The New Orleans Saints are about to match up with a Raiders squad they haven't seen since 2024, but that doesn't mean they lack familiarity.
This year's Las Vegas squad is a surprising 2-0 and led by Klint Kubiak, the former Saints OC from that same season. New Orleans also got out to a 2-0 start that season, ironically enough running into current head coach Kellen Moore's Eagles in Week 3 for the first of what became seven consecutive losses. WWL Radio's Deuce McAllister says the Saints should be poring over the film from that year's offense for any potential advantage this week.
"You don’t throw that film away. ... Now, with technology … I can tell the computer what I’m looking for. … third down, here’s what I’m looking for. Do you have any of these plays? Do you have any of these routes? And so whether it’s third down, first and 10, coming out, red zone, whatever," Deuce said. "I mean, it takes some time, but you’re in the winning business. You’re in the edge business. You’re looking for an edge. That’s the edge."
Hear more from Deuce McAllister on SportsTalk in the player above.
Kubiak's group is also led by veteran QB Kirk Cousins, who has matched up with the Saints nine times throughout his 15-year career with each of Washington, the Vikings and Falcons. Cousins was the starting QB for Atlanta in both matchups last year, which the Falcons swept.
Cousins was also the starting QB for Kubiak during his season as OC in Minnesota, and he's been tasked as the bridge to No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. But there's currently no end to that bridge in sight after an impressive start with wins over the Dolphins and Chargers.
"The Raiders … feel pretty good about themselves. They’re playing with a lot of confidence," Deuce says. "You may not have some of the names on the outside, particularly at the receiver spot. But they’ve got a good tight end, [Brock] Bowers, who should make his season debut coming off the knee surgery, and [Ashton] Jeanty hasn’t gotten going yet, but you figure at some point he will, and Kirk Cousins at quarterback, he’s throwing it around. He’s probably a little bit more mobile than he was last time that, you know, we kind of saw him when he was in Atlanta, but Kirk is still not — he’s not going to be the fastest guy, but he knows what he’s doing with the football and what he wants to do with the football.”
The Saints (1-1) host the Raiders (2-0) for a 3:25 p.m. kickoff on Sunday inside the Caesars Superdome. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
