There wasn't much to like about the debut of Mike Vrabel's 2025 Patriots. They were outplayed, outcoached, and outclassed by the Las Vegas Raiders. Being "outcoached" was the one thing that was furthest from the mind. Small consolation, at least Vrabel was outcoached by a top NFL Head Coach and maybe a Pro Football Hall of Famer to boot, all-time nice guy, Pete Carroll.
On the positive side, they didn't get blown out, always a good thing, and last year's dreadful team won their first game, so maybe a turnaround isn't all that remote a possibility. Two players stood out. Harold Landry racked up 2.5 sacks in his first game as a Patriot, and Kayshon Boutte caught six passes for 103 yards. All good there.
On the disappointing side for some was the play of rookie fourth-overall pick left tackle Will Campbell. A lot was expected from the former LSU Tiger, and for a half, he seemed to deliver. But after halftime, he was victimized by the Raiders' pass rush and helped them out himself with two procedure penalties.
Greg Bedard of CLNS had some positives to say about Will Campbell
Greg Bedard of CLNS media is a "tell-it-like-he-sees-it" Patriots analyst. He can be tough as nails, but if he feels Patriot Nation should cut a player some slack, he's not afraid to say it. Bedard analyzed Campbell's first NFL game in a CLNS YouTube podcast.
"I think solid is the right word to use with Campbell. I thought he had some really good reps, you know, he got beat a few times…3.5 total QB pressures and 54 drop backs, including penalties, is not that bad at all”
Campbell and most of the other Patriots' rookies graded poorly elsewhere, but it's encouraging to see a tough grader like Bedard have some positive words. Bedard is a top analyst, and his perspective is always worth a listen or read after any Patriots game.
Will Campbell is in a learning phase and will get better
A "solid" grade is certainly one that provides hope for much better performances in the future. Campbell was a fourth overall pick in the NFL draft, and as such, expectations are high. Yet, a rookie playing left tackle will have growing pains, no matter how high he was drafted.
Additionally, Campbell also had tweaked an ankle and was listed as questionable on the injury report. That's a particularly troublesome injury for a player who plays the second most challenging position on a football field, which relies on foot quickness and mobility to get the job done against the NFL's top pass-rushers.
One area that was of greater disappointment (other than two procedure penalties and allowing a strip-sack) was Campbell's inability to really showcase his best skill, run-blocking. That may be partially attributable to the offensive coaching. Josh McDaniels' play-calling was poor. Rather than trying to establish a running game to set up the pass, he too often went to the pass early, and it flopped.
One game does not a season make, as Patriot Nation learned after the improbable win in 2024's first game against Cincinnati. After that, everything went downhill, and the season was a disaster. The hope is that the opposite will occur this season and that the first game glitch will be replaced by a string of top games and wins to follow. If not, it's going to be another long season in Foxborough.