The New Orleans Saints had the kind of game that leaves everyone in the building staring at the same painful question: how does a team lead 27-16 in the third quarter, score four touchdowns, and still walk off with a 35-27 loss?
That was the story Sunday in the 2026 home opener. Tyler Shough threw four touchdown passes, two to Juwan Johnson and two to Noah Fant, and New Orleans looked like it had found the formula to keep moving the ball. Then the fourth quarter arrived, the giveaways piled up, and the Raiders ripped off 19 unanswered points to leave the Saints at 1-2.
The collapse was as ugly as the first three quarters were encouraging. New Orleans turned the ball over on all four of its fourth-quarter possessions: lost fumble, interception, lost fumble, lost fumble. That sequence buried everything the Saints had built and turned a strong offensive outing into a brutal lesson in how quickly a lead can disappear.
Before the ending went sideways, there was plenty to like about Shough’s day. He finished 29 of 42 for 255 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, and his work before the turnovers showed exactly how dangerous this offense can be when it stays on schedule. The Saints scored touchdowns on all four of their red-zone trips, which is the kind of efficiency every coach wants to bottle and save.
Johnson was a major reason why. He caught eight passes and scored twice, giving New Orleans a dependable answer when the field got tight near the goal line.
Fant matched him with two touchdowns of his own, including the 16-yard strike that put the Saints ahead 27-16. Between them, the two tight ends accounted for all four New Orleans touchdowns.
Chris Olave kept doing Chris Olave things, too. He finished with nine catches for 107 yards and crossed 4,000 career receiving yards. Even without finding the end zone, he remained one of Shough’s most reliable options.
There were other bright spots sprinkled in there as well. Anfernee Jennings forced a fumble on a Raiders kickoff return, Jordan Howden recovered it, and the Saints cashed in quickly with Fant’s second touchdown. Chase Young added two sacks, giving the defense some individual wins even if the overall unit couldn’t hold the line.
But the bad and ugly took over late.
Brock Bowers was a headache all afternoon in his season debut. The Raiders tight end caught 10 passes for 116 yards and the touchdown that pushed Las Vegas ahead 35-27. The Saints simply didn’t have a clean answer for him.
The defense also let the game stay too close for too long. New Orleans built its third-quarter surge into an 11-point lead, but the Raiders answered with a quick touchdown drive that trimmed the margin to five before the fourth quarter even started. Then Mike Washington Jr. ripped off a 36-yard touchdown run to make it 27-22, and the pressure on the Saints only grew from there.
The next possession was a wasted chance. After the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, New Orleans started at its own 40, gained 17 yards, took a delay-of-game penalty and punted. Instead of making Las Vegas chase the clock, the Saints handed the ball right back.
The fourth quarter then turned into a disaster that kept getting worse. Malcolm Koonce hit Shough as he tried to throw, Maxx Crosby recovered, and the Raiders seized the lead on the resulting touchdown drive.
The ruling was disputed, but the result stood. On the next Saints possession, Hezekiah Masses intercepted Shough, and Las Vegas turned that short field into another touchdown, this one to Bowers.
Two more Saints drives ended in lost fumbles, including the final one by Johnson with less than a minute left.
By the end, New Orleans had outgained Las Vegas 381-340 and still lost by eight. That tells you everything about how little the yardage mattered once the turnovers started.
The Saints can take some encouragement from the way they moved the ball and finished drives for most of the afternoon. Shough, the tight ends, and Olave all gave the offense real signs of life. But the finish made the priorities impossible to miss: better protection, cleaner ball security, and a defense that can keep one opponent from taking over the middle of the field.
Now it’s on to Atlanta. New Orleans hosts the Falcons on Monday Night Football, and the challenge for Kellen Moore’s team is clear: turn three good quarters into four.
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