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Allegiant Stadium Ribbon Cutting

Steve Marcus

Raider fans head into Allegiant Stadium following a ribbon cutting ceremony at Allegiant Stadium before a preseason game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021.

Tre’von Moehrig raced out of the tunnel and through a line of cheerleaders and teammates when his name was announced during player introductions Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium, turning his head all around to see everything going on.

The lights. The cheers. The production.

“Took it all in,” he said afterwards.

Moehrig wasn’t alone in his focus to savor the moment in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 20-7 preseason win over the Seattle Seahawks in front of a packed home crowd. The rookie safety out of TCU might have been one of only a few starters playing in his first-ever NFL game, but Saturday was something new and monumental for everyone involved with the Raiders.

Fans filled the $2 billion venue just southwest of the Strip to watch a game for the first time, a long-awaited milestone postponed by the pandemic forcing the Raiders to play in front of empty seats last year. Raiders owner Mark Davis vowed not to watch a game at the stadium until 65,000 fans could do the same alongside him, and kept his word by staying away all of last season.

He saved the traditional venue ribbon-cutting ceremony for Saturday, speaking to a sea of fans donning black jerseys or full Raider costumes despite temperatures of more than 100 degrees in front of the stadium.

“Allegiant Stadium, a.k.a the death star, where opponents’ dream come to die,” Davis said with oversized scissors hanging from hands. “You’ve been on the journey for 60 years to build this thing and with the help from all of you and all the people up here, we got it done.”

Winning and losing is often secondary to getting snaps and gaining experience in the preseason, but the Raiders’ lone home game before the regular season was different. Las Vegas had to make sure Allegiant Stadium lived up to its owner’s creed and did so by playing with an extra intensity from the opening kickoff.

The Raiders scored on their first drive, going 83 yards on 14 plays behind the direction of third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman. Training-camp standout wide receiver standout Zay Jones caught two passes of more than 20 yards on the possession during his limited time on the field before undrafted rookie Trey Ragas punched in a touchdown on 4th-and-inches from the goal line.    

“There was just this energy that was traveling through the stadium that was very special and unique,” Jones said. “I was just happy to be a part of it.”

The Raiders fed off the energy throughout the night, never trailing and often leading comfortably. Despite only suiting up two players currently at the top of the offensive depth chart — rookie tackle Alex Leatherwood and new starting center Andre James — that side of the ball was expected to perform well.

The defense was the question mark, but it looked more like an exclamation point on Saturday. Las Vegas forced two three-and-outs on three Seattle first-half possessions and barely let the visitors cross midfield.

Defensive linemen Quinton Jefferson, Darius Philon and Solomon Thomas controlled up front while second-year linebacker Javin White out of UNLV led the team with six total tackles. Rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs sacked Seattle quarterback Geno Smith on the first drive and caused a fumble recovered by Philon. Replay overturned the takeaway and ruled Smith down, but the sequence remained the Raiders’ biggest defensive highlight of the night.    

“It had felt better if I really got the ball out,” Hobbs said. “I was going for the ball, but it was fun. It was a good hit.”

Smith left the game early with a concussion and neither Alex McGough nor Sean Mannion, his two replacements, could get anything going against a spirited effort from the Raiders’ secondary. The Seahawks’ trio of quarterbacks combined to complete for 17 of 31 passing attempts for 126 yards.

The Raiders got a steadier hand in Peterman, who completed 26 of 39 attempts for 246 yards.

“It was fun playing in front of fans,” Peterman said. “The atmosphere was great.”

The Raiders had their sloppy moments too. Instead of taking a sack near halftime, Peterman got hit under pressure and lofted an easy interception to Ryan Neal.

And then, to start the second half, the Raiders’ defense blew a coverage and safety Dallin Leavitt missed an open-field tackle as Seahawks running back DeeJay Dallas took a pass from McGough 43 yards for a touchdown. Las Vegas seemed to atone for the miscue to start the fourth quarter, however, when cornerbacks Amik Robertson and Keisean Nixon made back-to-back open-field, shoestring tackles to stall a potential go-ahead Seattle drive before it ever got started. 

That forced a punt back to the Las Vegas offense, which started to wear down Seattle with its running game in the second half. The rookie duo of Ragas and B.J. Emmons combined for 22 carries and 107 yards.

Emmons also joined Ragas with a goal line touchdown of his own when he leapt over the line and into the end zone with 7:37 remaining to ignite the crowd one last time.

“The energy was great,” coach Jon Gruden said. “We’re getting better, we’ve still got a long way to go.”

Las Vegas wraps up the preseason with trips to take on the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers the next two weekends. But they’re already looking forward to coming home for the Sept. 13 season opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.

The Raiders may have never got truly accustomed to Allegiant Stadium when it sat silent and empty during games last year. It feels like home now, however, after a win over the Seahawks that was more like a grand-opening celebration.

“It was like a playoff game for me, one of the bigger games I’ve been in just emotionally, getting back to the real Raider atmosphere,” Gruden said. “It’s hard to replicate, hard to describe. I think there’s going to be a lot of people who have a lot of fun coming to these games.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Article written by #LasVegasSun

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