Breaking Down the Mike Vrabel Patriots vs Pete Carroll Raiders to Open the Season | Unfiltered on TV

Breaking Down the Mike Vrabel Patriots vs Pete Carroll Raiders to Open the Season | Unfiltered on TV

[Applause] Henderson takes it straight ahead. Trayvon across the 20 25 with a seam and a cut right past the 40. Slips ahead to the 50. Only the kicker now to the 30 to the 20 to the 10. Goodbye. Touchdown Patriots. It was a scintillating start for the Mike Greybel era in the preseason. Now the former Patriots standout attempts to reclaim New England’s once vaunted place in the NFL. [Applause] [Music] Patriots unfiltered on TV is brought to you by Toyota’s official website for deals, buy toyota.com. After back-toback four-win seasons, Mike Frabel is looking for a Patriots return to glory. Hello everyone and welcome into this premier edition of Patriots unfiltered on TV. I’m Alex Francisco. Coming up tonight, the rabble factor, the impact the new coach will have on the upcoming season. We’ll look ahead to the new look Raiders and what to expect from Pete Carol’s team. And in trash talk, who are the stars of training camp? But first, it’s time to huddle up with Paul Perillo and Mike Ducel. How well do you guys think Mike Rainbow established his program here? And what should fans expect to see differently this season? Yeah, I think he did a really good job. I could feel the coming together in early in OTAAS in the spring. You know, just had a feel leading the charge in the huddle, running out of drills, uh, hopping into drills as well. So, I think he did a good job making modeling the team around his personality, which, you know, a lot of energy. You know, it was a lot of energy. I thought that the crispness in between drills all throughout camp, you could see it, the enthusiasm, the excitement. Uh, you know, we’ll we’re going to see what happens when they start playing games. If the if the wins don’t come, it’s not really going to matter. But I would say the vibes are high, Mike. You know, that’s what you like to talk about, vibes. Vibes are high. Absolutely. Absolutely. He’s jumping into fights. I mean, it’s it’s great. Speaking of vibes, Drake May is entering season two. He’s adjusting to McDaniel’s offense. What did you guys see from Drake May here in the preseason? The most positive thing that I saw from Drake May this summer was he just looked comfortable in the system. Now, will that translate into him executing the system at a high level and really turning the screws on these defenses that they go against? We’ll have to wait and see. But just from the eyeball test watching him run this offense, it looks like he’s pretty comfortable right now. I would agree with Mike. To me, growth. It was about growth. I think growth as, you know, within the system, learning a new offense with Josh McDaniels here and growth as a leader. You heard a lot of his teammates talk about uh him being more assertive. I know that’s something that Mike Greyel really wants to sort of have continue, have him feel that, you know, sort of responsibility that comes with being a quarterback, kind of the leader of that group. Yeah, I agree with you guys. Um, my only hope is that 15 snaps against Washington, 17 snaps against Minnesota. I just hope that’s enough against real competition to just throw him in on week one. But, uh, big part of that will be the O line, right? We had a huge revamp of that. Now, two rookies have emerged, Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. So, that’s great. But, week one, we have two rookies protecting Drake May’s blind side. How do you feel about that? Yeah, you got to be good with the bad, right? Yeah, it but I think you just summed it up perfectly, Alex, because there is a lot of excitement, I think, long-term that the offensive line’s going to have four new starters from last year. At the same time, you got some tough matchups right out of the gate. It will not be easy for these kids, but I think in the long run, that’s what you’re looking for is some young draft picks to come in and emerge as starters. Two guys we’ve definitely seen emerge, at least in the preseason, Efron Henderson, who everyone is so excited about. What’s clear to me, especially from some of those joint practices that we watched, was that Josh McDaniels knows that this kid is a movable chess piece within this offense. I think he’s going to have a lot of his game plan dedicated to getting Trayvon Henderson maybe matched up on a linebacker, maybe out in space. Let him use his speed and go to work. Big plays coming from that kid. I didn’t see anybody cover him, Alex, the the entire summer, whether it was the Patriots defense trying out to watch him every day in practice or the joint practices with Washington and Minnesota. He found space and he exploited those matchups that Mike’s talking about. How do you guys feel about the way things shuck out with the wide receiver room? Obviously starts with Stefan Diggs and his health. Is he able to go and seems like signs are pointing to he will be able to go. You know, M. Holland’s adding like an outside depth piece with some size. We’ve seen Pop