Raiders prepare for start of Pete Carroll era against Patriots

The day all Las Vegas Raiders fans have been waiting for has finally arrived.

On Sunday, the Pete Carroll era of the Raiders officially gets underway against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

With Carroll’s arrival comes a fresh wave of optimism for the Raiders. Despite only achieving four wins last season, this season creates a blank slate for the team. Hoping for better health and improved production in key areas, the Raiders are aiming to push themselves back to respectability.

Here are three major storylines to pay attention to as the Raiders get their season started.

Still learning

The Patriots also switched coaches this offseason, firing Jerod Mayo after just one season in lieu of Mike Vrabel.

Similar to Carroll, Vrabel saw plenty of success with his former team in the Tennessee Titans. However, both took the previous year off of the headsets, and they now find themselves with a completely new team. It could lead to a wide open game where both teams could either take as advantage of certain miscues, so the Raiders will need to get adjusted quickly.

Airing it out

Earlier this week, the Raiders received some news that will have some players salivating.

The Patriots will be without their top cornerback in Christian Gonzalez, giving the Raiders the green light to get their passing attack established. For a team featuring a new quarterback in Geno Smith and rookie receivers Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech, this presents a great opportunity for Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to get their aerial attack figured out early. Expect heavy usage of top weapons such as Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers as the Raiders aim to take advantage of their opponent’s misfortunes.

Come what ‘Maye’

As excited as the Raiders are to see what Smith can do in the regular season, the Patriots have a hotshot quarterback of their own worth paying attention to.

Despite the flaws of last season’s Patriots squad, Drake Maye emerged as one of the bright spots in his rookie year. A threat with his legs as much as his arm, he will test the Raiders frequently to keep the defense on their toes. The Patriots have made strides in building around Maye (rookie offensive tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson chief among them), so it will not be as easy to keep Maye locked down this time.