Why the Saints’ loss to the Raiders does bring some cause for concern
If the New Orleans Saints plan to fulfill their lofty expectations this season, what happened Monday night in Vegas better stay in Vegas.
With a national TV audience serving as a virtual sellout crowd amid the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the gritty Las Vegas Raiders christened their new and empty 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium with a surprisingly easy 34-24 victory over a Black and Gold team that many pundits have picked to reach Super Bowl LV.
Two thoughts come to mind:
▪ Despite the loss, they still are who we thought they were.
▪ Or maybe, they aren’t who we thought they were.
That story remains to be played out.
The Saints (1-1) certainly didn’t look the part of a Super Bowl contender Monday night, setting the stage for Sunday night’s early season showdown against the Green Bay Packers (2-0) in Week 3 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (7:20 p.m., NBC).
Give the Raiders (2-0) and coach Jon Gruden credit. They seemed ready to be KO’d late in the second quarter after trailing 17-7 before bowing up and scoring 24 unanswered points for a 31-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
The Raiders won both lines of scrimmage and controlled the clock, winning time of possession 36:18 to 23:42.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr outplayed his Saints counterpart, Drew Brees, who didn’t resemble a future first-ballot Hall of Famer for a second consecutive game. Brees finished with 312 passing yards but 104 came on his team’s last two possessions with the Raiders in control and playing passive defense.
After two games, Brees has completed a pedestrian 64.7 percent of his passes (44 of 68) after posting the two most accurate seasons in NFL history, topping 74 percent in both 2018 and ‘19.
Brees threw a costly interception to wide open linebacker Nicholas Murrow on the Saints side of the field with 48 seconds left in the first half, enabling Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson to knot the game at 17-17 with a 28-yard field goal as time expired at halftime.
The Saints defense had no real answers for Raiders tight end Darren Waller (12 catches on 16 targets for 103 yards and one TD) and running back Josh Jacobs (105 yards from scrimmage). Along with Carr, when a big play was needed they delivered more often than not.
The Saints basically self destructed, failing to get off the field on defense and committing 10 penalties (five resulted in first downs for the Raiders) for 129 yards. None was bigger than a 29-yard pass interference penalty against Saints cornerback Janoris “Jackrabbit’‘ Jenkins on third-and-5 from the Raiders 35 with 2:08 remaining.
Three plays and 63 seconds later, Carlson booted a 54-yard field goal to put the game out of reach at 34-24.
One of the Saints’ few bright spots was dual-threat running back Alvin Kamara, who tried valiantly to make up for the loss of injured wide receiver Michael Thomas (high left ankle sprain). Kamara accounted for 174 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 22 touches. including all nine targeted passes from Brees for 95 yards.
Kamara seemed to be the only consistent offensive threat in Thomas’ absence. It was an ideal opportunity for veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to fill the breach but he went missing, catching just one inconsequential pass for 18 yards at garbage time.
Number 3 wideout Tre’Quan Smith acquitted himself well, catching five catches for 86 yards.
Tight end Jared Cook caught two passes for seven yards, one resulting in a 6-yard touchdown. Swiss army knife Taysom Hill, who typically makes things happen from multiple positions, provided no offensive punch. He rushed twice for eight yards in the first quarter and curiously didn’t touch the ball again.
So now it’s on to the Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a short week.
The timetable for Thomas’ return is not known largely because Coach Sean Payton has shed little light on the subject. At the moment, Thomas remains on the 53-man roster with no plans to go on IR.
At least Thomas has an excuse for not playing Monday night.
Which is more than can be said for his teammates. They have some explaining to do because what happened in Vegas on Monday night should never have happened.