FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots certainly didn’t look like a team that was favored to beat the Oakland Raiders by 14 points.

And they certainly needed a bit of luck to hold on.

The Patriots beat the Raiders 16-9 Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, holding on when defensive tackle Vince Wilfork intercepted a deflected pass at the New England 11-yard line with 51 seconds remaining.

Trailing by seven, the winless Raiders drove from their 38 to the Patriots’ 6 when Darren McFadden appeared to run in for a touchdown. That was wiped out on a holding penalty. On the next play, rookie quarterback Derek Carr’s pass deflected off his receiver, Andrew Holmes, then off Patriots defensive back Logan Ryan right to Wilfork, who clutched the ball to the ground.

New England improved to 2-1.

The Patriots had two chances in the fourth quarter to pull away, each time settling for a field goal.

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The first came when they had a first down at the Raiders’ 2. But a running play gained nothing, then Tom Brady threw two incomplete passes – one tipped away from Rob Gronkowski in the back of the end zone by Charles Woodson – and New England had to settle on a 20-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski and a 13-9 lead with 13:42 left.

The defense forced a three-and-out, stopping Oakland for no gain on second and third downs, and Brady took over at New England’s 19. Mixing his passes, Brady drove the Patriots to a first down at the Raiders’ 20. The drive stalled there and Gostkowski kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 16-9 with 6:20 left.

Oakland hung around through three quarters. Two Sebastian Janikowski field goals in the third quarter, from 37 and 47 yards, brought the Raiders within 10-9 entering the final quarter.

It was a struggle from the start, with Oakland controlling the clock and the tempo in the first half.

Oakland had a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter after a 49-yard field goal by Janikowski.

The Patriots came back with 10 points in the final 4:14 of the second quarter but could have had more.

Tom Brady threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski with 4:14 left, as Gronkowski lined up on the right and cut across the field under the defense. That completed a 15-play, 84-yard drive, New England’s best series of the game. Gostkowski’s PAT kick made it 7-0.

Then the New England defense quickly forced a three-and-out. A bad punt gave New England the ball at the 50 with 2:45 left in the half. The Patriots patiently worked it down to a first-and-goal from the Raiders’ 3. Stevan Ridley gained one yard, then Shane Vereen was stopped for no gain.

On third down, Brady dropped a low shotgun snap and was forced to throw the ball away. Gostkowski came in to kick a 21-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 10-3.


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