“It was a lousy game past the first quarter.”
WWL NFL analyst Mike Detillier did not mince words about the New Orleans Saints' performance after their 34-24 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
“They got beaten in every phase of the game,” Detillier continued. “You have to give [Jon] Gruden credit. They out-chessed Sean Payton and his staff last night. They moved and counter-moved.”
The Saints led 10-0 after the first quarter, but the Raiders outscored them 34-14 the rest of the way.
“For whatever reason, this football team has not been able to snap out of a bad game early in the season,” Detillier said. “They haven't been 2-0 since 2013! History repeats itself with this game. You have to give the Raiders credit; they were the better football team last night.”
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The Saints offense started strong, scoring on three of their first four possessions; but Drew Brees threw a costly interception in the final minute of the second quarter, leading to a Raiders field goal and tie game going into halftime.
“Drew didn't look real sharp,” Detillier said. “He showed a little bit of age, and the timing was not there.”
Brees did finish with a solid 68.4% completion percentage and 312 yards. However, he had the interception to go along with only one touchdown pass; and the downfield passing game wasn't there most of the night.
“In a situation like [last night], I would love to see them run the football more,” Detillier explained. “They decided to start pitching the ball. But you saw this team was off. There were dropped passes. Drew was off. This is back-to-back games where you've seen the passing game just wasn't there. The pitch and catch component isn't there like we've seen in the past.”
The loss of star wide receiver Michael Thomas undoubtedly hurt. With Thomas out, Alvin Kamara soaked up the most targets (9) and receptions (9). In fact, Kamara had as many receptions as the Saints receivers had combined. Tre'Quan Smith had 5 receptions. Deonte Harris had 3. Emmanuel Sanders had just 1.
The New Orleans defense also had its struggles. After forcing two punts to start the game, the Saints allowed scoring drives on four straight possessions. The defense did force and recover a fumble early in the fourth quarter, but they then gave up a touchdown and a field goal on the two ensuing drives.
New Orleans must shake off the loss with the 2-0 Green Bay Packers coming to town for Sunday Night Football.