Douglas kind of blossom and you could always add more Paul I feel like in the wide receiver position, but when I look at that group right now, is there enough to find out if Drake May can lead a team? I think it’s enough for that. Are they going to be Super Bowl contenders with this group? Maybe they need a little more, but I think it’s enough for Drake May to show us what he’s got. Yeah, it’s one of those things where I I feel, you know, you can look at it positively and say, I I feel pretty good about any of the guys being out there. I feel about the same because I, you know, if one or two of those guys goes down beyond Diggs, you know, they’re kind of interchangeable. But on the on the negative side, I kind of feel the same about all of these guys. You know, there’s no one that really stands out after Stefan Digs. So, I think that will be a huge X factor for Drake May. If Diggs can be that kind of chain moving uh playmaker that he’s been in the past, then I think that rises everybody up a level, but if not, then I think you’re sort of back to square one. I think there’s an element of unknown with Kyle Williams that maybe he does get thrust into the fire, but he’s got some ability downfield, ability to get open off the line. I’m excited to see how he develops over the course of the season. Last year, the Patriots just frankly weren’t great at stopping the run, right? You bring in Milton Williams alongside Christian Barour. How will that run defense improve this year? I think it’s an X- factor, too. I think this team is going to make a concerted effort to get after the passer every down. Now, I think that this defense is not going to be about stopping the run. You always say that, Paul. You’re you’ve informed me, you know, you want to stop the pass first and foremost, put pressure on the passer, as they say, stop the run on the way to the passer. But we’ll see. Yeah. And I have been one of those guys that I I sort of feel like games are won and lost. Can you throw the ball and can you stop the other team from throwing it? And the best way to stop the other team from throwing is to get after the passer. But in terms of stopping the run, I do think they were really really bad at it last year to the point where it did negatively impact everything. And I think there’s going to be a lot on a on a guy that we haven’t really talked a lot about is Kyus Tonga. He’s the only guy they really brought in that’s known for being a run stopper. I think Tonga is one of those space even kind of guys in the middle. We’ll see if there’s anybody else around him that can do the same. Going into the season, on paper, I think we’re feeling great about Gonzo lining up next to Carlton Davis. Both of those guys have been super limited all preseason. We’ve barely seen Gonzo play since those early weeks. How are we feeling about the cornerback room going into week one? Can I answer this question in week two? So, obviously Gonzalez’s situation um bears watching because he’s just such an important guy. And Davis as well. Uh I do I will say I do feel better about the overall depth at that spot than I did sort of heading into camp. I’ve been impressed with Alex Austin and should he be forced into a bigger role, I feel a little bit better about him playing. I thought he had a really strong summer uh and was very active. And then, you know, sort of a you know, an unknown guy, DJ James, a first year guy out of Auburn. um just really went out and earned a job. I think one of the the biggest competitions we’ve saw all preseason was between the kickers, Indie Borgalis, rookie, six round draft pick, and then Parker Romo. Andy Boralis won the job. Why do you guys think that is? So, first and foremost, I think he kicked well. I think they both were pretty good all summer long. Um if you’re going to ask me gun to my head which one I thought was a little bit better, I would say Rumo, but the draft status certainly comes into play here. You you invested a draft pick in Boragawas and I do think that they were very competitive all summer. A number of rookies are going to be playing in a number of spots. There’s probably going to be some inconsistencies offense, defense, special teams. Well, Deuce, actually, that’s 11 rookies. 11 rookies on the 53 round roster this year. What does that say to you guys about the team’s depth? Well, it’s they’re starting over and I think the depth is something that will come in future years, but as you got into the cutown day, you realize you have a top line of guys that you probably feel pretty good with. There’s definitely some question marks, some rookies playing in in certain positions, but they have to build out those younger players and those players that are going to compete and they don’t really have that depth yet. So, to me, it really lines up how are the rookies going to play and how bad are the injuries going to strike this year. We interrupt this program for an important PSA, a Patriots service announcement. Usually during this segment, I’ll give you my take on something brewing in the Patriots or NFL zeitgeist, but I couldn’t start the season without an unabashed promo of the behindthescenes series that is absolutely mustsee for every Patriots fan. If you haven’t already, head over to the Patriots YouTube channel and check out Forge in Foxboro. You’ll be amazed at all the access starting with Mike Vrabel being selected as head coach, all the offseason events, training camp, and up to where we are today. Episode 3 was released last week. So, if you haven’t started, you’ve got some binging to do. If you’ve watched it already, watch again and get your head right for the Patriots season opener this Sunday with the Raiders. Sports in Foxboro on the Patriots YouTube channel is required viewing for all Patriots fans. