The Las Vegas Raiders made their Allegiant Stadium debut in style Monday night, overcoming an early double-digit deficit to beat the New Orleans Saints, 34-24, and start 2-0 for the first time since 2017.
“They bounced back,” The Athletic Raiders writer Vic Tafur said on After Hours with Amy Lawrence. “They had a really rough start. They were down 10-0, and it looked like they were in for a long night because they had no pass rush and Derek Carr got off to a slow start. I think the Saints did some good things with disguising their coverages and some blitzes. They had some injuries on their front line. Trent Brown didn’t play, and Richie Incognito left pretty early with an Achilles problem. It was a rough start, but they definitely held tough and they bounced back.”
Derek Carr had a good night, finishing 28-of-38 for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Carr said before the season that he was tired of being disrespected; well, now he’s letting his play do the talking.
“He likes to say he’s no longer PC,” Tafur said. “He’s definitely got a little different tone to him. I think you can see that. I think at some point he realized people are going to say what they want to say, and it doesn’t really matter; you just got to produce for yourself and for your teammates. I do think it’s funny how he mentions that he doesn’t read anything, but he definitely does. He hears the criticism a lot. I guess it’s how you fuel it and how you use it, and he’s definitely used it well so far.”
Carr funneled almost half of his attempts to tight end Darren Waller, who finished with 12 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Josh Jacobs, meanwhile, ran 27 times for 88 yards.
“I think their offense is definitely one of the best in the league,” Tafur said. “The O-Line is a little banged up, but when they’re healthy, they should be really good. Darren Waller is definitely a top-five tight end in the league. Josh Jacobs had some nice runs and he had a pretty good night overall, but he’s definitely a top-10 running back, in my mind. That’s a good place to start, and Derek Carr is very efficient. The offense is really, really good. They had 34 points each of the first two weeks. That’s why they’re 2-0.”
While Tafur has been impressed with the Raiders’ offense, the defense is still a work in progress. Even without Michael Thomas, the Saints may have left some points on the field.
“The defense is still not very good,” Tafur said. “Drew Brees had a really off night. I was surprised how bad he was as far as missing guys who were wide open. If he was anywhere close to his old former self, they probably win that game. But he wasn’t, and the Raiders took advantage.”
The Raiders, who are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) atop the AFC West, play the Patriots on the road this Sunday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET.