It was the longe.
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Before the last Oakland drive, it appeared as though the Raiders’ hype train had derailed in the Big Easy.
The Raiders’ offense did a tremendous job on Sunday, but the defense got torched on a number of occasions by Brees, Willie Snead, Brandin Cooks, and the Saints’ offense.
With the Saints at their own 2-yard line in the third quarter, quarterback Drew Brees dropped back and lobbed a pass to his No. 1 receiver, who did all the rest.
After the Saints regained the lead (34-27) on Drew Brees’ fourth touchdown pass of the game, Carr drove Oakland 75 yards, throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts with 47 seconds left.
Del Rio said his mantra previous year was about getting the team to compete for all 60 minutes, which they did for the most part (the season opener being the exception).
Only the honest would cop to originally thinking Del Rio’s gamble was a mistake, but the truth is the call would have been the right move regardless of whether Michael Crabtree had caught the ball.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from the Oakland Raiders’ victory.
Despite allowing 507 total yards and 419 passing to the Saints, the Raiders shockingly overcame a 24-10 third-quarter deficit to pick up a huge victory in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 35-34.
Head coach Sean Payton, who has a history of changing kickers, gave Lutz a vote of confidence after the game. “I don’t wanna be Debbie Downer”, he began, “but this is the kind of game you have to win if you’re gonna get to double digit wins and be a playoff team and somehow have a winning record instead being:500!”
Derek Carr threw for 319 yards and a touchdown with two converted two-point conversions. He put it where it needed to be and Crabtree went up for it and make a brilliant catch to convert and give the Raiders the 35-34 lead.
New Orleans almost held on, but Saints linebacker Craig Robertson was flagged for interference on a fourth-down pass that sailed out of bounds. “That was just one play”. He finished with six catches for 137 yards. Cooks had 6 receptions for 143 yards and two scores.
Cooks has dynamic speed (he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds at the National Football League scouting combine). It was a career-long passing play for Brees as well.
“I mean, he looked like Usain Bolt rolling down the sideline there”, Brees said. I thought he was the Saints’ best defensive player on Sunday. That’s exactly what Raiders fans love.
Arizona’s Carson Palmer threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, both to Larry Fitzgerald.
Brees, who threw four touchdowns on the night, drove the Saints down the field in the dying seconds to set up a long-range field goal for Will Lutz.
The Raiders won the toss and deferred to give the Saints offense the ball first. They took the next drive to the Raiders 11-yard line where they would add a field goal to tie it up 3-3.
Oakland also was penalized 14 times for 141 yards. “I am really proud of our guys, really happy for them”.
INJURIES: Raiders right tackle Menelik Watson left the game late in the first half with what team officials said was a groin pull.
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Del Rio would have been excoriated had the Saints busted through the line for a sack or if Carr, feeling the pressure, had put too much on the touch pass.