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. Coming up next, the new weapon the Raiders will debut against the Patriots in Trash Talk, the Patriot players who opened eyes during training camp. And later, my one-on-one conversation with Marcus Jones. Patriots unfiltered on TV is brought to you by Cross Insurance, official insurance broker of the New England Patriots, and by Sports Illustrated Tickets. 50 million sports concerts and theater tickets. Same seats, better prices. Fans deserve better. You’re watching Patriots Unfiltered on TV. Hey everybody, it’s Evan Lazar in the Patriots Unfiltered film room. Week one back in action. Patriots Raiders on Sunday. I want to talk about the Patriots and Drake May and what they might see out of this Raiders defense. So, watching this preseason film a little bit for Vegas. Obviously, it’s the preseason, so it’s a little bit vanilla, but you see so much of the Seattle imprint in the Pete Carroll fingerprints all over this defense. So, what you’re going to see just from a base standpoint here, you have these four down defensive linemen over front right here with three of them on that side of the guard. That’s very um Carolesque. And then the other thing I want to point out to you here from a coverage standpoint is that this is going to be cover three. Now, the Raiders in the preseason played more cover three defense than any defense in the NFL. So, I expect this to continue. So, you’re going to have the post safety up here and you’re going to have the deep third player here. This safety is going to rotate down into the short zone distribution. But the key thing about the Raiders and what P Carroll likes to do is this backside receiver. We’re man-to-man up top here. So, he’s going to travel everywhere with that backside receiver. And as we roll the play, what you can see what the defense can do or the offense, excuse me, crossing routes. Let him run across the field against man-to-man coverage, clear out the sideline, win that foot race, and you can be cover three that way. So, I see a lot of what we saw in Seattle from Pete Carol from a defensive perspective for the Raiders. I expect the Patriots to be ready for that Seattle 3 system. The Patriots season opener. We’re going to have two veteran head coaches matched up for the first time with their new teams. Pete Carroll 31st season in the NFL. Obviously has the edge on experience there, but how do we feel about these coaches going headto-head? Pete Carol such a storied defensive system and you know obviously saw him in a Super Bowl and saw him here as a coach back in back in your day my first year for your first year. So, you know, to me really one of the interesting questions start off just on the defensive side with, you know, Patrick Graham, a Patriots guy who’s kind of run Patriots defenses in the past and Pete Carol known for his defense and, you know, what is that style all going to look like? And then, you know, Chip Kelly, old Chip Kelly, what’s his offense going to look like this year? So, a lot of unknowns for both teams whenever you have new coaches, but a lot of interesting pieces. It is interesting because you think of, you know, two first year head coaches, you know, you know, with their new teams, but there’s there is a lot of experiment. I mean, most of it with with Carol. I mean, it just kind of blew me away listening to Alec 31 years. Um, but there will be some wrinkles. This there, you know, even though these guys have been around, they’re with new teams with different personnel. So, you never know how that’s going to shake out. Should make for an interesting uh week one matchup. Now, the Raiders will last in the entire NFL in rushing yards last season. And I know they’re going through it a little bit with their offensive line. Aren’t we all right? But they drafted Ashen Genty, Deuces guy, sixth overall. How do we feel like he’s going to play into this system? Well, I mean, what’s concerning to me, and I’ve mentioned it a number of times this summer, is that we’ve seen the Patriots have some trouble with screen passes. And a couple weeks ago, Mike Vreyel went into a detailed response about what he’s looking for from his defense against screen passes. But to me, this is what I would do with Ashley Genty is try to hit them with screens, get that guy in space, uh, and try to get him the ball to make plays like he did in college when he was so productive. I would think Pete Carol would want to try to lean on that running game. He’s done it in the past. He did it certainly with a lot of success in Seattle with Marshawn Lynch. