Like the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, the Raiders will open their new digs without fans. No offense to Oakland and Los Angeles, the Raiders have never had the facilities that is representative of such a great franchise. The city of Las Vegas does it big so their marriage makes a lot of sense. Plus, lets not forget, Las Vegas is a tourist town so the NFL needed to put a team there, that has a national fan base. The Raiders fit the bill perfect.
Still it’s disappointing that Allegiant stadium won’t be rocking when the New Orleans Saints come to town tonight.
The biggest question coming into tonight’s game is the on-field product. The Raiders kicked off the 2020 season with a win at Carolina. Getting a win in the eastern time zone isn’t anything to sneeze at but there were things that caused concerns.
On defense, the Raiders have a very young defensive backfield. To help them out, the front four needs to be dominant. They were anything but that against the Panthers. There was no pressure coming from the front four. “Up front we know we gotta be better,” said Maxx Crosby. Talk about an understatement. Carolina quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, could’ve had lunch back there. Imagine giving future hall of famer, Drew Brees, that much time? Despite not having Michael Thomas (ankle injury) tonight, Brees still has plenty of weapons. Veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and tight end Jared Cook will be heavily involved in the passing game but the most dangerous play could be running backs Alvin Kamara. The shifty running back can take a screen/short pass for flip-the-field yardage. The Raiders know they are going to get a steady diet of short to medium range passes. Disrupting Brees’ timing would prevent the Saints from going on long, time consuming drives.
The injury bug hit the Raiders hard last weekend. Starting right tackle Trent Brown, backup right tackle Sam Young, and starting middle linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (pectoral) are likely out tonight. Rookie wide receiver, Henry Ruggs III got hurt in his debut but he might be able to go tonight.
The Saints’ defense doesn’t get the credit they deserve especially in the running game. New Orleans hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in their last 44 games. Starting running back rushed for 93 yards last week and with a dinged up offensive line, he might not hit the 100 yard mark tonight either. Head coach Jon Gruden will be prepared to call plays against a stacked box which could include getting Jacobs more involved in the passing game.
Speaking of the passing game, Derek Carr will need to be efficient tonight especially down field. If Ruggs III plays tonight, Carr must hit him to loosen up the defense. The Raiders can’t live off of a steady diet of short passes to Hunter Renfroe and Bryan Edwards. The Raiders are really young at wide receiver with Nelson Agholor. When Ruggs III went down last week, Agholor stepped in and scored a touchdown on his only catch of the game.
