How the Raiders graded out Sunday in a 16-9 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium:



Passing offense

Derek Carr was 21 of 34 for 174 yards and one interception _ a ball that bounced off Denarius Moore on the final drive. Getting the ball out quickly, Carr wasn’t sacked. The Raiders didn’t go deep a lot, but with a young quarterback against a Bill Belichick defense, that’s no crime. Moore and Carr also misfired on a crucial third-and-5 and Moore caught one pass and ran out of bounds when he could have turned up field for a first down. Grade: C

Rushing offense

Darren McFadden is running harder than he did last year _ he really is. He had 18 carries for 59 yards with a long of 10 yards. He’s getting two yards when he could have gotten one, one yard when he could have gotten zero, etc. Marcel Reece carried once and gained seven yards. Needs to be utilized more carrying the ball. Latavius Murray gained a yard in three carries and was stuffed on a crucial third-and-1. Run blocking has got to be better. Only three rushing first downs. Grade: D-plus

Pass defense

Tom Brady (24 of 37, 234 yards, 1 TD, no interceptions) looked out of synch in part because the Raiders closed off the run and were able to pressure him, even though they had only two sacks (Justin Tuck, C.J. Wilson). Tackling was pretty good for the most part on receivers that caught short passes. A couple of difficult interception attempts were not realized. Carlos Rogers had difficulty staying with Julian Edelman (10 receptions, 84 yards) on short routes. Grade: B-minus

Rush defense

Coming as it did after giving up 400 yards in two games to the New York Jets and Houston Texans, a 76-yard, 32-carry effort by the Patriots was a beacon of light. Steven Ridley was finding running room early (12 carries, 47 yards at halftime) but was stuffed in the second half when the Raiders did enough on defense to have a shot to win. Miles Burris closed strong with jarring tackles at the line of scrimmage on some running plays. Grade: B-plus

Special teams

Two plays were costly. A high kick by Sebastian Janikowski to the 15 was alertly fielded by Matthew Slater and returned 26 yards, setting up New England with field position that would result in a field goal. A 22-yard punt by Marquette King helped set New England up for a short-field drive for a field goal before halftime to make the score 10-3. King otherwise punted well. Janikowski was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts of 49, 37 and 47 yards. Grade: C-minus

Coaching

For whatever reason, this was a far better prepared team than in either of the first two weeks of the season. Fans will take issue, but throwing deep and often against a Bill Belichick defense with a rookie quarterback is the quickest ticket for a blowout loss. Even though the run wasn’t doing enough, conservatism was called for. The coaches put the players in position to do the job. It didn’t happen. Grade: B