Derek Carr threw three touchdown passes and the Raiders gave their new fans in Las Vegas plenty to celebrate – even if they weren’t allowed in the stadium – by beating the New Orleans Saints 34-24 on Monday night.
The new $2bn stadium in the desert held its first event following the Raiders’ move from Oakland without any fans because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
That was one of the few things that didn’t go right for the Raiders (2-0), who overcame an early 10-point deficit to the Saints (1-1) and opened the season with two straight wins for just the fourth time in the past 25 seasons.
Carr was in complete control for most of the night, completing 28 of 38 passes for 282 yards. Darren Waller caught 12 of the passes for 103 yards as Carr’s most trusted option. Carr engineered four straight scoring drives in the second and third quarters to turn a 10-0 deficit into a 24-17 lead.
Picking apart the New Orleans defense with short passes, the Raiders controlled the clock and kept Drew Brees and the Saints off the field. Las Vegas converted 10 of 17 third downs and also went for it successfully twice on fourth down. The Raiders even survived a fumbled pitch by Jalen Richard by stopping the Saints and then scoring on the ensuing drive on a 20-yard run by Richard.
After being gashed on the ground early, the Raiders did a good job against Brees, who struggled without his injured No1 receiver Michael Thomas. Brees went 26 for 38 for 312 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
After the Saints cut the deficit to 31-24 on Alvin Kamara’s second TD run, the Raiders took advantage of a pass interference call against Janoris Jenkins and then iced the game with a 54-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson.