New England Patriots Still Looking For Spark, Trail Las Vegas Raiders At Halftime

The New England Patriots have looked slightly better than their last two games, but their offense has still yet to find its rhythm.

The New England Patriots came into Sunday's road game against the Las Vegas Raiders looking for answers after their two worst defeats of the Bill Belichick era.

While the Patriots have performed slightly better than those last two games, they're still facing many of the same problems as they trail the Raiders 13-3 at halftime.

The offense was by far the Patriots' biggest concern heading into this game, and to their credit, the unit has moved the ball somewhat well with 108 yards in the half. However, there's still plenty of room for improvement on offense.

Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson stiff arms a Raiders defender / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was reportedly "on a short leash" heading into this game, and he unfortunately showed why late in the half. New England was putting together a solid drive, marching 43 yards on eight plays, when Jones threw a bad interception across his body. This marks the third-year quarterback's seventh turnover in what has been a miserable three-game stretch. Through 30 minutes, Jones has completed eight of 14 passes for 97 yards and the aforementioned interception.

The Patriots' anemic ground game has not looked much better, if at all, totaling just 22 yards on seven carries. Running back Ezekiel Elliott appeared to have a big play in the passing game on a 74-yard catch-and-run, but a penalty took those points off the board.

Defensively, the Patriots have had a mix of good and bad. The good part is that they've done well at containing 2022 rushing champion Josh Jacobs, who had 38 yards on 13 first-half carries. The bad part is that former Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has had a strong half, completing 14 of 22 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown went to another former Patriot in Jakobi Myers, whom the Patriots infamously let walk this offseason.

The Patriots' highlight of the first half came late in the first quarter, when Jabrill Peppers rocked Raiders receiver Davante Adams to pop the ball up perfectly for linebacker Jahlani Tavai to pick it off.

The @JabrillPeppers force, the Tavai INT.

📺: #NEvsLV on CBS pic.twitter.com/sX1leAzkSm

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 15, 2023

The Patriots will get the ball to start the second half, hoping to finally break their streak of over 190 minutes without a touchdown.