Image courtesy of AP Photo (Charles Krupa)

FOXBOROUGH – Well, that certainly didn’t go how any of us hoped.

This was supposed to be different. The offense was supposed to be better. The defense was supposed to be better. Mike Vrabel’s team was supposed to play a cleaner, more entertaining brand of football.

Instead in the rainy season opener on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, the offense mustered just 10 points in an ugly 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Drake Maye was 30-46 for 287 yards and a touchdown, but it’s a deceiving line as he didn’t look comfortable most of the day. Meanwhile, the running game only had 60 yards total on 18 carries (TreVeyon Henderson’s 27 led the team). The biggest bright spot was Kayshon Boutte’s six catches for 103 yards.

Defensively, Geno Smith carved up New England to the tune of 24-34 for 362 yards and a touchdown. Old friend Jakobi Meyers (8/97) and Brock Bowers (5/103) also killed the Pats secondary who were without Christian Gonzalez.

“We have to understand how sometimes these games are going to go. We just didn’t do enough in the second half,” said Vrabel postgame. “Give them credit. We certainly didn’t do enough. We had too many missed opportunities, too many penalties, the turnover, and things that just — didn’t take advantage of bad football and then were able to have bad football ourselves. We’re never going to accept losing.

“We have to embrace moving on and we have to do that quickly and get these things fixed and go on the road and a division opponent.”

New England led 10-7 at the half, but the team’s first five possessions in the second half went interception, punt, punt, punt, punt. The only points scored came on a 44-yard Andy Borregales field goal with 19 seconds left in the game with the Pats trailing 20-10.

“I think there’s an urgency to — don’t let this game kind of bleed into the next,” Maye said when asked if there’s already a sense of urgency around the team. “I think we’ve got a chance with a division opponent. We’re going down there, and anytime you’re playing a division opponent, it matters. It means something. Bounce back and realize — at the same time learn from it. Learn from it as much as we can, but at the same time, it’s one game, and we’ve got to get back. It’s a long season, to get back at it and do what I need to do to play better on my end and help guys around me play better, and then from there just lean into each other.

“I think that’s the big thing around here. We spend so much time together. Lean into each other and fix what we need to fix and learn from it. The goal is not to have it show up again.”

Driving near midfield on the first possession of the second half, Maye threw a ball high over the middle that was picked off at the Vegas 29. Ashton Jeanty (19/38/1) scored his first NFL touchdown five plays later to put the Raiders up 14-10. After two three-and-outs for the Pats’ offense, Vegas made it 17-10 on a Daniel Carlson 51-yard field goal.

Another Pats punt soon led to a lengthy 12-play, 88-yard drive that ended with a 40-yard field goal for Carlson to push the lead to 10 with just 6:40 left.

Stunningly on New England’s next possession facing 4th-&-5 at the New England 49, Will Campbell had a false start and Vrabel decided to punt the ball away on 4th-&-10, seemingly giving up on the game. The Pats did get the ball back leading to the final Borregales kick, but it was obviously too little, too late after a failed onside kick attempt.

“I made a decision on 4th-and-10 with close to five minutes to punt and would like a better punt, and we had them stopped, and that was the plan, and that didn’t work,” said Vrabel. “Then they hit one, and we just didn’t have enough time there at the end to do anything. That was the decision that I thought was best for us at the time, and that didn’t work out. But situationally we’ll have to continue to improve. We moved the ball. We made the kick. We tried the onside.

“You just can’t get down two scores late in the game.”

The first three minutes of the season started just like the previous handful of years did in a sign of things to come. Las Vegas received the opening kickoff and needed just six plays to go 66-yards, with Smith finding Tre Tucker for a 26-yard touchdown on 3rd-&-11 for a quick 7-0 lead.

The Pats immediately went three-and-out, but a tipped ball by Carlton Davis in coverage against Brock Bowers was picked off by Jaylinn Hawkins at the New England 18 on the next series. Maye and the offense put together an impressive 12-play, 82-yard drive and Maye hit Pop Douglas for a three-yard touchdown to knot things up at 7-7.

Early in the second, the Pats moved down into the Raiders’ red zone, but a sack and penalties forced them backwards and eventually, Borregales missed his first NFL field goal from 40-yards out.

A quick three-and-out for Vegas followed. Facing 4th-&-1 at the Vegas 47, New England ran an odd play, but were bailed out by a pass interference call against Mack Hollins down to the 25. Ultimately, the drive only ended in a 35-yard field goal for the rookie kicker, putting the Pats up 10-7 with under two minutes left.

Both teams had chances to score late in the half, but the Patriots went three-and-out while Carlson missed a 58-yard field goal as time expired.

Now, the Patriots must quickly put this behind them and make the early season trek down to Miami – which has always been a difficult spot for the franchise – and be ready for a Miami team that got blown out by a mediocre Colts team on Sunday.

Otherwise, things might get ugly around here quickly in 2025.

“We didn’t come out in the second half ready to take over the game like the way we’ve been practicing” added Harold Landry III. “It’s week one. Nobody in this league is going to go undefeated. We’ve just got to come to work tomorrow, learn from the corrections and move forward and improve.”