Patriots-Raiders Week 1 news, notes, and fun facts
The Mike Vrabel era in New England kicks off Sunday when the Patriots welcome the Las Vegas Raiders to Gillette Stadium. Much like the Patriots, the Raiders have a new head coach looking to turn the franchise around to start the 2025 NFL season.
The Patriots brought back Vrabel, who enjoyed an incredible career in New England as a player and had a big part in those three of those Super Bowl banners hanging at Gillette Stadium. He's now looking to build the Patriots back up to a winner and add to that collection in the South end zone.
On the Las Vegas side sits Pete Carroll, who once roamed the sidelines in New England and has his own Super Bowl ring from his time in Seattle. Carroll left the Seahawks sidelines following the 2023 season, and he's now back to running a team after a year off. Like Vrabel, Carroll made his stamp on the Raiders and revamped the team's roster the best he could.
Both the Patriots and the Raiders finished last season with disappointing 4-13 records, and are looking to get back on track under a new head coach in 2025. Here's all the news, notes, and extremely useful information you need to know ahead of the Patriots-Raiders Week 1 tilt.
Patriots own a slight edge over Raiders in all-time series
The two teams first met as AFL clubs in their inaugural seasons in 1960, and have matched up 35 times in the regular season since. New England owns an 18-16-1 edge over the Raiders, thanks in large part to winning six straight from 2005 through 2020. But Las Vegas has won the last two matchups.
The Patriots are 2-1 against the Raiders in their playoff matchups, including that snowy Divisional Round game at the old Foxboro Stadium in 2002 (some call it the "Snow Bowl" while Raiders fans remember it for the old Tuck Rule) which kickstarted New England's dynasty.
The Patriots have never lost to the Raiders on Opening Day
New England and Oakland/Las Vegas have squared off on the NFL's opening weekend three times, and the Patriots have won all three of those previous matchups.
In 1964, the Patriots won, 17-14, in Oakland to kick off their season. The two teams met again in 1971 in Foxboro, which the Patriots won, 20-6.
The Patriots and the Raiders last matched up in Week 1 in 2005, when New England raised its 2004 Super Bowl banner and Ozzy Osbourne performed "Crazy Train" at Gillette. It was another win for New England, with Tom Brady (now part owner of the Raiders) leading his squad to a 30-20 victory.
The Raiders have never won at Gillette Stadium
The Patriots are 3-0 against the Raiders at Gillette Stadium, one of seven teams New England is undefeated against at home.
The other six teams without a win at Gillette are the Atlanta Falcons (the Patriots are 2-0 against them), the Detroit Lions (3-0), the Cleveland Browns (5-0), the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-0), the Minnesota Vikings (3-0), and the Tennessee Titans (4-0).
Patriots on Opening Day
Overall, New England is 36-29 in Week 1 games. The Patriots are looking to win back-to-back games on Opening Day for the first time since the team won three straight from 2018-20.
The Patriots are 23-15 at home on opening weekend, including 11-3 at Gillette Stadium.
Patriots rookies on Opening Day
The Patriots have had 29 rookies start on Opening Day, and that number is going to increase after Sunday with offensive linemen Will Campbell and Jared Wilson, safety Craig Woodson, kicker Andres Borregales, and long snapper Julian Ashby potentially all starting against the Raiders.
Christian Gonzalez (2023) and Mike Onwenu (2020) are the only current Patriots on the roster to start their first NFL regular season game.
New faces for Patriots in Week 1
There are 27 players on the Patriots' 53-man roster that were not on the team's 53-man roster for a single game in 2024. That's tied for the third-highest total with Las Vegas, behind only Tennessee and Miami (both with 28).
If Mike Vrabel wins Week 1...
If Vrabel gets a "W" in his debut as Patriots head coach, he'll join Rom Meyer (1982), Raymond Berry (1984), Dick MacPherson (1991), Pete Carroll (1997), and Jerod Mayo (2024) as the only Patriots coaches to earn a win in their first regular season game as head coach.
Stefon Diggs in Week 1
The new Patriots receiver has racked up 100-plus receiving yards on Opening Day three times in his career. He last did so in 2023 with the Buffalo Bills when he had 10 receptions for 102 yards in an overtime loss to the New York Jets.
A halftime lead usually means a Patriots win at Gillette
Good things usually happen when the Patriots head into the locker room with a lead at Gillette Stadium. New England is 110-6 all-time in the regular season when leading at halftime at Gillette Stadium.
Former Patriots on the Raiders
There are three former Patriots now suiting up for the Raiders: Defensive tackle Adam Butler (with the Pats from 2017-20), wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (2019-22), and guard Atonio Mafi (2023).
Former Raiders on the Patriots
There are a handful of former Raiders now in New England: Tackle Thayer Munford Jr. (with the Raiders from 2022-24), wide receiver Mack Hollins (2022), tight end Austin Hooper (2023), and linebackers Robert Spillane (2023-24) and K'Lavon Chaisson (2024).
Josh McDaniels was also the head coach of the Raiders from 2022-23. Defensive coordinator Terrell Williams was on the Raiders staff from 2012-14 as a defensive line coach, and wide receivers coach Todd Downing was with the Raiders from 2015-17 when he served as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
Geno Smith vs. the Patriots
The new Raiders quarterback has squared off against the Patriots five times in his career, and has gone 2-3 in those meetings. Smith has been picked off five times by the Patriots to just four touchdown passes.
He went 1-3 against the Patriots as a member of the New York Jets, but got a win over New England last season at Gillett Stadium with Seattle. Smith completed 33 of his 44 passes for 327 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks in a 23-20 overtime win over the Patriots in Week 2 last year.
Where can you watch Patriots-Raiders?
You can catch Patriots-Raiders on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots -- at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta have the call on the CBS broadcast, with Aditi Kinkhabwala giving analysis from the sidelines.
WBZ-TV will get you ready for the game with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m., and we'll wrap up New England's opener on Patriots 5th Quarter after the game over on TV38.