The Saints finally got their home opener in the Caesars Superdome, and for long stretches it looked like they might have enough firepower to make it matter. Tyler Shough kept finding answers, the tight ends kept showing up, and New Orleans twice pushed back from behind. But the game kept turning on mistakes, and the Raiders made the Saints pay for nearly every one of them in a 35-27 Las Vegas win on Sunday afternoon.
New Orleans opened with a three-and-out, then watched the Raiders come out sharp. Kirk Cousins hit his first four passes for 53 yards, with Brock Bowers collecting three of those catches in his first action of the season. The drive stalled after an offensive holding call and a sack by Chase Young, though Matt Gay still put Vegas on the board with a 41-yard field goal.
The Saints needed one snap to flip the tone. After another quick three-and-out, Shough ripped off a 36-yard scramble on third down to spark the offense.
Travis Etienne Jr. handled work on the ground, and Shough connected with Devaughn Vele and Chris Olave for chunk gains before CJ Donaldson’s 5-yard run set up a 2-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson. Daniel Carlson’s extra point was blocked by his former team, leaving New Orleans ahead 6-3.
That edge didn’t last long. Vegas started its next possession at the 40 after a kickoff that fell short of the landing zone, and Cousins kept working Michael Mayer and Bowers to move the Raiders into scoring range. An offside penalty helped New Orleans slow things down, but Gay tied it at 6-6 with a 37-yard field goal.
The Saints went three-and-out again, and the Raiders quickly seized midfield field position. Cousins kept finding Mayer and Bowers, and even after the Saints appeared to have forced another field goal try, a roughing the passer penalty on Danny Stutsman turned the drive into 1st-and-goal. Cousins hit Mayer for a 3-yard touchdown, and Las Vegas led 13-6.
New Orleans answered with one of its better drives of the half. Etienne chipped away, Shough hit Olave twice for 29 yards, then found Noah Fant and Johnson before another Etienne run set up 1st-and-goal. Shough finished it by throwing to Fant in the end zone, and Carlson’s extra point tied it at 13-13.
The Raiders still had time before halftime, and Cousins used it well. A two-minute drill, helped by another pair of big Bowers gains, ended with Gay drilling a 25-yard field goal as time expired to send Las Vegas into the break up 16-13.
The Saints came out of halftime moving the ball again. Shough kept the offense on schedule with passes to Vele and Etienne and runs from Alvin Kamara, then kept stacking completions to Johnson, Vele and Olave until New Orleans reached the 1-yard line. Johnson finished the job again, catching another touchdown to put the Saints in front.
Then the game swung hard. Dylan Laube muffed the kickoff return, and New Orleans recovered.
Etienne broke loose for 16 yards, and Shough immediately hit Fant for a 16-yard touchdown. Just like that, the Saints were up 27-16.
But the Raiders answered right back. Bowers continued to be a problem, hauling in a 20-yard catch to push the drive past midfield, and Mike Washington broke free for a 36-yard touchdown to trim the lead. Vegas missed the 2-point try, but the momentum had shifted.
The Saints still had chances to extend the margin. Shough converted a third down to Olave later in the quarter to keep a drive alive, but the fourth quarter brought the kind of play that changes everything.
Near field goal range, Shough was sacked and stripped by Malcolm Koonce as he tried to throw. The ball came loose, Vegas recovered, and the Raiders were back in business.
Cousins immediately went to Ashton Jeanty for 22 yards and then Tre Tucker for 15 more. Cody White finished the drive with a short touchdown catch, and after another failed 2-point conversion, the Raiders were in front 28-27.
The Saints’ next possession turned into another disaster. Shough’s pass intended for Bryce Lance was picked off by Hezekiah Masses, and although Masses then fumbled, the Raiders recovered and had 1st-and-goal from the 4. New Orleans held Jeanty twice, but on third down Cousins found Bowers in the end zone to stretch the lead to 35-27.
New Orleans still had a route back. Kamara helped push the Saints into the red zone again, and Johnson added a 22-yard catch to keep the drive moving. But Shough fumbled on a sack by Maxx Crosby, and the Raiders forced another punt to keep the door open.
The final chance vanished in the two-minute drill when Johnson fumbled after a catch near midfield. Las Vegas recovered, ran out the clock, and left the Superdome with the 35-27 win.
In Other News...
Saints Fans Have Every Reason To Hate This Tyler Shough Ruling
The Saints had another rough Week 3 finish against the Raiders, and one sequence involving Tyler Shough has only added to the frustration. The NFL upheld the ruling on the field, saying Shough lost control of the ball before his arm started moving forward, leaving the play as a fumble and not an incomplete pass.
For Saints fans, the irritation is obvious because the league handled a similar-looking situation differently in Week 1 when Jared Goff was involved. NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth explained why the two plays were separated, but the explanation is unlikely to make New Orleans feel any better about how the call broke in a game already going the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Collapse Came Down To Tyler Shough And One Brutal Call
The Saints had their best early footing under Kellen Moore on Sunday, jumping ahead after the first quarter and giving themselves a chance to carry that edge into a needed win over the Raiders. Instead, the game unraveled late in a 35-27 loss, with New Orleans giving the ball away four times in the fourth quarter and watching a promising night slip into a frustrating collapse.
Tyler Shough was at the center of it, with multiple turnovers and a strip that led to one of the games most contentious moments, when Las Vegas came away with the fumble recovery. A late Juwan Johnson fumble only deepened the damage as the Raiders kept answering with offense, leaving the Saints to sort through how a game they once controlled turned so quickly in the final period. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Fans Have Every Reason To Be Furious Over This Replay Ruling
The Saints already had plenty to argue about during their game against the Raiders, and the replay decision only deepened the frustration. Adrian Hills crew drew heat for a series of controversial calls against New Orleans, including multiple penalties on the defense, but the play that really stuck with fans was a quarterback drop that ended with the Raiders coming away with the ball.
NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth upheld the ruling after review, saying the quarterback lost control before his arm came forward. The problem for New Orleans is that the explanation landed differently than another similar play earlier this season, when the league ruled it an incomplete pass, leaving the Saints and their fans to wonder why a key judgment can look so different from one week to the next. [Read more 🡒]