Patriots vs Raiders recap
New England puts up 35 in first half
Offense: Dealing with the death of his father, Matt Cassel showed no visible weakness in leading the Patriots to a 49-26 win. New England scored 35 points in the first half, and produced their highest scoring output of the season. Against the porous Raiders defense, the Patriots racked up an amazing 277 rushing yards and 487 total yards. Cassel threw for 4 touchdowns and the Patriots scored all of their first half points with 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Sammy Morris, Lamont Jordan, and Kevin Faulk split the carries, combining for 259 yards and 8 yards per attempt. Throughout the game, the Patriots looked unstoppable. Whether they ran left, right, or up the middle, it always resulted in consistent gains. The offensive line created huge gaps near the line of scrimmage and it set up easy runs on nearly every possession. With one of the better offensive lines, the Patriots game plan was to run to set up the pass, and it worked very well. Cassel was able to take chances down the field on some pass attempts and he had an extremely productive performance. He connected with Moss on a couple of deep passes, and relied on Kevin Faulk and Wes Welker for first down completions and shorter gains. The Patriots came out aggressive on offense in the first half, and were able to relax a little with a conservative second half approach. Clearly the death of Cassel's father served as a positive form of motivation and a way for the team to rally around themselves. Next week, the Patriots host the explosive Arizona Cardinals, so another strong offensive performance may be needed.
Defense: Although the Patriots won convincingly, there were still some mistakes made on the defensive side. The Raiders scored on a 56 yard pass in which the defender was completely beaten on the route. The Patriots did an average job in stopping the run, allowing 116 yards and a little over 4 yards per attempt. A lot of the yards came in the second half, when New England had already built a comfortable lead. The defensive line managed to stop runs up the middle and was able to pressure the quarterback on a few occasions. There is still room for improvement in both of those areas. It really seemed like the pass coverage was inconsistent and slow to react on more than a few Raiders pass attempts. Oakland, a team which has struggled on offense the entire season, showed some signs of an offensive threat in this game. In most games, the Raiders have difficulty in completing any long pass or putting together any long scoring drives. They did that a few times in this matchup, so the Patriots will have to make adjustments, especially at this point of the season. Heading into their final two games against the Cardinals and the Bills, New England is in a three way tie for the AFC East and in another tie for the final wild card spot. Playing solid defense will go a long way in improving their playoff chances. New England can't rely on just offense, even when it results in a win. If they want to make the playoffs and advance, it will require beating good teams and playing a complete game in all aspects.
Special Teams: Stephen Gostkowski made all 7 extra point attempts and did not attempt a field goal. Chris Hanson punted 3 times for an average of 36 yards.
By Chad Fukuoka
ProFootball-fans.com New England Patriots Correspondent