NE—Kevin Faulk 7-yard pass from Matt Cassel (Stephen Gostkowski kicks
PAT), 10:23
NE—Randy Moss 20-yard pass from Cassel (Gostkowski kicks PAT), 7:57
NE—Sammy Morris 29-yard run (Gostkowski kicks PAT, 3:43
Oak—Johnnie Lee Higgins 57-yard pass from JaMarcus Russell (Sebastian
Janikowski kicks PAT), 1:34
Notes:
– The Patriots had the ball at the Oakland 40 to open the second
quarter, having converted a third-and-2 when Derrick Burgess jumped
offsides. New England outgained the Raiders 165 to 73 (with 57 coming on
the Oakland touchdown play) in the first quarter.
Raiders defenders were huddling and arguing on the sidelines with
defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and linebackers coach Don Martindale.
– Trailing 21-0, the Raiders drew a mock cheer for getting their initial
first down with 2:21 left in the quarter, and on the next play Russell
hit Higgins with a routine shallow cross which turned into a 57-yard
touchdown play with help from a Zach Miller block against Brandon
Meriweather.
It was the Raiders second touchdown in the first half this season (and
79th possession) and first since Week 4, a 63-yard touchdown pass from
Russell to Miller.
– Morris nearly broke the ankles of Chris Johnson on a 29-yard touchdown
run with 3:43 left in the quarter as the Patriots went 83 easy yards for
a score in nine plays and 3:08 in elapsed time.
Included was a 14-yard run by Morrison, an 8-yard swing from Cassel to
Faulk on third-and-6 with Nnamdi Asomugha in coverage and a 13-yard pass
to Moss to the 29.
– The Raiders went three-and-out for the third straight series. With
7:03 left in the first quarter, Darren McFadden, not listed on the
injury report, has yet to see the field.
– Moss caught a 20-yard touchdown pass on an out pattern against Chris
Johnson for a touchdown, looking to the crowd and then pointing with
both hands to the name on his back.
The Patriots drove 35 yards in three plays for the score in 1:01.
– Gibril Wilson was on the field for the second possession after sitting
out the opening possession.
– Mike Vrabel beat Cornell Green to the outside and forced a Russell
fumble, recovered by the Raiders, on third-and-9. Lechler followed with
an 18-yard punt
– A 36-yard return by Miller was negated on a Jon Alston hold, with the
Raiders opening their second possession at the 16-yard line.
– The Patriots drove 40 yards in nine plays in 2:59 for the first
touchdown, with Cassel hitting Faulk over the middle, with Kirk Morrison
sprawling to the turf as Faulk pivoted at around the 5 and ran into the
end zone.
Cassel had third down conversions of 16 and 7 yards to Wes Welker.
– Wilson is not playing on Oakland’s first series, with Michael Huff and
Rashad Baker at safeties. Wilson is listed as the starter, was not on
the injury report and there was no pre-game change in the lineup.
– Three-and-out for the Raiders on their first series,. Starting at the
7, Fargas had gains of zero and 4 yards before Russell threw over the
head of Ronald Curry.
Lechler punted out of his own end zone and New England opened at the
Oakland 40.
– Return specialist Miller caught the opening kickoff several yards deep
in the end zone, hesitated and was dropped at the 7-yard line.
Nice start.
During pregame introductions, the Raiders had not yet congregated in
south end zone when the announcer began with names. Gerard Warren wound
up running on late, well after his name was called.
Scoring
NE—Wes Welker 13-yard pass from Matt Cassel (Stephen Gostkowski kicks
PAT), 13:12
– The Patriots lost a chance at three more points when time ran out
before Gostkowski could kick a short field goal, with New England
incurring a 10 second runoff with 11 seconds to play following a
penality and then failing to get off a play.
The Patriots had more than 300 yards total offense at halftime.
– The Raiders advanced into New England territory for the first time on
a 23-yard pass from JaMarcus Russell to Zach Miller and then got 8 yards
on a right screen to Johnnie Lee Higgins to the 24, but Russell badly
underthrew Ashley Lelie at the goal line, with Jonathan Wilhite
intercepting the pass.
– Gibril Wilson intercepted a Cassel pass that bounced off tight end
Benjamin Watson and then Baker as the Raiders stopped the Patriots for
the first time.
– Ronald Curry reached for a crossing route slightly low and behind him
_ a catchable pass and dropped it on third-and-9 _ and dropped it to
force an Oakland punt.
– Darren McFadden got the ball for the first time with 12:12 in the half
and gained six yards.
– McFadden made his first appearance with 12:46 left, taking the snap in
a shotgun formation and handing the ball to Justin Fargas. The play was
negated by a 5-yard offsides against New England, and McFadden went back
to the bench.
– The Patriots pooched the kickoff to Tony Stewart, who called for a
fair catch, ending a chance for a third consecutive touchdown.
– Hobbs answered the Raiders kickoff return for a touchdown with one of
his own, a 95-yarder that took 13 seconds off the clock.
