Burkhead and Michel power Patriots past Raiders
Rex Burkhead scored a career-high three touchdowns and Sony Michel rushed for 117 yards on nine carries to lead the New England Patriots to a 36-20 victory over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon in Foxborough, Mass.
Burkhead rushed for two touchdowns and also caught a scoring pass for New England (2-1). He totaled 98 scrimmage yards -- 49 on six carries and 49 on seven receptions -- as the Patriots rushed for a season-best 250 yards, marking their second time over 200 already this season.
Cam Newton completed 17 of 28 passes for 162 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while Nick Folk added three field goals as the Patriots defeated the Raiders for the sixth straight time.
Derek Carr was 24-of-32 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns for Las Vegas (2-1). Hunter Renfrow and Foster Moreau caught touchdowns and Josh Jacobs totaled 83 yards (71 rushing, 12 receiving) for the Raiders.
New England had a 406-375 edge in total offense.
The Patriots led by three at halftime and increased their lead to 20-10 on Burkhead's 5-yard scoring run with 6:41 left in the third quarter. The touchdown was set up by Michel's 38-yard scamper to the Raiders' 25-yard line.
On the next possession, Michel ran off left tackle and broke into the secondary and galloped a career-long 48 yards to the Las Vegas 13. That set up Folk's 32-yard field to make it 23-10 with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter.
The Raiders moved within 10 points on Daniel Carlson's 25-yard field goal with 11:22 left in the contest. But New England put the game away with two touchdowns in 21 seconds, beginning when Burkhead scored on a 2-yard run with 5:17 left.
On the next play from scrimmage, starting from the Las Vegas 6, Carr was sacked by Shilique Calhoun and Deatrich Wise Jr. and fumbled the ball in the end zone. Wise recovered for the touchdown to make it 36-13.
Carr later threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Renfrow to move into second place on the franchise list with 149 career touchdown passes. He stands one behind leader Ken Stabler (150).
New England led 13-10 at the break.
Burkhead caught a screen pass from Newton and his stellar running and leap into the end zone resulted in an 11-yard touchdown to cap a 12-play, 86-yard drive and give the Patriots a 13-3 advantage with 34 seconds left.
The Raiders answered by moving 75 yards on four plays, with Carr hitting Moreau on a 1-yard scoring pass with six seconds to play.
New England's Bill Belichick became the third coach in NFL history with 275 regular season victories, joining Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318).
--Field Level Media
