Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) passes in the first half during the Raiders’ first home game against the New Orleans Saints at Allegiant Stadium Monday, Sept. 21, 2020.
Monday, Sept. 21, 2020 | 8:42 p.m.
The Raiders’ first game in Las Vegas came with enough glitz and glamor to live up to the city’s reputation, but aside from the jet flyover and the Killers’ halftime show and the bright lights of Monday Night Football, there was still a game to be played.
And between the lines, the Raiders might be better than we expected this season, as they methodically took apart the New Orleans Saints, 34-24, to move to 2-0 on the year.
A look inside Las Vegas’ impressive home debut:
Carr sticks to short game
It takes a lot to outplay a legend like Drew Brees, but Derek Carr was up to the task on Monday.
In the week leading up to the showdown, Carr praised Brees’ style of play and held him up as a model for the Raiders’ short-passing game. And Carr followed that blueprint all the way to a memorable upset victory by completing 28-of-38 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
In the first quarter, Carr missed on one deep shot to rookie speedster Henry Ruggs, then took two coverage sacks while waiting for longer routes to develop. After that, Carr flipped the switch and got the ball out of his hand quickly, focusing almost exclusively on short and intermediate routes to keep the chains moving. Tight end Darren Waller was the main recipient (12 catches, 103 yards), but Carr spread the ball around to 11 different receivers on the night.
Carr’s ability to hit the short stuff at a near-automatic rate (73.7 completion percentage) allowed Las Vegas to chew up the clock and keep Brees and his high-powered offense off the field. It was a good plan and Carr executed it very well. That’s why the Raiders are 2-0.
Gruden gets aggressive
To beat a really good team — especially one with a high-powered offense like the Saints — you’ve got to take a few risks. Jon Gruden did that on the opening drive of the second half, and it paid big dividends.
Led again by Carr’s pinpoint placement on short passes, the Raiders drove the length of the field and found themselves faced with 2nd-and-goal from the 1-yard line with the score tied, 17-17. Josh Jacobs almost fumbled while attempting to leap over the pile but recovered for no gain; on third down, center Rodney Hudson and Carr mishandled the snap, and the Raiders were lucky to recover at the 1.
Despite those two near-disasters, Gruden remained confident in his guys and went for it on fourth down. After an offseason spent harping on the need for to perform better in goal-to-go situations, the coach did something about it and called a play-action pass to Darren Waller, and Carr hit his wide-open tight end for the go-ahead score.
According to ESPN’s Gamecast tracker, the Raiders’ win probability went from 47.8 percent to 71.8 percent with Waller’s TD. Give Gruden credit for going for it and swinging the momentum so dramatically in Las Vegas’ favor.
Defense does enough
Gruden won’t mistake the Raiders’ defense for his 2002 Tampa Bay squad, but through two weeks Las Vegas has done just enough to win. And what is the Raiders’ team motto again?
On the Saints’ first drive, it looked like Brees had an easy third-down completion to Tre’Quan Smith inside the 10-yard line, but safety Erik Harris closed quickly and jarred the ball loose. That incompletion forced New Orleans to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
And after the Raiders closed to within 17-14, Brees had designs on leading a quick-scoring drive in the final minute of the first half, but linebacker Nicholas Morrow was in the right place at the right time and stepped in front of a Brees pass for an interception at midfield. That allowed the Raiders to kick a field goal just before the buzzer to tie the game at the break.
Those were the Raiders’ two biggest stops of the game. New Orleans averaged 8. 1 yards per pass attempt and 5.9 yards per rush, so there is still a ton of room for improvement on that side of the ball, but when the Las Vegas offense is putting up 34 points per game, sometimes a couple stops is enough. Especially considering the injuries the Raiders were dealing with on Monday.
As long as Carr is hitting 70 percent of his passes and the offense is chewing up clock, a little complimentary football from the defense can go a long way.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
