The Raiders went to Vegas Monday night and won big.
Spotting the New Orleans Saints an early 10-point lead, the Raiders played keepaway on offense and made enough key plays on defense for a 34-24 win in the first game in the history of Allegiant Stadium.
Quarterback Derek Carr completed 28 of 38 passes for 282 yards and touchdowns of 3 yards to Alec Ingold, 15 yards to Zay Jones and 1 yard to Darren Waller. Jalen Richard had a 20-yard touchdown run on third-and-10 with 7:43 to go, and Daniel Carlson added field goals of 28 and 54 yards, the latter coming with 1:08 to play.
Carr threw a lot to tight end Darren Waller and a little to everyone else, completing passes to 10 different receivers. Waller was targeted 16 times and caught 12 for 103 yards, while no other receiver had three passes thrown in his direction.
Josh Jacobs carried 27 times for 87 yards against a New Orleans defense that was bent on stopping him.
The Raiders converted so many third downs (10 of 16) they dominated time of possession and kept New Orleans off the field. They scored on six of their last seven possesions.
It was a statment game for the Raiders, given it came against an opponent that was 37-11 over the last three years and came in as 5 { point favorites in their new home.
New Orleans led 10-0 and 17-7 before the Raiders kicked in to gear. The Saints scored on a 1-yard run by Alvin Kamara and a 6-yard pass from Drew Brees to Jared Cook.
After the Raiders had gone up 31-17, Brees took New Orleans 67 yards in eight plays with Kamara scoring from the 3 with 4:33 to play. Brees was 23 of 33 for 263 yards.
The Saints committed 10 pendalties for 129 yards to three for 13 yards for the Raiders.
