The Raiders kicked off their Las Vegas era in the best way possible. On Monday night, the Raiders welcomed New Orleans Saints for their first-ever home game at Allegiant Stadium and managed to celebrate an unlikely 34-24 win.
The Raiders entered the game slowly, being held scoreless in the first quarter and falling behind 10 to enter the second period. However, fueled by quarterback Derek Carr’s two touchdown passes, the Raiders managed to tie the game 17-17 before the end of the first half.
Carr threw another touchdown pass in the third quarter, while Jalen Richard rushed for a TD midway through the fourth to give the Raiders a nice 31-17 cushion ahead of the closing period of the game. Saints responded with a touchdown rush by Alvin Kamara, but their comeback attempt ended there.
Kicker Daniel Carlson removed all doubts about the winner less than two minutes before the end, delivering a 54-yarder that set the final score of 34-24 and improved the Raiders to 2-0 record.
The Raiders were led by Carr, who finished the game with 282 passing yards and three TD scores. His favorite target was tight end Darren Waller, who had 12 receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown, while back Josh Jacobs added 88 rushing yards.
“This organization means everything to me,” said Carr after the game. “They’ve stuck behind me through some hard times. Through some times our team, we struggled, there’s no doubt about it. But when you can get on the other side of things, be 2-0, as the Las Vegas Raiders, that’s a pretty cool thing.”
Saints’ best player on the field was Kamara, who had 174 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. However, the absence of star wideout Michael Thomas and shaky outing by signal-caller Drew Brees prevented New Orleans from doing more in this game.
Brees threw for 312 yards and a TD but also had a key interception that likely shifted the momentum towards the Raiders.
“If there’s one thing I wish I could take back from the game, it would be that,” said Brees. “Otherwise, we had a lot of mental errors. I felt like we were not playing as fast and just as sure and confident.”
Saints will look to bounce back against Green Bay Packers on Sunday while the Raiders face New England Patriots in hopes of extending their winning streak to three games.
