New England Patriots links 10/13/23 - Week 6 Patriots-Raiders: Previews, matchups, Keys to Victory

The New England Patriots are now “The Trap Game”. Las Vegas Raiders’ WR Davante Adams warned his teammates this week against taking the 1-4 Patriots lightly and assuming an ‘automatic win.’ For some reason I found that hilarious.

There is an old Matt Dillon movie called The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters in which the main character dreads a blind date he agreed to, and being seen with what he imagines to be a reputation-killing unattractive girl. Turns out she is a homecoming queen doing her cousin a favor by going out with him. Then comes the horrific realization that to her, HE was the ‘blind date’, not the other way around.

Apparently that’s where New England is. The two-dynasty Patriots are now the proverbial blind date. THEY are the “trap” that even teams like the lowly Raiders has to warn against assuming will be an “automatic win.” Hilarious. This Sunday, the Pats have a chance to give teams a reason to take them seriously. Or not. I think they pull out the win and have a little fun in the process. Go Pats!

TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Raiders updated Injury Report.
• Evan Lazar’s Patriots Gameplan: A plan for the Patriots to get back on track vs. the Raiders. Offensively, I’d take them back to the opening week against the Eagles, where the Pats scored a season-high 20 points, and quarterback Mac Jones threw for over 300 yards with three touchdowns.
• Evan Lazar talks about how the Patriots defense is focusing on forcing more turnovers.
• What they’re saying: Las Vegas Raiders.
• Alexandra Francisco writes how, in an unlikely friendship with Trent Brown, breast cancer survivor Adina Barnes realizes why they were ‘supposed to meet’.
• Press Conferences: Jabrill Peppers - Jonathan Jones - Lawrence Guy.
• Belestrator: How to stop Josh Jacobs and Devante Adams. (1.44 min. video)
• Patriots previewing the Key Matchups against the Raiders and jump-starting the Patriots offense. (5 min. video)
• Patriots Unfiltered TV: Saints recap, Raiders preview, Adrian Phillips 1-on-1. (22 min. video)
• Q&A with Rhamondre Stevenson and his Mom. (1.21 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Murph reveals his deep-seated hatred of the Raiders and his Monster Keys to beat them this week: “Win the battle with the man in front of you, Win this play, win this series, win this quarter, this half , Win This Game.”
• Steve Balestrieri gives us his Week 6 Pats-Raiders Key Matchups and prediction. 1. Patriots RBs vs. Raiders front seven — Edge New England.
• Alex Barth highlights the matchups and storylines to watch for when New England visits Las Vegas: Maxx protection, Who steps up at WR? More.
• Mark Morse (PatsFans) Week 6 Patriots at Raiders preview: The Raiders offense has faced some of the easiest defenses to play against in the league. Jimmy Garoppolo is slightly worse than Mac Jones, despite the immense amount of pressure that Jones has faced; More.
• Taylor Kyles’ Scouting Report: How the Patriots’ offense can slow down Maxx Crosby.
• Nick O’Malley’s Pats-Raiders anti-analysis: The odd TV habits of a Patriots coach with ‘not a lot of free time’.
• Mike Kadlick’s Practice Report: High energy Thursday as Pats look to ‘shuffle’ out of funk.
• Chris Mason reports the Patriots have a season-high 16 players on the injury report.
• Alex Barth’s Patriots Mailbag: The near and not-so-near future.
• Doug Kyed mentions how J.C. Jackson is gaining his confidence back.
• Mark Daniels notes Brenden Schooler dreamed of being the next Matthew Slater when he was in high school.
• Mike Kadlick lists two easy reasons why the Patriots should trade for Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy.
• 98.5 The Sports Hub guest Albert Breer wants people to stop comparing this version of the Patriots to the teams of recent past. “I hate to break it to everybody here, but the old Patriots aren’t showing up.” /Hmm... sounds sort of like a recent slogan you all were making fun of.
• Lauren Campbell notes Raiders WR DaVante Adams warns his teammates against viewing the 1-4 Patriots as an automatic win. /To quote Michael Scott, “Oh how the turn tables.”
• Eric Wilbur rounds up what the experts are predicting for Sunday’s Patriots-Raiders game
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate and Steve Balestrieri discuss the fates of Mac Jones, Bill Belichick and the team as a whole heading into Week 6 vs. the Raiders. (40 min.)
• A Clare Perspective podcast: Clare Cooper talks the state of the Patriots with Phil Perry. (37 min)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mike Kadlick identifies 3 crucial clashes in Patriots’ Week 6 matchup vs. Raiders. 1. The ‘triple J’s’ and Davante vs. Belichick’s defense.
• Sean Keeley (Awful Announcing) Why are Jim Nantz and Tony Romo calling Patriots-Raiders on Sunday? Neither club has done much to warrant having the CBS top broadcasting team, but options aren’t plentiful.
• Cameron Filipe (Football Zebras) Week 6 referee assignments. Patriots at Raiders: Brad Rogers.
• Ava Sirocco (OutForTheSeason) Micah Parsons offers mathematical proof that the Patriots are just as good as the 49ers. The math doesn’t care about your cynicism…
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) A look at the rule against removing the helmet. /Interesting.
• Jay Hart (Yahoo! Sports) Chasing Don Shula; The way things stand, Bill Belichick isn’t the biggest threat to plant roots atop the all-time wins list for coaches. Andy Reid is.
• Charles McDonald (Yahoo! Sports) NFL trade deadline: Broncos, Vikings and Giants should be sellers this month. Which big-name players could be moved?

VIEW FROM LAS VEGAS

• Matt Holder (SilverAndBlackPride) Raiders-Patriots: 3 key matchups, big week for the ground game on both sides.
• Bill Williamson (SilverAndBlackPride) Winnable stretch coming up for Raiders: Lots of bottom feeders on tap for Silver and Black. Patriots included.
• Levi Edwards (Raiders.com) Maxx Crosby, defense looking to pump up the volume on New England’s offense.
• Case Keefer (Las Vegas Sun) Analysis: Raiders need more out of Jimmy Garoppolo.
• Levi Edwards (Raiders.com) Connections: Jakobi Meyers learned to do ‘the hard things right’ in New England, applying it with the Raiders.
• Carter Landis (Raiders Today) Raiders opponent underrated player: Kyle Dugger.
• Marcus Mosher (RaidersWire) Could Raiders trade Pro Bowl WR Hunter Renfrow to Patriots?
• Levi Edwards (Raiders.com) Raiders Mailbag: What’s in store for the Raiders offense against the Patriots?