know how you handle him. Even if Gonzalez was out there, I asked Terrell Williams today, would you just if he’s such a great receiver all week, Mike Brael, Terrell Williams, the players in the locker room, they’re talking about this guy. He’s like a receiver. He’s like a receiver. Like, okay, do you just put a corner on him and call it a day? I mean, Bill Bich used to do that with Jimmy Graham. He was really just a big receiver. Put a Keeb Talib on him and shut him down. And I asked Terrell Williams that today. He said, well, yeah, but if you put a corner on them, then they start to run the ball and then you’re up a creek. So even if Gonzalez was there, I’m not sure he would be the answer for Brock Bowers. He’s a really difficult matchup question. Is it Craig Woodson? Are you putting a fourth round rookie on an allpro first team allpro from last year? That’s a difficult assignment. Could be Jaylen Hawkins. Could be one of the linebackers. Those guys are more athletic even though they’re a little lighter and it might hurt them against a big back like Ashton Genty, but it should help them in coverage. Christian Ellis, Robert Splain, those guys can move. So I wonder if they see a lot of Brock Powers on Sunday. All right. Well, you know what? I do know for sure. Whatever happens on Sunday, on Monday at six o’clock, you can catch the return of The Breakdown on NBC Sports Boston. Phil Perry and Ted Johnson, they are back to talk about the key plays from the Patriots Raiders game. The breakdown is presented by John Sewer and Drain Cleaning, the name to know when the drains don’t flow.

Phil Perry, Kayla Burton and Trenni Casey preview the Patriots’ Week 1 matchup with the Raiders on Arbella Early Edition