Post-Game Week 1: Patriots 30 vs. Raiders 20

The New England Patriots came out firing last night at Gillette Stadium, opening the 2005 NFL season and embarking on their quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl championship with a 30-20 drubbing of the Oakland Raiders. The game was not nearly as close as the score indicates.

Tom Brady threw for 306 yards spreading the ball to eight different receivers, and Oakland committed 16 penalties for 149 yards. New England was far from mistake free, but their 7 penalties were dwarfed by the Raiders futility. Oakland led the league in penalties last season and is perennially bad in that department.

Brady hit Deion Branch with an 18-yard pass and Tim Dwight on a 5-yarder to give the Patriots a 17-14 lead in the second quarter, a lead they would not relinquish. Branch caught Brady passes for 99 yards. Corey Dillon added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half.

Oakland receiver Randy Moss ended up with five receptions for 130 yards, including a flukey 71-yard touchdown that Tyrone Poole misplayed and Moss bobbled before skirting past Pats cornerback Rodney Harrison for the score.

The play of the game, however, was a broken pass play for Oakland. As the pocket around Raider quarterback Kerry Collins collapsed, Jarvis Green jarred the ball loose and Vince Wilfork caught the ball in the air and was credited with an interception, the first of his career. That gave New England the ball at the Raider 20.

Three plays later, Dillon scampered 8 yards for his first TD of the evening. Adam Vinatieri's extra point kick was blocked, but the Patriots had a comfortable 23-14 lead. The defense took over for good from there.

Collins looked utterly flustered after some early success throwing the ball up for grabs. Collins was 6 of 11 at one point in the second quarter and ended the first half 7 of 13 for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the game a disappointing 18 of 40 for 265 yards, adding another TD and the interception.

Both defenses hunkered down in the second half after letting the offenses have their way in the first 30 minutes. Brady was 14 of 20 in the first half for 212 yards with 2 TDs, finishing 24 of 38. But Dillon found a few creases late in the game after starting with -1 yards on 4 carries in the first quarter. Dillon finished with 63 yards and a meager 2.7 yard/carry average.

Dillon also picked up 25 yards on a beautiful end-around fake by Brady, who then tossed a screen to a wide open Dillion. He finished with 30 receiving yards.

Ben Watson had 55 yards on two catches, including one play reminiscent of Ben Coates, Watson knocking down and draging defenders with him as he picked up an extra 10 yards after the catch. Troy Brown had 51 yards on six catches.

The Patriots completely shut down the Oakland offense in the second half. The Raiders scored late in the game only after blocking a Josh Miller punt and recovering on the New England 21. It took six plays before Collins hit tight end Courtney Anderson wide open in the left side of the end zone for a 5-yard score. Moss was called for offensive pass interference on the two-point attempt. The Patriots declined the penalty.

Viatieri connected on a 26-yard field goal on the Patriots opening drive to close the score to 7-3.

The win was New England's 21st straight home victory and Belichick's 100th as an NFL head coach.

The night began with a lot of hoopla, guest music performers and the unveiling of the Patriots third championship banner in four years.

New England (1-0) travels to Carolina next Sunday for a 1 p.m. start. Oakland hosts Kansas City in the late game at 8:30 p.m.