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them, you know, him and Chip Kelly sort of try to establish Genty. Another guy the Patriots are familiar with behind Genty and Raheem Moert. Uh, a lot of speed. Again, a kind of guy that Mike’s talking about. You get him, slip him out on a little screen out in space and and he can make some big plays. Now, the Raiders traded for quarterback Gino Smith. That’s a veteran quarterback. Obviously has a ton of experience with Pete Carroll. Was this a smart move to you guys? Well, after how we played last year uh here against the Patriots, I think it was a pretty good year. I mean, I know he ended up, you know, being up and down, kind of regressing into what he usually has been, but Patriots better be ready. Yeah. And not only that, you get Carol coming in, you know, he’s a veteran coach. He’s not there for the long haul. And they didn’t really have an answer at quarterback. David Okonnell was their incumbent starter who got hurt in the preseason as well. So, they wanted to have someone come in uh ahead of him. Anyway, I think Gino Smith is a good placeholder for that. Uh, and we’ll see what they’re able to get in the future, but there was no real options for them in the draft last year. Very quarterback limited draft. It was basically just Camp Ward at at the top overall spot. So, I think it was an excellent move for the Raiders just to sort of keep the seat warm. How effective do we think the Raiders passing game can be against the Patriots? Yeah, well, Jacobe Myers, old friend Jacobe Myers just mean he’s been productive no matter who he’s played with. So, I’d expect Jacobe Myers has developed a pretty good, you know, connection already with Gino Smith. Uh, you know, Trey Tucker on the outside. They do have some speed. Younger guys, not really proven. Um, but of course, you know, Brock Bowers is is going to be the one who’s making it all go. Yeah. And that’s the the key to their passing game is Bowers over 100 catches last year as a rookie allpro right out of the gate. So, he’ll be the number one focus of the passing game, I would imagine. And then you you want to make sure that you don’t let those other guys kill you. Another key matchup I think that’s really important for the Patriots is going to be Max Crosby verse that entire left side of the offensive line, right? What are we expecting? Help. I think help is is what you have to do. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they do that. If they move Crosby around a little bit um you know and send him on on uh either edge. U you’re going to make sure those make make sure Will Campbell is is up to snuff on in his first game. He’s some pressure on the fourth overall pick. Um, but they also have Coun and I think that Malcolm Coun is a guy that doesn’t get the the same publicity and he’s not the same caliber of player. He’s the, you know, a good solid number two. So, he’s capable of causing some problems, too. This will be a big test, big test for the tackles. As you’ll hear all the coaches tell you, week one, be ready for the unexpected. [Music] Joining me now in the studio is Patriots defensive captain Marcus Jones. Have you gotten used to hearing that yet, Captain? Uh yeah. Um a lot of the guys, you know, they let me know every single time I come up in the building and stuff like that. So that’s been fun and everything, but it’s definitely a privilege for sure. Having Mike Vable here, Terrell Williams, what is how’s the adjustment period going? The adjustment been great, honestly. I could definitely say that. Um you know, Braves always talked to us about the standard being a standard and making sure that we take advantage of every opportunity that we get out there. For sure. Um and then uh T- Will man at the end of the day like he he makes sure that you know the standard is the standard as well but then also you know letting us know that we need to be a defense that you know want to be the number one in the league whenever it comes down to turnovers and make sure we get the ball and making plays and then also celebrating as a team as a defense just in general is very important. Now looking ahead to week one you guys have seen the Raiders before but new quarterback, new head coach. How hard is it to kind of game plan and prepare when there is so many unknowns there? Yeah. Um it’s early in the season, you know. Um like you said, you know, you never know what, you know, other teams and everything like that are going to come with. People have to run the plays and you know, certain schemes and stuff that work for them and then kind of go from there. But at the end of the day, you know, we want to make sure that we, you know, give give 110% effort whenever it comes down to it and then al also play our football. Now, Las Vegas has some really good skilled players. You have tight end Brock Browers. They have the rookie running back Ashen Genty. How big of an emphasis will it be for you guys to contain those two this week? Very important. Uh those are phenomenal players first off. Um just knowing where they are at all times on the field is very important when it comes down to the defensive role. Thank you so much Marcus and good luck this Sunday and we will be back with more Patriots unfiltered on TV after the break. Patriots unfiltered on TV is brought to you by Cross Insurance, official insurance broker of the New England Patriots, and by Sports Illustrated tickets. 