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FOXBORO – It was a perfect day in New England. For the Patriots, everything from the pregame festivities to the performance on the field, was just the best possible situation. They also could put a winning record next to their name for the first time in 2026.
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Fans at Gillette Stadium were treated to a 25th anniversary celebration of the Patriots’ first Super Bowl team from 2001 and Adam Vinatieri’s Pro Football Hall of Fame ring ceremony.
In between the lines, Drake Maye led the Patriots offense on six scoring drives en route to a 45-17 beatdown of the Las Vegas Raiders. Both sides combined for 217 penalty yards, but Maye’s 399 total yards (374 of them through the air) were the catalyst for the Patriots’ third win of the season.
Here’s what happened, and what it means moving forward:
1. Starting Fast And Furious
The Patriots entered the game with a limited bunch of wide receivers. Only four were active for kickoff (Romeo Doubs, Efton Chism III, Kyle Williams and DeMario Douglas), and out of that group, only Doubs and Chism had found the end zone prior to the game.
Under four minutes in, Douglas was able to add his name to that list. Aided by a long defensive pass interference penalty, Drake Maye got all the time in the world against a four-man rush. Douglas got wide open on a post out of the left slot, and was all alone in the end zone. Easy pitch-and-catch for the 35-yard score. Douglas would add another easy score late in the fourth quarter.
A Kirk Cousins-to-Brock Bowers tied the game up almost immediately on the following drive, but the Patriots would respond. A pair of fourth-down conversions to Douglas and Hunter Henry would set the table for the Patriots to reclaim it.
Rhamondre Stevenson powered his way in for a five-yard touchdown and the 14-7 lead. With the run, he became the eighth player in franchise history to record 30+ rushing touchdowns in his Patriots career.
2. Romeo Doubs Becoming Deep Threat
Maye threw the ball in the direction of Doubs five times in the win. All of them came past the sticks. Doubs finished the day with just one reception for 16 yards, but solidified himself as the go-to threat down the sideline.
On the Patriots’ first drive of the game, Doubs was targeted deep on the right side, but Raiders cornerback Eric Stokes was flagged for a 24-yard defensive pass interference. One drive later, Maye tried to hit Doubs again, but Stokes was called again for a 27-yard penalty. He’d be targeted again on the third drive, but had the ball batted out his hands by Raiders cornerback Darien Porter.
3. Injuries Piling Up On Both Sides
The Patriots had to place fullback Reggie Gilliam and wide receiver Mack Hollins on IR this week after injuries they suffered in the win over the Buffalo Bills. In the first half against Las Vegas, they lost two more offensive stars.
After multiple touches on their third drive of the game (including a fun trick play that saw Chism throw it to Henderson), the second-year running back departed to the locker room. He’d be announced as questionable to return with an ankle injury, and later downgraded to out.
On that same drive, starting left tackle Will Campbell would go down to the ground grabbing his right knee. He’d depart to the locker room and would be replaced by rookie Caleb Lomu. Campbell did not return after suffering a knee injury, and Lomu remained in the game.
In the second half, Charles Woods – who was limited all week in practice with a shoulder injury – blew up a screen pass to Bowers and stayed on a knee after the play. The cornerback would go into the blue medical tent and wouldn’t return. Dre’Mont Jones and Cory Durden would also leave the game after being checked out on the field.
4. Turnover Nearly Leads To LV Points
After Henderson left the game, the Patriots turned to third-string Corey Kiner to help with the rushing attack. But they didn’t get much help out of the gate.
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The second-year back fumbled his first carry of the game after it was punched out by Raiders defensive tackle (and former Patriots undrafted free agent) Adam Butler in the gap. The Raiders took over in prime position, but Matt Gay would doink a 49-yard field goal off the left upright.
Kiner would finish the game carrying the ball a few more times in a reserve role, including a 32-yard scamper in garbage time. An 11-yard touchdown to Hunter Henry would give the Patriots a 21-7 lead heading into halftime, ultimately wiping away Kiner’s mistake.
5. Young Edge Rusher’s Ascent Continues
Coming into the game, second-year edge rusher Elijah Ponder led the Patriots with 2.5 sacks. A little more than four hours later, Ponder added a pair to his year-long total. Ponder brought down Cousins twice – including a strip-sack to close the first half.
His ascend off the edge helped the Patriots defense hold a Raiders offense to just seven points (and hold them scoreless after their first drive of the game). It was his first multi-sack game of Ponder’s young career.
6. The Rout Is On!
Through the first four games of the season, the wide receiver had just two receptions for 44 yards. He’d surpass that level of production against the Raiders by a lot.
After Williams and Hezekiah Masses traded pass interference penalties, Maye dialed up a deep ball for his receiver down the left sideline. The speedster beat the rookie Masses from the first step and brought in the 34-yard score. That was the Patriots’ fourth touchdown of the game. It wouldn’t end there.
Following a Gay field goal, Maye would go on a surgical drive down the field. He hit Eli Raridon deep for a large pickup, used his legs to avoid a sack and then took a quarterback sweep behind the left side of the line for a three-year rushing score.
Williams would later tack on a 49-yard snag to close the third quarter on a drive ending with an Andy Borregales field goal. The Raiders would put in first overall pick Fernando Mendoza for his NFL debut late trailing by four scores.
7. Drake’s Day
It was a vintage (as vintage as a third-string quarterback can possibly play) showing from Maye, who ended his day completing 23-of-31 passes and racked up a 144.6 rating. He recorded back-to-back games with at least three touchdowns for the first time in his career, and it as the first time a Patriots quarterback did it since Tom Brady in 2018.
It was also the second time Maye surpassed 300 yards in the air in his career. Those 374 yards are just second to his 380 he had in Baltimore a season ago. The 24-year-old is now up to eight total touchdowns this season, and seven in his last two games. It’s safe to say he’s back.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/patriots/onsi as 7 Takeaways From Patriots’ Monster Win over Raiders: Is Drake Maye Finally Back?.
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This story was originally published October 11, 2026 at 1:05 PM.