After trailing by 11 in the final quarter of play, Raiders QB Derek Carr orchestrated the team’s fourth touchdown drive of the day, an 11-play, 75-yard drive to bring the Raiders to within one point with just:52 seconds left on the clock.
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Second-year Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio violated the “No Fun League” theme yesterday in New Orleans.
“At any moment”, Del Rio said, “if you let go of the rope, we were done, and we didn’t”.
“I think there are snaps they played very well and there are some snaps, obviously we have to get cleaned up.” he said.
Carr threw for 319 yards and a touchdown in 24-for-38 passes.
He was tied with Snead with a team-high nine targets against the Raiders and led the Saints with 1,138 receiving yards previous year.
After Drew Brees had hooked up with on a 98-yard TD play with WR Brandin Cooks, the Saints took a 2-Touchdown lead in the 3rd quarter, and everyone thought that it was game over for the Oakland Raiders. No players from the Raiders or Saints sat, kneeled or made any other noticeable gestures as local first responders and volunteers unveiled a flag that stretched from end zone to end zone while the Star Spangled banner played.
Instead, the Raiders got their kicks at the Saints’ expense, amassing 486 yards (167 yards and three touchdowns on the ground) while yielding no sacks and committing no turnovers.
It’s the fifth time in six years New Orleans has lost the season opener, and it hasn’t recovered from a loss to finish with a winning record since going 13-3 in 2011.
Carr had just thrown his only touchdown of the game, a 10-yarder to Seth Roberts, when Carr immediately signaled for the two-point try. Snead averaged 19 yards on 9 receptions for a total of 172 yards, while Cooks went for 143 yards on 6 receptions. He lasted just a couple plays before falling to the turf, calling out that he couldn’t get up. Brees finished with 423 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Jimmy Garoppolo: Yes, Jimmy did look awfully impressive in the Patriots’ Sunday night win, throwing for over 300 yards without throwing an interception (though he did lose a fumble) against what was supposed to be one of the best defenses in the NFL. New Orleans has interest in former Green Bay and Miami tight end Jake Stoneburner, who caught two touchdown passes for the Dolphins last season, knows Dan Campbell well and worked out for the Saints last week. The pass protection held up, and kept Drew Brees upright for the most part.
INDIANAPOLIS – Matthew Stafford took advantage of one last chance Sunday and Matt Prater redeemed himself with a 43-yard field goal with 8 seconds to give the Lions a victory at Indianapolis. He would miss the field goal. Evans was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round of the 2006 draft and played 10 seasons with them before being released in February.
INJURIES: Raiders right tackle Menelik Watson left the game late in the first half with what team officials said was a groin pull.
Rookie cornerback Ken Crawley was right with Crabtree, but couldn’t locate the ball as Crabtree turned and leaped to snare Carr’s pass. Because I use statistics that none of the contemporary analytic kids on the block use – you know, numbers that you can actually understand.
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The Saints responded with a 65-yard drive that yielded Lutz’s 42-yard field goal that tied the score with 5:52 left in the first quarter. Del Rio showed trust in his players to convert the two-point conversion, which should go a long way towards building a successful team.
