FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Las Vegas Raiders might’ve showed up Sunday to Gillette Stadium to play football again, but the swagger with which they started their season didn’t come with them.

Or show up later.

“It’s on me to get us ready to go, and we weren’t ready to go,” coach Klint Kubiak conceded.

The Raiders were unready if not unworthy of sharing the field Sunday afternoon with the defending AFC champion New England Patriots, by whom they were dismantled 45-17. They lost 30-27 last week to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs after starting their season with three straight wins under the first-year coach.

But the teams they beat began play Sunday night with an aggregate record of 1-11 and the schedule stiffens the next two weeks with the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Rams.

Las Vegas trailed 21-7 at halftime and was outgained 536-306 amid its flaccid two-way showing. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four scores while adding a rushing touchdown alongside Las Vegas native and Centennial alum Rhamondre Stevenson.

Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins was 19-of-28 passing for 243 yards and a score to tight end Brock Bowers, who had eight receptions for 110 yards. Questionable with a foot injury, running back Ashton Jeanty handled 10 carries for 27 yards as Las Vegas overall averaged 2.1 yards per rush.

Rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza debuted with 6:06 to play, replacing Cousins and completing 6 of 8 passes for 48 yards on his lone possession.

“I told the guys — what makes you a loser is if you are pointing fingers at other people,” Kubiak said. “We’re all trying to look interior, look at what we can do better and move forward. … I love our guys and we didn’t get it done as a group today. I know they’re going to be ready to compete moving forward.”

Here’s why Las Vegas (3-2) lost to New England (3-2):

Penalties: The Raiders won their first three games and competed against the Chiefs with class in part because they’ve limited penalty yardage. Through the first four games, Las Vegas committed the NFL’s third-fewest penalties per game (5.8) for the second-fewest yards (30).

But that changed Sunday against New England via eight penalties for 101 yards.

Cornerback Eric Stokes set the touchy tone on the opening defensive possession — capped by Maye’s 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeMario Douglas, uncovered in the end zone — with a 24-yard pass interference call that placed the Patriots at midfield. Defensive end Maxx Crosby ended the possession with unnecessary roughness on the extra point, costing Las Vegas 15 yards on its next possession.

On the ensuing defensive possession, Stokes was flagged for interference again — netting New England 27 yards and a spot in the red zone for Stevenson’s score. On the ensuing offensive possession, center Tyler Linderbaum lined up offsides on third-and-inches, negating fullback Connor Heyward’s rushing conversion and preceding a third-down incomplete pass from Cousins.

Cornerback Hezekiah Masses was also flagged in the second half for pass interference, conceding 17 yards on a drive during which he allowed a score to wideout Kyle Williams.

“More penalties than usual. It just wasn’t good enough,” Crosby said.

”So, we’ve just got to play cleaner, better technique and we’ll learn from it.”

Pressure … and lack thereof: Cousins couldn’t get comfortable in the face of relentless Patriots pressure that sacked him thrice with eight quarterback hits. At his best when the pocket is clean and never the NFL’s most mobile passer the 38-year-old was forced to scramble time and again or throw prematurely.

Credit to New England’s blitz packages.

“They had some good pressures and they had a good plan,” Cousins said. “Just a play here and a play here that we felt — these games can be fragile and if you can make a play here or there, it might change.”

Conversely, Maye was sacked was sacked once, hit six times and mostly unbothered by Raiders blitzes, mobile enough to escape the pocket when he best saw fit to punish single coverage down the field.

“They did a good job,” Crosby said. “They chipped and chipped a lot on longer passes, and (Maye) got the ball out of his hands quick. They did a good job … doing well on early downs so we can’t just gear up and rush. Credit to them.”

Mishandled momentum: Facing a 14-7 deficit, defensive tackle Adam Butler punched the football out of running back Corey Kiner’s hands and into cornerback Darien Porter’s. Jeanty ran twice for 11 yards for a first-and-10 at the opposing 30-yard line, but wide receiver Tre Tucker lost 11 yards on an ill-fated reverse.

A second-down pass to running back Dylan Laube for 7 yards set up a third-and-14 incomplete pass and kicker Matt Gay’s first missed field goal of 2026.

Kubiak dignified Tucker’s 11-yard loss as a “huge moment” for Las Vegas.

“Tried to make an aggressive play,” he said. “Their defensive end made a great play and sniffed it out. … That was a big play in the game.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.