BSJ Game Report: Patriots 33, Raiders 8 - A rout in Mexico

Everything you need to know about the Patriots' victory in Mexico in quickie form:

HEADLINES

Patriots were basically flawless: You would be hard-pressed to find many weak spots in this victory (don't worry, I'll try before Tuesday - wink) as the Patriots did what they wanted to offensively, especially through the air, and played good defense to make things uncomfortable for a potent (if underachieving) Raiders offense. Even on special teams they did everything they wanted,  with Stephen Gostkowski going 4-for-4 on field goals (including a career-long 62-yarder), Ryan Allen had one punt inside the 20 and they didn't let Cordarrelle Patterson return any kickoffs.

Classic Brady vs. Del Rio: Tom Brady, when he has a semblance of weaponry (read, not the 2015 AFC Championship Game), absolutely kills the tired and vanilla defenses preferred by Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio. The beat goes on... Brady's line: 30-of-37 (81 percent) for 339 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions for a passer rating of 131.9.

The Raiders are pretenders: Remember when the Raiders, fresh of a 12-4 campaign and first playoff berth in forever, were being mentioned as possible contenders to knock off the Patriots in the AFC? That was fun while it lasted. The Raiders consistently play undisciplined football with drops, fumbles, blown coverage, careless passes by Derek Carr, missed tackles ... basically, there's nothing they do well. If the Raiders were smart, they'd build the offense around their ground game and take the team back from Carr. He's not ready to carry a team.

TURNING POINT

The Raiders appeared to finally get their act together by relying on the ground game before halftime with an 11-play, 68-yard drive that was almost exclusively on the ground: eight plays went to the running backs on the ground or through the air. Carr hit Seth Roberts to the 3-yard line with 37 seconds and all three timeouts left for Oakland. Instead of pulling the ball in and going to the ground, giving the Raiders a great chance to make it a 14-7 game going into halftime, Roberts decided it was a good time to hold the ball like a frisbee. Jonathan Jones spun Roberts around, and Marquis Flowers punched the ball out. Patrick Chung recovered.

Patriots took the ball and got a field goal (Stephen Gostkowski from 62 yards) to grab a 17-0 lead. The fumble was basically a 10-point swing. Huge.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/932381904296329218

SECOND GUESS

The Raiders said they didn't need to train for altitude outside of what they could at their facility at Alameda, Calif. (which is under sea level, by the way). Yeah, that was wrong. The Patriots came out and played with some tempo and got the Raiders gassed from the get-go. The Patriots were also much better about substitutions to keep their players as fresh as possible. Basically, New England ran circles around Oakland before the game even started.

THREE UP

Tom Brady: He was sensational in this one. It's really unfair. The league should make Brady play left-handed against Del Rio.

Jonathan Jones: Seemed to be all over the field with tight coverage and physical play. His tackle of Seth Roberts started the crucial fumble. He had coverage of Carr's interception. Jones was all over the place.

Stephen Gostkowski: Besides one extra point barely getting inside the uprights, the veteran kicker was money in this game. Not only was he 4-of-4 on field goals from 62, 51, 40 and 29 yards but he was 6-for-6 on touchbacks (vs. dangerous Cordarrelle Patterson) before the game was out of hand.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/932378645934551041

THREE DOWN

This is going to be really difficult but a couple little things:

Four (really three) field goals: Patriots won't be happy that they had to "settle" for three real field goals (the 62-yarder doesn't count) when they had drives stop at the Oakland 33-, 22- and 11-yard lines.

Run defense: The score got out of whack so it didn't matter, but the Patriots did allow 109 yards on 21 carries (5.2 average) so the coaches will probably look to tighten that up a little bit.

Nothing else: Sorry, but just can't come up with another one. Yes, Rex Burkhead fumbled (Patriots covered) and Malcolm Butler gave up a touchdown with poor technique, but neither really mattered.

INJURIES

Patrick Chung (upper body): Left the game with 11:58 left in the second quarter but returned.

LaAdrian Waddle (lower body): Got rolled up on with 7:41 left in the third quarter. Returned to the game.

Stephon Gilmore (dehydration): For the second time this season he left with dehydration. He did return.

Danny Amendola (dehydration): Left the game in the fourth quarter.

TOP PLAYS

Dion Lewis breaks ankles in any language.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/932366137538461697

Brady up top to Cooks for 52 yards.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/932373186511024130

This was a huge sequence. Patriots took a timeout when they were leading 7-0 and facing third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Coming out, Brady changed the play at the line, and came up with this beaut.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/932374621676064768

Brady 64 yards to Brandin Cooks. Basically ended the game on first possession of third quarter.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/932384771497271296

THREE TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Patriots aren't losing again this season: New England faces the Dolphins and Bills twice, plus the Steelers and Jets to finish the season. Obviously, the game at Pittsburgh is the big one, and a lot will be on the line. But the way the Patriots are coming together, I expect them to run the table and land home-field advantage. At 0-1 and 2-2, I was asked if I was still over on the Patriots getting 12 victories. I never wavered from over. I feel pretty good about that at this point.

Patriots offensive line depth is outstanding: Between tackle LaAdrian Waddle subbing for Marcus Cannon at various points this season, and Ted Karras taking over for David Andrews against the Raiders, the backup Patriots linemen have arguably been as effective as the starters this season. Tip of the cap to Dante Scarnecchia for that.

Good to give Gronk an "off" day: Thanks to the scoreboard and not wanting Khalil Mack to ruin the game-plan, the Patriots didn't need a whole lot from Rob Gronkowski in the game. He only had three catches for 36 yards as they used him to chip a lot before going into his routes. For a guy who had a big workload before the bye, the Patriots are being very smart with him right now.