Evan Silva’s Matchups: Patriots at Raiders

New England @ Las Vegas

Team Totals: Raiders 22, Patriots 19

In a battle of teams that can’t score — neither the Patriots nor the Raiders have topped 20 points in a 2023 game — this is a fade situation in fantasy lineup decisions. … Mac Jones has been benched for Bailey Zappe in consecutive games while tossing three pick-sixes in the initial five weeks. New England’s offensive line can’t protect pocket sloth Jones, while no Pats receivers can get open. I expect Raiders LE Maxx Crosby to go off on Patriots swinging-gate RT Vederian Lowe, who’s yielded the highest pressure rate (18%) among 73 qualified offensive tackles. Crosby ranks No. 3 in the league in QB pressures (27). … Rhamondre Stevenson’s matchup is attractive against a Raiders defense permitting 129.2 total yards per game to enemy running backs, yet New England’s backfield has devolved into a near-even split between Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott. In Week 5, Zeke out-touched Stevenson 12 to 8, and Stevenson played only two more snaps than Elliott. Ty Montgomery came out of nowhere to play 15 snaps. Stevenson is a low-floor RB2/flex option at this point. I still want no part of Elliott in any format. … Demario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster left Week 5 with concussions. DeVante Parker is technically New England’s No. 1 wideout but hasn’t hit paydirt or cleared 60 yards in a game this year. … Hunter Henry is coming off a goose egg on two targets. Henry belongs in the large bucket of TD-or-bust TE2s.

The Raiders’ 22-point team total is interesting considering they haven’t topped 18 points in a game this year. Jimmy Garoppolo is fantasy’s QB22 in per-game scoring. Under HC Josh McDaniels, Las Vegas has scored 18 points or fewer in eight of its last 10.