The NFL Raiders, ever the nomads, have settled in the Nevada
desert.
Monday night the New Orleans Saints came to christen the
latest home for the now Las Vegas Raiders. The stadium is inexplicably named after
something called “allegiant” but is nicknamed the Deathstar. Thus the lure of liquidity forces another legendary sports franchise
to abandon its roots, traditions, and fanbase. Ironic that the first season may play out in an empty stadium.
The Saints brought their stellar B/P era record of 16-7 on
Monday Night Football to the Deathstar and got convincingly doused by Gruden’s
11. The Saints lost 34-24 in a nice gesture to the Raiders and
their new home.
On defense, the promise of last week’s “welcome-to-a-real-division”
victory over the Brady bunch lasted about one quarter. It was then that the Raiders showed their
run/pass balance and the Saints defense could handle neither. The running backs acted like they were on a
honeymoon in Vegas, and Darren Waller spent the night revealing why the Raiders
let Jared Cook get away. Waller came up
aces all night. For 50 years we’ve
watched the Saints make stars out of unknown quarterbacks. Now, it’s tight ends. Vernon Davis, George Kittle, and now Waller
join the Hangover crew. Slowing down
productive tight ends is not in the Saints’ defensive playbook. Unfortunately, pass interference is. Any chance of a late rally was snuffed out
when last week’s pick-six hero Janoris Jenkins played the goat role on a 3rd
and long bomb late in the game, when he mauled the receiver. The Raiders parlayed their clock eating into
a field goal to finish off the scoring. The
defense leads the league in penalties, and whichever team is second is going to
have to double down to catch this group.
On offense, the Saints ran the ball a little, and threw the ball
a little, but not nearly as efficiently as the Saints fans have come to
expect. Kamara was a handful all night,
but the passing game still has not clicked.
Brees played the cooler and threw a crucial interception near the end of
the first half (aren’t they all crucial?) and he took a lot of “arm strength”
heat for it, but in watching it a couple of times, it was more of a tangled
foot issue. No excuse, because he
shouldn’t have thrown it. It was actually the missing of some open receivers that was more concerning. Brees is 63
after all, and his great footwork is vital to his delivery. He’s beginning
to look human. Saints fans have been
treated to his 70% accuracy for so long, that 60% makes him look human. The Saints vaunted offensive line struggled
to protect him all night, when they weren’t getting called for holding. When the Saints got behind, they had to
ignore the don’t pass line and crank it up.
Unfortunately, there was no Michael Thomas, and Emmanuel
Sanders disappeared. That left Tre’quan
Smith, who did ok but is not a load carrier, and a couple of unknowns that
Brees obviously doesn’t have confidence in yet.
Rookie Marques Callaway, an undrafted free agent, has made the team, and
rookies don’t often play for Payton, so he must have some promise. Veteran Bennie Fowler, who Brees drafted this
year after some practice sessions, couldn’t get open. Things are different in the pocket these days
for Brees. Payton and Brees have been
Siegfried and Roy for a long time, but the magic is coming to an end, and father
time is a white tiger ready to take a bite.
Decision time is looming for Loomis and Payton as to how long they can
press this bet. This is the year they
were all in, and the season’s start is more “fear and loathing” than “viva.” A tough schedule is no help.
Garry Shandling used to tell a joke that as he approached Las
Vegas he would just start throwing money out of his car window just to get used
to losing it.
Let’s hope this game is just a blip and it stays in Vegas. Saints fans don’t want to get used to losing again.
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