To most National Football League fans, the New Orleans Saints dropped their regular-season opener to the Oakland Raiders in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday when the visitors rolled the dice and went for two points and the win with 47 seconds to play.
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“I have to make those kinds of calls and guys have to trust my judgment”, Del Rio said.
“Everyone knew about our strategy”, said Del Rio, now in his second season with Oakland.
“In a game like this, conventional wisdom would point to the defense, but I would say we didn’t score enough offensively”, Payton said. Or, with the advent of DVR technology, a cottage industry has been built where non-football personnel (a.k.a. sportswriters) break down every single play of game – you’ve seen it, the still photos with all of those snazzy arrows pointing this way and that.
“It ain’t that; it’s the trust in us”, said Raiders offensive tackle Donald Penn, who had to move from the left side to the right with linemen Menelik Watson (groin) and Matt McCants (left knee) leaving the game due to injuries.
“I was thinking that we’re here to win”, Del Rio told reporters. This will free Brees, coach Sean Payton and the Saints to march into NRG Stadium in Houston Feb. 5 for Super Bowl 51. “So I think they did some good things, especially early, but there are some things they’ve got to get better at, and I think they will from Week 1 to Week 2”.
BMW – Brandin Cooks, Michael Thomas, and Willie Snead were huge beneficiaries from another stellar outing by Drew Brees.
Snead had 9 for 172 and proves once again the Saints find no name receivers like you and I eat and drink during football games; it’s nearly effortless. One of those was a powerful 6-yard touchdown run by Latavius Murray, who plowed over a would-be tackler at the 1-yard line. “I thought we got great effort from all three phases”.
Cooks appears to be hitting his prime in his third year, and his big-play ability shone through with a 98-yard touchdown catch.
“He looked like Usain Bolt running down the sideline there”, Brees said. The Panthers, Saints and Cardinals all lost when their kickers missed field goals as time expired. Opting instead to crush the Jaguars by way of 57 rushing attempts for 447 yards.
Starting quarterback Derek Carr entered the season with five comeback wins in his career in just his two seasons, and he added to that in the Superdome, a tough place to play historically.
No entity within USA borders has had a worse half-century than the Saints, with the possible exception of the U.S.
On their second possession, the Patriots drove from their 8 to the Arizona 29 and Gostkowski’s 47-yard field goal made it 10-0.
Sebastian Janikowski made all his kicks, although they only went to him for a PAT once after four touchdowns. “He’s really talented. There are obviously going to be some bumps along the way”.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to Victor Cruz in his first game in almost two years, and the Giants beat the Cowboys.
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Rookie cornerback Ken Crawley replaced Delvin Breaux after a third-quarter injury and said he knew the final pass would be headed his way. Even though they were down by 2 TD, they responded like big teams do and good teams should, never gave up, and they were rewarded for their efforts.
