The Raiders fan base once held a lot of bad blood for Tom Brady due to the Tuck Rule era. But now that Tom Brady is a part owner of the team and they are actually winning games, I’m guessing they’ve come around on him a bit. And you better believe that Brady’s name will come up quite a bit on the broadcast this week with his Raiders coming to Gillette Stadium.

The Las Vegas Raiders are off to a hot start under quarterback Kirk Cousins. They won their first three games, then barely lost by three points to the division rival Kansas City Chiefs last week. Klint Kubiak’s scheme is firing on all cylinders, especially now that their weapons Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers are healthy.

In New England, things looked pretty dreary there for a bit. Brutal losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars had fans calling it a lost year already. But an unexpected win against their own division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, has the Patriots back at 2-2. Can they overcome the rash of injuries that have plagued them thus far to get back on track?

🏅 Raiders vs. Patriots Expert Pick: Hunter Henry Under 3.5 Receptions (-105 on DraftKings)

The Patriots had a plan in place at tight end. They signed Julian Hill from the Dolphins to be their jumbo, inline blocking guy. Hunter Henry was already their trusted veteran who skewed toward passing. And then they drafted a rookie, Eli Raridon, out of Notre Dame to hopefully develop in the footsteps of Henry.

Those plans got thrown for a loop this offseason, however, when Julian Hill suffered a season-ending injury. That all of a sudden made Hunter Henry the best blocking tight end on the team, while Eli Raridon had to step into some pass-down work. Raridon has gotten nicked up in a couple of these games, which has left Henry as the only real tight end option.

Raridon is cleared from the injury report for this week, so he’s good to go. We’ve seen the Patriots take Henry and have him play and inline blocking role to help out this offensive line at times, like Week One against Seattle where he was asked to block on 11 pass plays - over 30% of the pass plays he was in the game for. He’s been similarly asked to block in other games against guys like TJ Watt or against a tough Jaguars defense. With Maxx Crosby coming to town, I think Henry could be asked to hang in and block for a good chunk of the day, which has me looking at the under for him, despite the injuries to some of his fellow WRs. 

 

 

 

👀 How To Watch Raiders vs. Patriots NFL Week 5

  • Where: Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA
  • When: 1 PM ET on 10/11
  • Watch on TV: CBS
  • Where to stream: Paramount+

🔢 Raiders vs. Patriots Odds, Spreads, Total & Betting Lines

 

 

 

🏉 Raiders vs. Patriots Injury Report & Latest News

You have to be happy as a Raiders fan. When you are tanking, you envision your team coming in last, getting the star QB prospect, hiring the hot new coach, and bouncing right back. What you don’t picture is the veteran placeholder QB, Kirk Cousins, bouncing back to lead the league in passing TDs with the team having immediate success. Brock Bowers has been limited in practice with a knee, but that seems to be the plan for him after offseason surgery. Wide receiver Jalen Nailor (concussion) did not practice and is trending toward missing this game, while guards Jackson Powers-Johnson (groin) and Spencer Burford (knee) were both limited, adding risk to an offensive line that was already short-handed last week. Running back Ashton Jeanty did return to full practice, which is good news for Las Vegas’ ground game.

The New England Patriots won their Week 4 matchup against all odds, which has injected life into this fan base. Drake Maye has appeared on the injury report with a shoulder issue, but he’s been playing through that already. The biggest concern for New England is a cornerback room that is running on fumes: Christian Gonzalez (shoulder) did not practice, Carlton Davis III (neck) did not practice, and Karon Prunty (hamstring) also sat out, leaving the Patriots with real depth issues in the secondary. Mack Hollins has not practiced yet either after leaving last week’s game with a calf issue, while Dre'Mont Jones continues to battle a shoulder issue. They are hoping they can at least get Christian Barmore back up front, who missed last week with a shoulder issue of his own. 

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