Patriots

seven Raiders players to scout vs. the Patriots on Lord’s day

Despite their v-8 record, the Raiders take multiple stars on each side of the ball.

Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams are the catalysts of the Raiders’ offense.

AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

The Patriots will continue their playoff push on Sunday when they take on the Raiders in Las Vegas.

Coached by sometime Patriots coordinator Josh McDaniels, the Raiders accept had a crazy season and many believe their talent is better than their 5-viii tape indicates.

With that in mind, hither are seven Raiders players to watch for when they host the Patriots on Sunday.

Davante Adams

When compiling any sort of listing like this, Adams must be included.

Adams put up i of the best two-year stretches for a receiver in NFL history in 2020 and 2021 while playing with the Packers, catching at least 115 passes in both seasons for a combined 2,927 receiving yards and 29 receiving touchdowns.

Even though he’s not catching passes from Aaron Rodgers anymore, Adams is yet putting upwardly elite numbers. He has 82 receptions for 1,247 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, ranking in the elevation 5 in each stat, and leads the league in receiving touchdowns.

Adams is on a bit of a tear equally of late, too. He has at least 120 receiving yards in iv of the Raiders’ last six games, recording seven touchdowns over that stretch, as well.

Because he played with the Packers for the first eight seasons of his career, Adams doesn’t have much feel going up against the Patriots. In his final matchup confronting them, he defenseless half-dozen passes for 40 yards with a touchdown in what concluded upward being a Patriots win.

Adams, however, was reportedly the star of joint practices between the Patriots and Raiders in Baronial. The 5-time Pro Bowler reportedly fabricated numerous big catches against the Patriots’ secondary, peculiarly making touchdown grabs over corner Jalen Mills.

Adams didn’t play in the preseason game that followed those practices, so we’ll see if he has the same magic come Lord’s day.

Josh Jacobs

One of the season’s biggest surprises has been the Raiders running back.

After McDaniels and Co. denied the 5th-year option of his contract, Jacobs has had the best season of his 4-year career to this indicate. Jacobs leads the league in rushing yards (1,402) and tied for tertiary in rushing touchdowns (eleven) while rushing on an efficient 5.2 yards per behave.

Similar Adams, Jacobs has started to play better as of late, too. Following a 109-chiliad operation in an overtime win over the Broncos in Week 10, Jacobs put up a performance for the ages in the Raiders’ overtime win over the Seahawks. He rushed for 229 yards and had 74 receiving yards. He also scored 2 touchdowns in that game, including an 86-yard touchdown run that won the Raiders the game.

Jacobs put upwards 2 more good outings leading into Sunday’s game, rushing for 144 yards against the Chargers and 99 yards against the Rams. He’ll accept a decent exam ahead of him on Sunday as the Patriots hold the 12th-best rushing defense and the 10th-all-time rush defensive DVOA.

Maxx Crosby

The defensive end has been a consistent forcefulness for the Raiders over the concluding few seasons, and this year has been no different.

Crosby’s recorded 11.five sacks this season, the 5th-virtually in the league entering Week fifteen. Not only has Crosby gotten to the quarterback a lot, only he’s also been able to go the ball out of opposing players’ easily. He’due south forced iii fumbles, which is tied for the 2nd-most in the league.

Crosby’s brings the complete packet. He’due south also strong as a run-stopper, recording 49 stops this season, the quaternary-well-nigh in the league.

Crosby typically lines up on the left side of the defensive line, which means he’ll go upwardly against the right side of the Patriots’ offensive line.

That’s a major mismatch that advantages the Raiders every bit correct tackle has arguably the Patriots’ weakest position this season. Isaiah Wynn’s been dealing with an injury while backups Conor McDermott and Yodny Cajuste have struggled. McDermott’s immune five pressures in his two games with the Patriots, while Cajuste has given upwards three sacks and 12 pressures in four games this season.

Duron Harmon

There are a scattering of former Patriots players on McDaniels’ team. None of them take been more consistent, though, than the veteran prophylactic.

Harmon’s made plays all over the field this flavor for the Raiders. In Calendar week 7, he recorded a pick-half dozen against the Texans. He’south also recorded a pair of forced fumbles, including in Week 13 against the Chargers when he punched the ball out of star running back Austin Ekeler’southward hand to help fix the Raiders up for an piece of cake touchdown drive.

Harmon hasn’t been too strong in laissez passer coverage this flavour, allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 15-of-18 passes for 185 yards. However, he has two interceptions, and his ability to brand game-changing plays is nevertheless there, which could be worrisome for the Patriots if they take to play their two rookie running backs.

Chandler Jones

The most notable onetime Patriots player on the Raiders’ roster didn’t get off to a hot start in Las Vegas.

Jones, who signed a three-year, $51 million contract to bring together the Raiders over the offseason, only had i sack and had five games with only ane pressure through the beginning 11 weeks of the season.

Jones has turned it on though, in contempo weeks. He recorded eight pressures against a potent Seahawks offensive line in Week 12. In the last ii weeks, Jones has beaten upwards on poor offensive line, recording two sacks against both the Chargers and Rams.

This week presents another prime number opportunity for Jones to get into the backfield and sack the quarterback who has the same concluding name every bit him. He’ll probable line upwards against left tackle Trent Dark-brown, who shared he lost 12 pounds due to a recent flu. Brown’s struggled a bit since he came downwards with the illness, allowing 6 pressures and a sack over the last two games.

Denzel Perryman

Like many players on the Raiders’ defence force, the linebacker has also gotten better in recent weeks.

Perryman, along with Crosby, helps solidify a Las Vegas run defence that ranks 10th in yards this season. The veteran linebacker has recorded 70 tackles over x games, which is the third-most on the team. But he’s as well recorded 31 stops, which is slightly less than Crosby on a per-game basis.

Even if Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris play, Perryman could help negate the Patriots’ backfield a bit, as Pro Football Focus has given him an 83.3 grade in run defense force this flavor, which is the 17th-all-time among all players that accept played at least 10 games this season.

Mack Hollins

The Raiders could have a pair of central pass-catchers returning on Sunday in Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, but don’t forget the sixth-year receiver, either.

Hollins has produced in a big way for the Raiders this flavor, even outperforming Waller and Renfrow in games they played in together. He has a career-high 47 receptions for 588 yards with three touchdowns.

Hollins hasn’t had many big performances in recent weeks, though he’southward shown a high ceiling at times, at least in terms of production. He had viii receptions for 158 yards against the Titans in Week 3, for example.

If Waller and Renfrow return, you should still await Hollins to see the field. He’s played at to the lowest degree 85 percentage of the offensive snaps in every game this season, potentially presenting a mismatch in favor of the Raiders if one of the Patriots’ bottom defensive backs takes him on in pass coverage.

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