50 million sports concerts and theater tickets. Same seats, better prices. Fans deserve better. You’re watching Patriots unfiltered on TV. It was the Patriots 66th training camp. 90 players took part, but which one stood out? In this week’s trash talk, Mike Dousau and Paul Pillo debate the studs of summer. [Music] It was another action-packed summer for the Patriots at training camp and Paul and I are here to discuss the surprises of camp. Paul, who was your biggest surprise this summer? And Alex Austin, I thought, was one of the Patriots three best players throughout the summer. I think he looks like a guy, Mike, if something were to happen with Gonzalez and something has already happened with Gonzalez, unfortunately, but I think or Davis, I think he could step in and I feel pretty good about him on the outside and even getting some uh run in the slot. So, I think that depth in the secondary surprised me. I like Alex Austin. You’re right. And DJ James made some plays on the ball this summer, but how long can we go with those guys? I didn’t necessarily wanted it. I I didn’t say I wanted Gonzalez to be on the sideline, but my a pleasant surprise for me was how well those guys played when given the opportunity. All right. Well, I’m going to stick on the defensive side of the ball. I can imagine you’re going to talk defense. You know how I work, but Paul, I talked all summer. You’re probably sick of hearing me talk about I’m concerned about the pass rush. Avon Chaon, though, has put some of those fears to rest. Came in here, looks like he’s got good energy off the edge, fits into this system, can get up field and we tortured Will Campbell a little bit those early days of camp. I think those things will probably pay off for Will Campbell understanding what it’s like to go against a veteran pass rush rusher like Chson here on a one-year deal. Still in his late 20s, I mean, he’s got some football ahead of him. Maybe he’s starting to put it all together. We know Harold Landry is going to be a solid piece there on the left side, but I really think Kale Cha’s been my surprise as somebody who can take this pass right to the level. I much as I pains me to agree with you, I think that’s a good pick. I I wasn’t expecting him to be like this. She it kind of reminded me like an old school Bellichic kind of free agent, you know, under the radar. Former first round pick, hasn’t really panned out, but he wants to tap into the ability that was obviously there to to allow him to get drafted in 20th overall in the first place, right? And we’ve seen some of that from Chason. So, I think that’s a good pick. How we think the Patriots surprise players are going to do against the Raiders? Find out coming up in predictions. Now back to Patriots unfiltered on TV. Now we end this broadcast each week looking into the future, our predictions. As the Patriots have not lost at home to the Raiders since 1994, the year I was born, but they have lost their last two in Las Vegas. The Patriots are three-point favorites here at home at Gillette Stadium and the overunder line is at 42 and a half. Mike Dalt, will Mike Rael get his first win as Patriots coach? I think yes. I have to pick Patriots. It’s been a good summer. I like the energy around the team. These are hard games to pick. Two new head coaches, but I’m going to take the Patriots this week. Lowscoring affair, maybe a little bit sloppy. Patriots a little less sloppy than the Raiders. 20-6. I’m going to continue with the positive vibes that we’ve had all off season and the energy that we’ve been talking about uh during this uh broadcast as well. I’m going to take a Patriots win, too. But I don’t think it’ll be easy. I think this game could go either way. I’m going to go Patriots 2317, but this is absolutely no layoff. This game could go either way. I don’t think people are giving Gino Smith and Pete Carol enough credit, especially with the experience they have together. And I hate to be contrarian. Oh, but 2724 Raiders is my prediction. Her first week as the host and she picked against them. Well, hopefully it’s all up after this point. All right. All right. And that’s going to be it for this edition of Patriots Unfiltered on TV. As a reminder, you can catch us on Patriots unfiltered every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from noon to 2 pm on patriots.com. for Paul Pillo, Mike Dousel, I’m Alex Francisco, and we’ll see you next week on Patriots Unfiltered on [Music]

Patriots.com writers Paul Perillo, Mike Dussault, and Alex Francisco talk about the Patriots Week 1 home opener matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders and preview the 2025 season for the Patriots.

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