The game began ominously for the New England Patriots following an opening kickoff that went out of bounds and set the Raiders up at the 45 yard line. The Raiders proceeded to march down the field into the New England red zone, but the Pats D (helped by a big penalty against the Raiders) stiffened and held the home team to a 28 yard field goal.
The Patriots answered on the ensuing drive when Tom Brady took the Pats 90 yards in nine plays capped off by a 15 yard pass to Wes Welker for the Pats first touchdown of the game to give the team a 7-3 lead.
The Patriots defense did a terrific job on the vaunted running attack of the Oakland Raiders, holding the NFL’s leading rusher, Darren McFadden, to just six yards on five carries.
Offensively, the Pats have been much more balanced than during their loss to Buffalo last week. They ran the ball seven times with Stevan Ridley and Benjarvus Green-Ellis for a total of 55 yards. Brady was 3/7 for 41 yards and the touchdown to Welker.