New England’s new coach played it safe against the Raiders — and paid the price in a season-opening loss.
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts —
Mike Vrabel’s first game as Patriots head coach was supposed to mark a new era. Instead, it felt like a rerun of the worst kind: a team too cautious to seize control, undone by conservative decisions that drained any chance of a comeback.
The Patriots lost 20-13 to the Raiders on Sunday, but the scoreline doesn’t capture the frustration. Vrabel had opportunities to show faith in his offense and rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Again and again, he chose not to.
The defining moment came late in the fourth quarter. Down 20-10, with just under five minutes left, New England lined up for 4th-and-5 at its own 49. A false start penalty pushed the Patriots back to 4th-and-10, and Vrabel waved the white flag. He punted.
The kick went just 21 yards, sailing out of bounds. The Raiders gladly accepted the gift, grinding down the clock and closing the door on any miracle finish.
“I made a decision on 4th-and-10 with close to five minutes to punt and would like a better punt,” Vrabel said afterward. “We had them stopped, and that was the plan, and that didn’t work. That was the decision that I thought was best for us at the time, and that didn’t work out.”
That was the story of the night: Vrabel trusting a shaky plan over his players’ ability to make a play.
Even earlier, the caution was clear. Drives that pushed into Raiders territory fizzled into punts or field goal attempts. A missed kick in the first half put New England behind the curve. And when halftime came with the Patriots up 10-7, Vrabel’s adjustments leaned defensive, not aggressive. The result: Las Vegas outscored New England 13-3 the rest of the way.
Yes, the Patriots committed penalties. Yes, Maye threw an interception. But the underlying problem was Vrabel’s refusal to take the kind of calculated risks this franchise used to thrive on. Instead of trusting his young quarterback in a big moment, he trusted field position — and got burned.
“We had too many missed opportunities, too many penalties, the turnover,” Vrabel said. “We didn’t take advantage of bad football and then were able to have bad football ourselves.”
That might explain the mistakes, but it doesn’t change the bottom line. The Patriots had chances to swing momentum, and their coach blinked.
For two decades, New England won by leaning into big moments. On Sunday, Vrabel punted one away — and with it, the game.
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