Patriots-Raiders Week 3 Predictions
BOSTON (CBS) -- After two weeks on the road, the Patriots will finally hit the field at Gillette Stadium for their home-opener on Sunday.
Here are the predictions for Sunday's game against the 0-2 Raiders from the 98.5 The Sports Hub, WBZ-TV and WBZ NewsRadio 1030 sports teams:
Scott Zolak, 98.5 The Sports Hub
This game will pretty much play out the same way it did last week against the Vikings. I think the Pats will run the ball again and win the same way. Once the Patriots figure it out, there is no way the Raiders can stop the New England running game.
Patriots 31, Raiders 6
Andy Gresh, 98.5 The Sports Hub
The Raiders have nothing they can roll with against the Patriots. If the Pats make a ton of mistakes then they'll end up allowing Oakland in this game, but even if they do they should still win.
If the Patriots play well, they'll win this thing is 35-10. If they don't, it will probably be 24-20.
READ: CBS Boston Week 3 Local Picks
Jon Wallach, 98.5 The Sports Hub
The Patriots should keep rolling this week with no letdown from last week's blowout in Minnesota. They should beat Oakland by a couple of touchdowns in their home opener.
Patriots 34, Raiders 20
Walt Perkins, WBZ NewsRadio 1030
No trap game here. The Patriots are anxious to show their improvement on both sides of the ball.
Another monster game for the defense and a better showing for the offense leads to a 37-10 win.
Steve Burton, WBZ-TV Sports
This shouldn't be a contest unless the Patriots allow it to be one. Not only are the Raiders bad, but the team believes they are bad.
Look for Tom Brady to spread the ball around on Sunday. Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman won't be the only receivers Brady throws to in Week 3.
The Raiders aren't dangerous at all, but the Patriots must contain the run. Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden should be stopped and can be. In fact, the Raiders leading rusher is their quarterback, rookie Derek Carr.
Look for Brady and the boys to break out this week, especially in front of their home crowd. The Pats never lost a game at home last season and were 9-0 at Gillette including the playoffs. This one could be a blow out.
Patriots 34, Raiders 14
Read: Patriots-Raiders Preview
Dan Roche, WBZ-TV Sports
The Raiders remind me of the 80's Yankees teams: Lots of names but they aren't that good.
The Patriots are far from perfect, but I expect them to win their home opener. The offense is still sorting itself out while the defense seems to be ahead of them.
We may not have the "wow" factor in this one, but the Patriots will come out on top 38-17.
Levan Reid, WBZ-TV Sports
This should not be a game. The Pats are the better team and the Raiders are coming east for a 1pm kickoff. Then they have to fly to London for next week's game. Oakland can not be pumped for the next few weeks.
The Raiders have a rookie quarterback at the helm in Derek Carr and even though he's been okay, he's still learning. The Pats should be able to get ahead and stay ahead; Oakland hasn't scored more than 14 points in their first two games and their defense has Charles Woodson -- and that's it.
Oakland is the oldest team in the league and even though that's the model for experience, they are not where they need to be.
The Pats will use the home opener to get Danny Amendola and Brandon LaFell on track and expect more from their running game. Brady is trying to balance out the offense and this is the game to do that.
Patriots 42, Raiders 14
Tune in to Patriots-Raiders on WBZ-TV and 98.5 The Sports Hub – the flagship stations of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins on 98.5FM at 10am on Sunday, with Patriots GameDay kicking off WBZ-TV's coverage at 11:30am. Stay tuned following the game for three hours of postgame coverage on 98.5, and tune to myTV38 for Patriots 5th Quarter!
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