5 things to watch when the Raiders face the Patriots on Sunday

The Raiders return from their bye week only one game behind the Bills for the sixth seed in the AFC, but they’ll need to beat the hottest team in the conference this week if they want to gain ground.

Oakland will clash with the New England Patriots on Sunday at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The Patriots are on a five-game winning streak and tied with the Steelers for the best record in the AFC at 7-2.

It was a forgetful first half to the season for the Raiders (4-5), but somehow they’re only two games behind the Chiefs in the AFC West division.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has gradually improved his play in the last few games. He’ll need a monster performance to keep up with the Patriots’ offense.

Here are five things you need to know about the defending Super Bowl champions:

1. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is currently leading the MVP conversation, but that’s only because Tom Brady can’t win the award every year. The 40-year-old quarterback for the Patriots is arguably having his best season with 2,807 passing yards (league high), 19 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Brady is completing 67.3 percent off his passes, and just led the Patriots to a 41-16 shellacking of the Broncos. It doesn’t matter who’s out on the field for the Patriots, Brady will find a way to get him the ball.

2. With Julian Edelman out for the year and Chris Hogan dealing with a shoulder injury, the Patriots only had three wide receivers suit up last week. It didn’t matter. The Patriots have a handful of running backs who can catch out of the backfield. New England’s depth at running back is what makes them so tough to slow down. Dion Lewis, James White and Rex Burkhead can all makes plays in the passing and running game, and that doesn’t even include goal line specialist Mike Gillislee.

3. The Patriots are also deep at tight end — like Rob Gronkowski isn’t enough. The Patriots recently added Martellus Bennett to go with Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen. Gronkowski has had a quiet year for his standards but that hasn’t slowed down the No. 1 ranked total offense in the NFL. It could be a long day for the Raiders in Mexico trying to slow down all these weapons. The Raiders’ defense struggles against versatile running backs and big tight ends.

4. Remember when the Patriots’ terrible secondary was signaling the end of New England’s dynasty? The cornerback duo of Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore has turned it around. Both still give up the occasional big play, and they’ll have their hands full with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Butler recently had a rough day versus the Broncos’ Emmanuel Sanders, who had 137 receiving yards. The Patriots haven’t given up more than 17 points in their past five games since giving up back-to-back 30-plus points at home versus the Texans and Panthers.

5. There are still concerns about the Patriots’ lack of a pass rush. Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will need to come up with creative ways to get to Carr. Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown, Deatrich Wise and Trey Flowers bolster New England’s defensive line.

Gilbert Manzano covers the NFL for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.