On Sunday, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio did a very bold thing when he chose to go for a two-point conversion with less than a minute left and the Raiders having the opportunity to tie the Saints on the road.
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The New Orleans Saints were coasting to what appeared to be an opening season win over Oakland inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Exactly. The Raiders, for the first time since getting all the way to the Super Bowl in 2002, are, as the late Al Davis might say, are finally ready to “just win now, baby”.
Saints running back Mark Ingram ran the ball efficiently with 58 yards on 12 carries, but in the end the Saints offense couldn’t do enough to overcome the Raider’s fourth quarter onslaught of the Saints defense. When they scored a touchdown with 47 seconds left, overtime looked inevitable. If a shootout win over Drew Brees can be the catalyst to Carr and the Raiders turning close losses from last season to wins in 2016, this team should be around come playoff time as a serious threat to make a potential run.
“Those guys, they’ve done a good job trying to get better as fast as possible”, Vaccaro said. They showed potential to improve, but ultimately lost for much the same reason as previous year – their defence couldn’t make what Drew Brees and Co. produced hold up. “We’ve just got to really understand who we’re playing and who we’re taking away”.
Ken Crawley has some raw talent so perhaps he’ll be able to pick up the slack but, for now, the Saints defense is back to being the Achilles’ heel which has held the team back the last two seasons. His by far favorite target was Amari Cooper as he recorded 137 receiving yard on six completions.
He was tied with Snead with a team-high nine targets against the Raiders and led the Saints with 1,138 receiving yards past year.
The Saints lost despite 423 yards and 4 touchdown passes from Brees. Four yards per carry is still impressive.
“We’ll be fine”, said veteran right guard Jahri Evans, who was re-acquired last week to shore up the unit. We didn’t get any sacks on their quarterback. Del Rio showed trust in his players to convert the two-point conversion, which should go a long way towards building a successful team. Snead finished with 9 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown.
Cairo Santos kicked a 33-yard field goal a few minutes later, and after forcing a three-and-out, Spencer Ware finished off a four-play drive with a touchdown plunge to knot it at 27. We preached all offseason – so many of these games come down to two-minute situations, and wanting to be in that situation defensively and practicing it so much. “Once that fourth quarter started, even a part in the third quarter, the key for us defensively all of a sudden begin to crumble somewhat”. If the offense can continue to limit the turnovers, the Raiders will be tough to beat.
BIG NUMBERS: Brees eclipsed 400 yards passing for the 14th time in his career, tying Peyton Manning for the most such performances in National Football League history.
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The Saints had 3 receivers catch at least 6 passes, with Brandin Cooks leading the way with 6 for 143 yards and two scores.
