Saints fall 35-27 to Raiders; Dome's 20th anniversary arrives with Atlanta
Four fourth-quarter takeaways erased a 27-16 Saints lead. Next: the Falcons, near the 20th anniversary of the post-Katrina reopening.
NEW ORLEANS: The Saints let one get away Sunday. Leading 27-16 in the third quarter at Caesars Superdome, New Orleans committed turnovers on its final four possessions and fell 35-27 to the Las Vegas Raiders, who stayed unbeaten at 3-0.
For a half, the home opener belonged to the Saints. Quarterback Tyler Shough threw a 1-yard touchdown to Juwan Johnson, then connected with Noah Fant for a 16-yard score after the Raiders fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and New Orleans took an 11-point lead with 5:46 left in the third quarter. The Superdome was roaring.
Then the game turned. The Raiders scored 19 unanswered points, powered by a defense that forced four takeaways in the fourth quarter. The decisive sequence began when defensive end Malcolm Koonce strip-sacked Shough as the quarterback started his throwing motion, with the Raiders recovering the fumble to set up the go-ahead touchdown. Kirk Cousins hit Cody White for a 4-yard score and a 28-27 lead with 9:21 left, then found Brock Bowers for another 4-yard touchdown after an interception.
The collapse was comprehensive. Four possessions, four turnovers, 19 unanswered points. The Raiders' defense, quiet for two and a half quarters, strip-sacked Shough as he started his throwing motion, and the Raiders recovered to set up the go-ahead score. In effect, the game turned on two plays.
Cousins was surgical when it mattered: 248 yards, three touchdowns, the 4-yard strike to Cody White for a 28-27 lead with 9:21 left, then another 4-yarder to Bowers after an interception sealed it. Bowers, in his 2026 debut after a knee procedure, looked like he had never left: 10 catches, 116 yards, a touchdown.
The Raiders are 3-0, and the number carries its own commentary. It took Las Vegas a full season to win three games in 2025. Under rookie head coach Klint Kubiak, it took three weeks.
Cousins finished with 248 yards and three touchdowns. Bowers, making his 2026 debut after a knee procedure, caught 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. The Raiders, who needed a full season to win three games in 2025, matched that total by Week 3 under rookie coach Klint Kubiak.
The Saints fell to 1-2, and the loss carried a familiar sting: two weeks earlier, an apparent strip-sack of Detroit's Jared Goff was overturned on review, erasing a New Orleans defensive touchdown. Sunday's call went the other way, and the Raiders' game-winning drive followed.
Next comes Atlanta on October 5, a game the franchise has circled: the game falls near the 20th anniversary of the post-Katrina reopening of the Superdome, the night the building and the city announced they were back. The anniversary deserves a better result than the one Sunday delivered.
The loss drops New Orleans to 1-2 and wastes a home opener that, for a half, felt like a statement. Shough's two touchdown passes, the 1-yarder to Juwan Johnson and the 16-yarder to Noah Fant after the Raiders fumbled the kickoff, had the Superdome roaring at 27-16. Then the fourth quarter happened.
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