The Las Vegas Raiders' impressive 63-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night was a tough one for New England Patriots fans.
The biggest reason for that was the abundance of great plays made by former Patriots players, a couple of whom could/should still be in New England.
The obvious one is Jakobi Meyers. He was the Patriots' most productive and dependable wideout over the previous two seasons, and yet he wasn't brought back in free agency. Instead, the Patriots signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to a very similar contract in March. Smith-Schuster has been a disaster with just 29 receptions for 260 yards with one touchdown in 11 games.
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Meanwhile, Meyers has posted very strong numbers for the Raiders despite playing with below-average quarterbacks for much of the campaign. Meyers has tallied 59 receptions for 648 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games.
One of those receiving touchdowns came Thursday on a 22-yard diving catch late in the first quarter.
Meyers also showed off his arm with a passing touchdown to wide receiver teammate Davante Adams.
Meyers wasn't the only former Patriots player who made an impact Thursday.
Second-year cornerback Jack Jones, who was released by the Patriots last month, scored on a pick-6 in the fourth quarter. He made a tremendous play on the ball to snatch it with one hand before running into the end zone.
Jones' touchdown drew an interesting reaction from Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon on Instagram:
Former Patriots running back Brandon Bolden even got in on the fun with a 26-yard touchdown run for the Raiders before halftime.
The Patriots could have easily kept Meyers, which would have made their lackluster receiver group far better. Jones' exit is a tougher one to analyze. He's a tremendous talent, but can you trust him to be available each week? Bolden was a dependable running back and special teams player for the Patriots over eight seasons (2012 through 2017, then 2019 and 2021). But the Patriots decided (and rightly so) to get younger at his position.
The Patriots have a lot of good players with expiring contracts who could leave in the coming offseason, most notably safety Kyle Dugger, linebacker Josh Uche, tight end Hunter Henry, left tackle Trent Brown and wide receiver Kendrick Bourne.
One challenge for the Patriots is identifying which of these players to re-sign. They can't afford another situation like Meyers' where a quality player is let go without bringing in a suitable replacement.