For those of the gambling persuasion, the two teams have combined for 49
points, going well past the pre-game “over’’ of 39 ½ points in 17 minutes.
– Miller’s second kickoff return for a touchdown in two weeks answered
the Patriots fourth touchdown of the game.
Miller broke free to his right, outran the kicker Gostkowski as well as
wide receiver Sam Aiken, who appeared to have an angle but came up short
on a dive.
Not only have the Raiders never had a return specialist get kickoff
returns for touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, they’ve never had one with
two in a season before Miller.
x-The Patriots opened the second quarter with Cassel hitting an
uncovered Welker on a crossing route for a 13-yard touchdown, a play in
which the Raiders apparently weren’t clear on who had coverage underneath.
Moments before, Welker got free again with a 30-yard completion to the
16-yard line. Cassel is 10 of 14 for 134 yards and three touchdowns.
New England is 4-for-4 on third downs and has 225 yards of offense with
13:12 left in the quarter.
Scoring
NE—Randy Moss 9-yard pass from Matt Cassel (Stephen Gostkowski kicks
PAT), 11:36
Oak—Ronald Curry 10-yard pass from JaMarcus Russell (kick blocked), 5:01
Notes:
– New England opened the fourth quarter on the 38-yard line after
16-yard pass from Cassel to Sam Aiken.
– The Raiders defense is on a roll. New England was forced to putn for
the second time in a quarter.
– New England opened a possession with just under five minutes left in
the third quarter with 399 yards in total offense split nearly even
between running and passing.
– Russell’s perfect pass on a fade route in the right corner of the end
zone was good for a 10-yard touchdown to Curry, probably the best touch
pass he has made in his 15th game as a starting quarterback.
Sebastian Janikowski’s point-after-touchdown attempt was blocked by
Vince Wilfork.
The Raiders drove 54 yards for the score, with Russell hitting McFadden
out of the backfield for 24 yards, Fargas running for 14, and McFadden
taking a pitch and running 12 yareds to his left to the 5.
McFadden in space. What a concept.
The Raiders were pushed back five yards on a Tony Stewart false start.
– With the Raiders finally forcing a punt, Nnamdi Asomugha got called
for a holding penalty for an automatic first down on third-and-7, with
New England retaining possession at its own 28.
Three plays later, a seven-yard sack by Trevor Scott forced New
England’s first punt of the game with 7:17 left in the quarter.
A New England penalty on Johnnie Lee Higgins’ punt return gave Oakland
possession at the Patriots 46-yard line.
– Oakland drove to the 50 on its first possession of the half, with 27
yards coming on a swing pass from Russell to Darren McFadden, but
stalled and eventually punted from their own 34 after Russell was
pressured, whiffed on a throw for a fumble, and recovered it himself.
–New England took the opening kickoff in the second half and 68 yards in
seven plays in 3:24, with Moss running unimpeded past Kirk Morrison,
finding an open area past Gibril Wilson, and scoring his second touchdown.
With his back to the Black Hole, Moss again pointed at the name on the
back of his jersey _ although chances are they already knew.
Scoring
NE—LaMont Jordan 49-yard run (Stephen Gostkowski kicks PAT), 6:09
Oak–Darren McFadden 11-yard run (Sebastian Janikowski kicks PAT), 1:53
Notes:
– The 49 points surrendered was the most given up by the Raiders in a
regular-season game in Oakland since the San Diego Chargers beat the
Raiders 55-21 on Nov. 22, 1981, with Dan Fouts throwing five touchdown
passes to Kellen Winslow.
– McFadden took a handoff and broke free to his left for an 11-yard run
to put the Raiders within 49-26 with 1:53 left, with a two-point pass
from Russell sailing out of bounds.
The Raiders drove 57 yards on 11 plays in 4:16. McFadden, who didn’t get
serious work until the game was already out of reach, has 46 yards on 12
carries and three receptions for 68 yards.
The Patriots recovered an onsides kickoff attempt and New England began
kneeling on the ball to kill the clock.
– Bill Belichick saw fit to challenge a potential Raiders first down on
a pass from JaMarcus Russell to Chaz Schilens with a 29-point lead and
2:33 remaining.
Way to go, Bill.
The ball was re-spotted, but the Raiders got the first down, anyway.
– Jordan broke free on a 49-yard run untouched to finish off a 57-yard
three-play drive after the Raiders turned the ball over on downs.
Jordan has 97 yards on 12 carries as the Patriots have 230 yards on the
ground on 35 attempts. Jordan came in to the game with 128 yards rushing
this season.
– New England was forced to punt for the third time in a half, with
Oakland opening at its own 21 with 12: 20 remaining.
– The Raiders turned the ball over on downs at the New England 43 with
7:33 remaining, a drive which stalled in part because JaMarcus Russell
couldn’t hold on to a pass from Michael Bush on a trick play.
