Week 1 loss to Raiders may haunt Patriots today

Revenge is a dish best served cold. And Pete Carroll, who was fired by the Patriots after the 1999 season, managed to get a measure of vengeance that has complicated significantly New England's path to its next Super Bowl appearance.

It happened in Week 1. The Raiders, who otherwise went 2-14, upset the Patriots in New England - just weeks after the Patriots unveiled a statue of one of the Raiders' current owners.

In the moment, Week 1 wins and losses mean nothing. Sixteen games remain. But those outcomes from the opening weekend can echo into January. As the Las Vegas 20-13 win has done.

If (and it's no small if) the rest of the season had played out the same way, the Patriots would be hosting the Broncos in the AFC Championship. And the Patriots wouldn't be playing Denver, where they are 0-4 all time in the playoffs.

That said, the Patriots would have had to beat the Bills, not the Texans, last weekend; Buffalo won during the regular season at Gillette Stadium. And the Broncos would have had to beat the Chargers in the wild-card round and the Texans in the divisional round. Regardless, New England's season-opening loss became the difference between securing the top seed and landing in the No. 2 spot.

And if the Patriots were hosting today's game, it would have been played in a full-blown snowstorm.

The Patriots have experience when it comes to kooky Week 1 outcomes that complicate the playoff picture. In 2024, New England upended the Bengals in Cincinnati to start the season. The Patriots otherwise went 3-13. And the Bengals, who with five straight wins were one of the hottest teams in the league at the end of the regular season, missed the playoffs by one game. Flip the outcome against New England, and the Bengals would have qualified.

So remember that when September rolls around. Week 1 generally means nothing. Specifically, there's a chance it will mean everything.