The 2025 Patriots season was supposed to be filled with optimism, and there was a lot of positivity surrounding the team leading up to Week 1. But then the Patriots played a meaningful game on Sunday, and it's clear the team has a lot of work to do under new head coach Mike Vrabel. 

The Patriots dropped their Week 1 matchup with the Raiders at Gillette Stadium, 20-13, and Vrabel had no trouble pinpointing why.

"We certainly didn't do enough. We had too many missed opportunities, too many penalties, the turnover, and things that just -- we didn't take advantage of bad football and then we had bad football ourselves," the head coach said after his New England debut. 

The Patriots were bad in all three phases on Sunday. There was no consistency out of the offense. The defense made some plays, but also got burned for eight plays of 20 or more yards. New England's special teams also left a lot to be desired, as rookie Andy Borregales missed his first NFL kick. 

But the biggest offense by the Patriots was a downright brutal (and to be quite frank, boring as heck) second half of football. Vrabel spent the last week pumping up the importance of halftime adjustments and making sure the team played its best football over the final 30 minutes.

The Patriots mostly went nowhere and did very little throughout the second half, as the Raiders outscored them 13-3 and took control of the game after halftime. 

Here are the Ups, the Downs -- and some players who fit in both categories -- in New England's second-opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

UP: Harold Landry's Patriots debut

We'll start with something positive. Harold Landry was a monster in his Patriots debut with 2.5 sacks, four QB hits, and five combined tackles. 

UP & DOWN: Drake Maye

This is a big year for Maye with Stefon Diggs added to his arsenal and the offensive mind of Josh McDaniels by his side and in his ear. But Sunday's opener was disappointing from the second-year QB.

Maye's final line isn't bad, as he completed 30 of his 46 passes for 287 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. But he threw a bad interception on an overthrow to Diggs on New England's first possession of the second half, which let the Raiders take control of the game as Ashton Jeanty scored a touchdown three minutes later to give Las Vegas a 14-10 edge.

The Patriots went three-and-out on their next possession, as Maye overthrew Hunter Henry and Kayshon Boutte. The Patriots needed to do something with the ball at that point, but did nothing.

The New England offense had just 83 yards in the second half, and 54 of those yards came in garbage time while the team was down by 10 late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots punted away four of their second-half possessions, two of which were three-and-outs.

Maye wasn't terrible, but he wasn't great either. The Patriots need him to play much crisper and much smarter going forward. 

UP & DOWN: Will Campbell

Campbell was having a pretty good debut until the second half. The final two quarters weren't enough to slot him entirely in the "down" category, but it took away a lot of the luster from his solid first half.

In the fourth quarter, Campbell got beat by Malcolm Koonce on the left side, which led to a Maye sack and fumble. Luckily, Campbell was able to recover the ball, so complete disaster was averted. 

But then three plays later when the Patriots were going to go for it on a fourth-and-5, down 20-10 at the time, Campbell jumped and was called for a bad false start. It pushed the Patriots back and Vrabel opted to punt instead of try for a fourth-down conversion. 

Campbell was hit with two false start penalties in the fourth quarter.

"I've just got to be better. I can't jump," he told reporters after the loss. "I've got to key into the snap count. I take full responsibility. I've got to fix it."  

DOWN: Too many penalties by the Patriots

Sunday was not a clean game by the Patriots by any stretch. New England was hit with nine penalties for 70 yards. 

At least Vrabel has plenty to point out in Monday's film session.

UP: Carlton Davis

Davis was signed to a three-year, $60 million deal over the offseason, and he had a solid Patriots debut on Sunday. He was New England's No. 1 corner in place of the injured Christian Gonzalez, and had a pair of pass breakups and played some tough defense on Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers.

One of Davis' PBUs led to Jaylinn Hawkins' first-quarter interception, which gave the team a much-needed spark. When Gonzalez returns, the Patriots should have one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL.

UP: Kayshon Boutte

His relationship with Maye continues to be strong, as Boutte hauled in six of his eight targets for 103 yards. He averaged a robust 17.3 yards per reception on Sunday and was New England's most dangerous receiver. 

UP: Stefon Diggs got involved

After a slow start, Diggs finished his Patriots debut with six receptions for 57 yards. Not bad for a guy in his first game back from a torn ACL.

DOWN: Special Teams needs to be much better

Andy Borregales missed his first NFL kick, which was from 40 yards out and would have given the Patriots a 10-7 lead in the second quarter. The weather wasn't great in Foxboro on Sunday, but considering the Patriots used a draft pick to bring in Borregales, you expect him to hit that kick. 

Borregales bounced back and hit his other two field goal attempts, including one from 44 yards out. But he's really got to hit that 40-yarder, even in the light rain at Gillette.

Bryce Baringer is also guilty of having a big miscue on Sunday, courtesy of a 21-yard punt in the fourth quarter. It came right after Campbell's costly jump, and set the Raiders up at their own 35 with just under five minutes to play.

UP: The Dolphins are next

The Patriots will next play the Dolphins in Miami, and the 'Phins are an even bigger mess than the Pats. Miami was absolutely trounced by the Colts, 33-8, in Week 1 as Tua Tagovailoa was picked off twice. Miami didn't get on the board until there was 6:21 left in the game on Sunday.