Raiders Shut Out by Saints 24-0
The Las Vegas Raiders apparently fell asleep on the flight to New Orleans and never woke up.
Running back Alvin Kamara scored three touchdowns and the New Orleans Saints rolled past the listless Raiders, 24-0, on Sunday before 70,009 fans at Caesars Superdome in the Big Easy.
The Raiders (2-5), who were looking for their first two-game winning streak of the season, instead fell to 0-3 on the road.
Starting quarterback Derek Carr had been taken out of the game by Coach Josh McDaniels by the time Raiders crossed midfield for the only time in the game on backup Jarrett Stidham’s 13-yard pass to Mack Hollins with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
Stidham drove the Raiders goalward from their 32-yard-line in an effort to avoid the shutout, completing 8-of-13 passes for 72 yards, but they fell just short when running back Ameer Abdullah caught a three-yard pass from Stidham but was tackled by the Saints (3-5) on the four-yard-line as time ran out.
The Raiders, who were averaging 379 net yards per game, were limited to 183 in the game, including 73 in the first half as Carr completed only 15-of-26 passes for 101 yards (43 in the first half) with an interception on a tipped ball and was sacked three times for 20 yards.
Running back Josh Jacobs, who rushed for a total of 441 yards in the last three games, was limited to 43 yards in 10 carries, but ran the ball only once in the second half for eight yards as the Raiders threw the ball on virtually every play in a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to get back into the game.
Wide receiver Davante Adams, who battled the flu all week, caught one pass for three yards early in the fourth quarter to increase his streak of having a reception in 103 consecutive games, but immediately was taken out for the rest of the game.
Hollins led the Raiders with seven receptions for 64 yards, while tight end Foster Moreau caught six for 31 yards as the Silver and Black again played without Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller because of a hamstring injury.
Abdullah made four catches for 28 yards, but receiver Hunter Renfrow caught only one pass for six yards.
Quarterback Andy Dalton, playing again with Jameis Winston coming back from back and ankle injuries, completed 22-of-30 passes for 229 yards and touchdowns of 16 and 36 yards to Kamara, who led the Saints by catching nine passes for 96 yards. Rookie wide receiver Chris Olave added five passes for 55 yards.
Dalton is 3-0 against the Raiders, beating them twice when he was with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Coach Dennis Allen got a bit of revenge for being fired as head coach of the Raiders in 2014 after posting a 4-28 record in two-plus seasons.
Kamara also rushed 18 times for 62 yards, including a three-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.
Versatile Taysom Hill, who plays all the skill positions, replaced Dalton at quarterback several times and rushed 10 times for 61 yards, caught a pass for 11 yards, and completed the only pass he threw for two yards.
Linebacker Divine Deablo again led the Raiders with 14 tackles, while cornerback Anthony Averett and linebacker Denzel Perryman each added eight, defensive end Maxx Crosby had seven, and cornerback Rock Ya-Sin made six.
Deablo has led the Raiders in tackles five times this season, including the last four in a row.
The Raiders are staying on the road ahead of next Sunday’s game.
The Raiders' game against the Jaguars kicks off at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT) and can be seen on CBS.
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