There’s an old saying that you have more likely than have heard said in Las Vegas: “The house always wins”. That statement was proven right on Monday night with the New Orleans Saints falling to the Las Vegas Raiders 31-24 in the first-ever game at Allegiant Stadium thanks to a great showing from Derek Carr.
How It Happened:
The Saints started off well in their opening drive, getting a good bit of yardage on the ground before Drew Brees got them into the redzone with an 18-yard pass to Tre’Quan Smith. However, that drive stalled out on third and three, forcing a chip shot field goal by Wil Lutz to take the early lead. The Saints first drive on defense looked good to start, forcing them to punt after a big sack from Malcolm Jenkins.
New Orleans marched down the field with a nine-play drive, highlighted by a 29-yard pass to Smith before being pushed out of bounds at the Raiders four-yard line. Alvin Kamara found pay dirt with a one-yard run to go up 10-0. Las Vegas put together a methodical 11-play drive that took 6:18 off the clock that was capped off by a short pass to fullback Alec Ingold, making it 10-7 midway through the second quarter.
The Saints responded quickly with a six-yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook to make it 17-7. That momentum quickly turned sour with a ten-minute drive by the Raiders capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Zay Jones, making it 17-14.
The wheels started to come off the rails on the next drive with Drew Brees throwing an interception directly to Nicholas Morrow, setting up a Daniel Carlson field goal as time expired, tying things up at 17 as both teams headed to the locker room. The Raiders then started off the second half with a nine-play drive that ended with Carr finding one of his favorite targets on the night in Darren Waller.
The Saints had a chance to turn the momentum around after recovering a fumble by former Peabody Magnet star Jalen Richard in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t cash in after two incompletions forced them to punt. Las Vegas then started to put the dagger into the Saints heart with a 10-play drive that ended with Richard finding paydirt with a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 31-17.