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| Other Week 15 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at NYJ | CLE at PHI | DEN at CAR | DET at IND | GB at JAX | MIN at ARI | NE at OAK | NO at CHI |
| NYG at DAL | PIT at BAL | SD at KC | SEA at STL | SF at MIA | TB at ATL | TEN at HOU | WAS at CIN |
Week 15 Game Recap: New England Patriots 49, Oakland Raiders 26
What you need to know
| New England Patriots |
The New England Patriots offense overpowered the Oakland Raiders' defense in every way. They seemed to be able to get first downs at will and scored seven touchdowns in a lopsided victory that was never in question.
QB Matt Cassel connected with his receivers on four touchdowns. He and the rest of the offense never struggled, and outside of the single interception by DB Gibril Wilson, they played flawlessly.
RB Sammy Morris, RB Kevin Faulk, and RB LaMont Jordan ran all over the Raiders and each scored one touchdown. Morris and Jordan alone combined for over 200 yards on the ground. Faulk was a dual threat with over 100 combined yards on the ground and through the air.
WR Randy Moss and WR Wes Welker pulled in a combined three touchdowns and had no trouble catching balls against the weak Raiders defense. WR Sam Aiken played as the fourth wide receiver on the team but nobody else caught a reception from Cassel during the win.
OL Matt Light was injured and went into the locker room. The seriousness of the injury is not known.
| Oakland Raiders |
The Oakland Raiders were overmatched by the Patriots' offense and the outcome of this game was never in doubt as New England jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
QB JaMarcus Russell exhibited some of the arm strength that made him a first round pick but was let down by his receivers who had a combined three drops during the contest. Russell faced regular pressure and threw on the run when necessary. He also dropped a pass from RB Michael Bush.
RB Justin Fargas continued to be a bright spot for the Raiders offense and RB Darren McFadden had an impressive touchdown run where he stiff-armed a defender as he ran into the end zone.
WR Ronald Curry had a nice over the shoulder touchdown grab but appeared to injure himself on the play. WR Chaz Schilens was targeted six times but only had one catch. TE Zach Miller was the team's most reliable receiver but also appeared to be injured after a reception in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders defense looked unfocused and often inept The Patriots drove the ball against them with ease and punched the ball into the end zone seven times. The Raiders had trouble both against the run and against the pass.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 18 - 30 - 218 - 4 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 7 - 18 - 0 |
QB Matt Cassel did not need to spread the ball around against an apparently inept Raiders' defense. Cassel threw 17 of his 18 completions to only WR Randy Moss, WR Wes Welker, and RB Kevin Faulk. WR Sam Aiken was the only other player to catch a pass from Cassel during the romp.
Cassel rarely faced pressure from the Raiders and was very effective throwing the ball from the pocket. He threw the ball away when nothing developed and did not force any passes.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 14 - 117 - 1 (1 targets) |
RB Sammy Morris was very impressive in the win. He ran with determination and seemed to be able to gain first downs at will.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 6 - 45 - 0, Rec: 6 - 66 - 1 (8 targets) |
RB Kevin Faulk compiled over 100 combined yards through the air and on the ground against Oakland. He was versatile, as usual, and found success over the middle of the field often.
| RB LaMont Jordan, Rush: 12 - 97 - 1 |
RB LaMont Jordan was relatively quiet in the victory outside his 49 yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter that put the Raiders down by four touchdowns.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 6 - 69 - 1 (8 targets) |
WR Wes Welker was once again New England's most reliable and effective receiver. Welker was seemingly always open and available for the first down whenever the team needed it. Welker also had a key block on RB Kevin Faulk's touchdown reception.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 5 - 67 - 2 (7 targets) |
WR Randy Moss excelled against his former team by catching two touchdowns during the resounding victory. Moss showboated for the booing fans after his first score.
| TE Ben Watson (2 targets) |
TE Ben Watson was the target of QB Matt Cassel's pass that was picked off by DB Gibril Wilson. Otherwise, he was not much of a factor in the offense.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 0 - 0 FG, 7 - 7 XP, 7 points |
PK Stephen Gostkowski was perfect on extra points and did not attempt a field goal.
