Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (8) tries to gain some ground on New England cornerback CJ Jackson (29) first half action at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sun Oct 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Las Vegas Raiders defense stepped up, and stepped up big in the final 1:47 of the fourth quarter. The Raiders were clinging onto a 19-17 lead. The Patriots had the ball but the Raiders defense forced them deep into their own territory. The Raiders defense closed out this game in the end zone with a safety courtesy of Maxx Crosby and Bilal Nichols in a 21-17 win. The Raiders have now won back to back games.

The Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) took on a struggling New England Patriot team (1-5) Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium. Neither team is having a stellar season this year and the Raiders reached .500 are in third place behind second place Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West with the Chargers still to play on Monday Night Football. The Raiders have lost some close games this season and Sunday’s game against the Patriots was no exception.

Patriots-Raiders post game recap: It was a defensive first quarter with a single score, a Raider field goal at 6:54, for a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter.

The Raiders extended their lead in the second quarter. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo found Jakobi Meyers for 12 yards and the touchdown. The extra point was good and Las Vegas had a 10-0 lead to start the second quarter. The Patriots got on the scoreboard at 8:38 via a 43 yard field goal and they had cut into the Raiders lead 10-3.

As the game went into the half, the Raiders had tacked on a second field goal now leading 13-3. Garoppolo was hurt in the closing minutes of the second quarter after having a very efficient first half of football. He was 14 of 22 for 162 yards and one interception. He was transported to a local hospital with a possible back injury. Back-up quarterback Brian Hoyer replaced Garoppolo under center to start the third quarter. He had not thrown a single pass this season.

New England had won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Patriots had a successful opening drive in the third quarter. They had not scored a touchdown in 12 quarters but that all changed when Ezekiel Elliott rushed up the middle for two yards and the Patriots finally had scored a touchdown after quite a drought.

New England now trailed the Raiders by a field goal 13-10. The Raiders Daniel Carlson kicked his third field goal of the day, a 30 yard kick giving Las Vegas a 16-10 lead.

Back-up quarterback Hoyer delivered the Raiders longest pass of the season in the third quarter, a 48-yard strike to Tre Tucker which set up the field goal attempt. The Raiders had been in the red zone twice in the second half; once in the third quarter and as it turned out once in the fourth.

Carlson was having a banner day kicking his fourth field goal, this one a 24 yarder, and the Raiders had a 19-10 lead. Las Vegas needed their defense to protect their lead and hand the Patriots their fifth loss of the season.

The Patriots had a great deal of success in the air in the fourth quarter putting together a great drive that would take, unfortunately for them, 9:30 off the game clock. A quarterback hit by the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby put this game in real jeopardy giving the Patriots a first and goal.

New England scored the touchdown and the Raiders would have to fight for this win leading by the slimmest of margins 19-17 with 3:36 left in the game. Las Vegas could not keep their final drive going and the Patriots had one final chance with 2:23 left on the clock and no timeouts.

A Raider win would be in the hands of their defense as this game went down to the wire. Las Vegas closed out this game in Crosby style stuffing Patriot quarterback Mac Jones in the end zone for the safety and a 21-17 lead and that was the ball game.

So much went down in this game from start to finish. The Raiders had a nice first half unfortunately culminating in the injury of Garoppolo right before half time. The fact that he went to a local hospital right after the injury does not bode well for Las Vegas.

Yes the Raiders won this game but they settled for four field goals while inside the red zone. This does not often win a lot of games. Hoyer had some really nice passes although failed to find the end zone. He did drive the team downfield a couple of times which culminated in two field goals. The Raiders’ defense came up huge in that final Patriots drive with the safety and the 21-17 win.

Next week the Raiders will travel to Chicago to take on another struggling team, the Bears. The Raiders will possibly be playing without Garoppolo and in that event Hoyer will take his place after looking pretty good in the Patriot game. Kick off at Soldier Field is at 10:00AM PT on Sun Oct 22.

Hoyer did not score any touchdowns in today’s game but he also had not thrown a single pass this season. It was a decent game for him and now he has some invaluable time with the team in game day situation. This is yet another game that Las Vegas has the ability to win and they should come into the game with a lot of confidence after today’s win.