Champion Patriots open up strong vs. Raiders

By John Onan | Friday, September 09, 2005 | ( 0 )

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The New England Patriots began this season as they ended the previous one, victorious. Quarterback Tom Brady was nearly flawless, completing 24-of-38 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-20 opening night win over the Oakland Raiders.

Brady needed to come up big, as the Raiders were determined to stop the running of Corey Dillon early on. Once Brady began making plays through the air, Dillon finished off two drives with scoring runs of eight and two yards in the second half to put the game away.
For the Oakland Raiders, the game marked the regular season debut of Randy Moss. It didn't take long for the former Minnesota Vikings star to make his presence felt, as he juggled, but caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Kerry Collins to put the Raiders in front 14-10 midway through the second quarter. Moss finished with five catches for 130 yards.

But, on the ensuing possession, the Patriots turned in a seven play, 64 yard drive, capped by a Brady 5-yard scoring strike to Tim Dwight to put them up for good. New England led 17-14 at halftime. They extended that lead to 30-14 in second half. The Raiders scored a touchdown with about four minutes left to play, but were unable to convert the two-point conversion. Knowing that Oakland was out of timeouts, the Patriots pounded the football on the ground to run out the clock.

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