| NE Rush Defense |
The Patriots rush defense let up over 4 yards per carry against the Raiders but went ahead early by a large margin and were not tested much on the ground.
| NE Pass Defense |
The Patriots pass defense played well against the meager Raiders pass offense as they were able to get regular pressure on QB JaMarcus Russell, picked him off once, and played strong pass defense against a couple of balls that might have been strong gains for Oakland.
| QB JaMarcus Russell, Pass: 17 - 31 - 242 - 2 TD / 1 INT |
QB JaMarcus Russell showed off his rocket arm by putting some real zip on his passes. Unfortunately, his receivers had three drops on the day and in at least on instance did not appear to be on the same page with him.
Russell threw for two touchdown passes including a nicely-tossed corner of the end zone pass to WR Ronald Curry. His only interception came after Russell changed the play at the line of scrimmage and the receiver appeared to run a different route than expected. DB Jonathan Wilhite caught the ball at the goal line and stopped a promising Raiders' drive.
Russell also dropped a pass thrown to him by RB Michael Bush.
| RB Justin Fargas, Rush: 15 - 70 - 0 |
RB Justin Fargas continued to be the Raiders most consistent running back. He ran hard and determined but the Raiders fell behind by a lot early on and did not have the leisure of pounding the ball with the running game.
| RB Darren McFadden, Rush: 12 - 46 - 1, Rec: 3 - 68 - 0 (3 targets) |
RB Darren McFadden handled one snap from the wildcat formation with QB JaMarcus Russell lined up on the left side as a wide receiver. He handed the ball off to RB Justin Fargas.
In the fourth quarter, McFadden showcased some of the skills that made him a first round pick when he scampered into the end zone for the team's final touchdown of the game. He stiff-armed DB Brandon Meriweather as he forced his way in for the score.
| RB Michael Bush, Pass: 0 - 2 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT (1 targets) |
RB Michael Bush attempted two passes but did not connect on either. QB JaMarcus Russell dropped one pass that would have been a first down conversion.
| WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Rec: 3 - 66 - 1 (5 targets) |
WR Johnnie Lee Higgins once again showed off his game-changing speed on a 59 yard touchdown catch from QB JaMarcus Russell. Higgins caught the ball, benefited from a solid block by TE Zach Miller and took the ball to the end zone without much of a challenge from the opposition. Unfortunately, the Raiders were already down three touchdowns at the time.
| WR Ronald Curry, Rec: 2 - 19 - 1 (5 targets) |
WR Ronald Curry made an over the shoulder touchdown grab in the third quarter but appeared to injure himself on the play. He made one more reception in the game but walked gingerly to the sidelines after falling to the ground with the ball.
| WR Chaz Schilens, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (6 targets) |
WR Chaz Schilens only managed one catch for four yards but the reception converted on a fourth down that set up the team's final score of the game.
| TE Zach Miller, Rec: 5 - 60 - 0 (7 targets) |
TE Zach Miller continues to be the Raiders' most reliable receiver. He had a good block on the touchdown reception by WR Johnnie Lee Higgins that helped set him free for a touchdown but dropped a sure touchdown on first and goal in the second half. Miller also appeared to injure his shoulder in the fourth quarter.
| PK Sebastian Janikowski 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 3 XP, 2 points |
PK Sebastian Janikowski had an extra point attempt blocked and did not attempt any field goals. The Raiders went for two points after their final touchdown of the day. He also kicked an on-sides attempt in the fourth quarter out of bounds.
| OAK Rush Defense |
The Oakland Raiders defense did not play well in any facet of the game. All of the Patriots running backs ran the ball well against them, seemingly gaining first downs at will.
| OAK Pass Defense |
The Raiders were unable to stop the Patriots passing attack at all in week 15. QB Matt Cassel and his offense appeared to move the ball at will with quick, long drives and easy touchdown scores. The Raiders defense appeared unfocused and tired.
