FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Las Vegas Raiders hit a switch defensively in the second half of Sunday's season-opener against the New England Patriots and never looked back.
The Patriots' Drake Maye had picked apart the Raiders for much of the first half, completing 15 of 20 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. But the second-year quarterback made a costly mistake on the opening drive of the third quarter, and Las Vegas took advantage.
Maye's third-down pass attempt sailed over wide receiver Stefon Diggs and was intercepted by safety Isaiah Pola-Mao. The turnover set off a chain of events that resulted in the Raiders' 20-13 victory at Gillette Stadium. Las Vegas scored 10 unanswered points while the defense held New England to just a field goal in the final two quarters to secure its first win under coach Pete Carroll.
Las Vegas will certainly face tougher offenses throughout the regular season. But the defense's performance in the second half against New England was an encouraging sign for a unit that lost eight starters in the offseason.
"Defense did a tremendous job in the second half to hold them down, getting off the field on the third downs and all of that, just playing tough as heck," Carroll said.
While Pola-Mao's pick shifted the momentum of the afternoon, the Raiders' pass rush efforts told a better story of their second-half turnaround. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel thought Las Vegas mixed up pressures and coverages coming out of halftime. "We overcame some of those, but it was just too difficult," Vrabel told reporters after the game.
In the opening half, Las Vegas sacked Maye once and pressured the former North Carolina standout five times. Those numbers skyrocketed in the second half. The Raiders had 11 pressures, including five from defensive end Maxx Crosby, who also recorded his first sack since Dec. 8, 2024. He missed the final four weeks of last season due to ankle surgery.
The Raiders' four-man rush was more effective down the stretch. Las Vegas sent four defenders at Maye on 80% of his dropbacks in the second half, and recorded nine pressures, three sacks and gave up a passer rating of 61.9.
Maye had a passer rating of 95.8 against four-man rushes in the first and second quarters. Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce came up clutch in his first regular-season game since tearing his ACL ahead of the 2024 campaign. Las Vegas was up 20-10 with 6:15 to go in the fourth when Koonce pushed off rookie left tackle Will Campbell before sacking Maye and forcing a fumble. Even though Campbell recovered the ball, the Patriots lost eight yards and eventually were forced to punt.
"Pete preaches that you don't win the game in the first half," said Tyree Wilson after he had a sack and four pressures on 27 pass rush snaps. "After halftime, we made the adjustments and had a dominant performance."
The secondary and linebacker spots endured the most changes during the offseason. Following the departure of starting linebackers Divine Deablo and Robert Spillane, the Raiders added Elandon Roberts, Devin White, Germaine Pratt and Jamal Adams into the mix.
White was a steady presence at linebacker, especially after Roberts sprained his elbow in the first quarter. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneer was effective in the run game, totaling eight run tackles and a pair of run stuffs.
As a whole, Las Vegas' run defense was stout. The Raiders allowed 60 yards on 18 attempts.
The Raiders' cornerback room had perhaps the biggest red flags among the position groups. But Carroll thought starters Eric Stokes and Kyu Blu Kelly were effective. Stokes, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, was targeted six times, allowing three catches for 19 yards and a passer rating of 56.9.
In Kelly's first start of his three-year career, he gave up five catches for 66 yards but allowed just 1.9 yards of separation on a team-high eight targets.
"I thought Kyu Blu did a nice job fighting to the hands without making something that impeded that receiver," Carroll said. "I challenged both of them, and I thought those guys played really well."
Las Vegas' next big test will come in the following weeks. Next week, the Raiders will have to face the Los Angeles Chargers, led by quarterback Justin Herbert -- who threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, offensive tackle Joe Alt didn't allow any pressures against a formidable Chiefs' defense.
And in Week 3, they will have to take on Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, who collected 301 total yards in a 21-6 win over the New York Giants.
"We've worked really hard to get to this point, and to get in that locker room and have that kind of fun and cheer on one another," Carroll said. "Maybe we can keep that going."