With Micheal Thomas out of the Saints offense for the next couple of weeks with a high ankle sprain, Drew Brees and Sean Payton were ready to spread the ball around in their debut at the brand new 1.84 Billion dollar Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. In their first two drives, the Saints were able to move the ball down the field efficiently and effectively, utilizing their plethora of weapons stacked in their toolbox for the first quarter. Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, Josh Hill and Latavius Murray saw snaps in the Saints first two drives with Tre’Quan Smith coming up with a huge 28 yard catch and run, setting the Saints up inside the five on their second drive. This drive would be capped off with an Alvin Kamara touchdown giving the Saints a 10 point lead with 3:31 left in the 1st quarter. Based off the first two offensive drives and the defense forcing 2 three and outs for the Raiders, it seemed the Saints were on their way to run away with this game. We couldn’t have been more wrong. After a pair of stalled drives by both the Raiders and Saints, they eventually traded off touchdowns on their ensuing drives bringing the game to a 17-14 standstill with 1:44 left to play in the second quarter. After an 8 yard strike to Tre’Quan Smith, which moved the chains on a 3rd and 5, the Saints imminent demise started to poke its head. Drew Brees threw an uncharacteristic interception to a roaming Nicholas Morrow on a pass intended for Deonte Harris. The Saints defense would hold its own and only allow a Raiders field goal. However, this would be the beginning of the end of the Saints night. The Saints would not score again until there was 4:33 left in the 4th quarter. The reason being, untimely penalties. The Saints racked up 129 yards worth of penalties which stalled drives on offense and kept the defense on the field time and time again. The worst one coming on a Janoris Jenkins PI call which instead of giving the ball back to the Saints trailing 24-31 2:08 in the fourth quarter, extended the Raiders drive. That would lead to a 54 yard Daniel Carlson field goal that essentially solidified the result for the Raiders. Although the Saints offense was able to string together 424 total yards of offense, their slew of penalties set them back time and time again leaving the team and fans alike yearning for another opportunity. They’ll have it next week when they face the Green Bay Packers next Sunday Night for SNF.
Saints debut in Allegiant Stadium was lackluster and disappointing.
