The Good, Bad and Ugly From Saints’ Collapse Against Raiders

Rallying behind 19 unanswered points in the second half, the Las Vegas Raiders capitalized on four turnovers across New Orleans' final five drives to claim a 35-27 victory at the Caesars Superdome.

Tyler Shough threw for 255 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception on 29-of-42 passing, while also picking up 36 yards on the ground.

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For Las Vegas, Kirk Cousins turned in an efficient performance, completing 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns with zero turnovers. Tight end Brock Bowers served as the centerpiece of the passing attack, hauling in 10 receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown.

The Saints held statistical advantages in total yardage (381 to 340), red-zone success, third-down efficiency, and first downs, but critical mistakes ultimately thwarted their efforts.

The Good: The Rushing Attack Finally Shows Life

With 148 rushing yards on 28 attempts—an average of 5.3 yards per carry—the Saints posted their strongest ground game of the season. This marked a dramatic turnaround from their previous game against the Baltimore Ravens, where New Orleans managed just 65 rushing yards at 2.4 yards per attempt.

Travis Etienne provided a strong spark, accumulating 57 yards across 13 carries before a hamstring injury sidelined him for nearly the entire second half. The injury occurred during a 16-yard gain that converted a first down, leading directly to Shough's fourth touchdown pass of the evening to Noah Fant.

The Bad: Questionable Officiating

Questionable officiating played a significant role in the Saints’ 35-27 loss to the Raiders, with two calls in particular creating frustration for New Orleans.

The first came in the second quarter when linebacker Danny Stutsman was flagged for roughing Kirk Cousins on third-and-4 from the Saints’ 5. Stutsman hit Cousins as he released the ball, wrapped him up and took him to the ground in what appeared to be a conventional tackle.

Instead of forcing fourth down, the penalty gave Las Vegas an automatic first down. Cousins found Michael Mayer for a 3-yard touchdown on the next play, and Saints coach Kellen Moore was visibly furious with the call.

Former Sooner @Danny_Stutsman was flagged for roughing the passer on this play🤔

What is the guy supposed to do? pic.twitter.com/MZFiWG1jG3
— Red Dirt Media (@RedDirtMediaCo) September 27, 2026

Another frustrating moment came on Malcolm Koonce’s pivotal strip-sack of Tyler Shough in the second half. The play was correctly ruled a fumble, but it highlighted an inconsistency Saints fans had already seen this season.

Two weeks earlier against Detroit, Chase Young hit Jared Goff during his throwing motion, sending the ball backward before Jonas Sanker returned it for an apparent touchdown. Replay instead ruled it an incomplete pass because NFL rules consider it a forward pass when contact affects the throw after the passer begins his forward motion.

The plays were technically different under the rulebook, but the visual similarities made the outcomes difficult to swallow. One erased a Saints defensive touchdown, while the other helped set up the Raiders’ go-ahead score.

Somebody please explain it to me like I’m dumb. Here is a side-by-side of Tyler Shough’s play against the Raiders today and Jared Goff’s from Week 1.

Saints lost a td from Goff’s mistake. Today, ref says Shough fumbled and Raiders recovered. Make it make sense! @NFLOfficiating pic.twitter.com/UM2UwSLjke
— Farrah Yvette (@farrah_yvette) September 27, 2026

For New Orleans, questionable officiating and an overly complicated passing rule once again had major consequences in a close loss.

The Ugly: Four Fourth-Quarter Turnovers

There is no easy way to explain how the Saints let this one get away.

New Orleans turned the ball over on each of its four fourth-quarter possessions, completely unraveling after taking a 27-16 lead in the second half. Las Vegas turned the mistakes into a 19-0 run and escaped the Caesars Superdome with a 35-27 victory.

The collapse started with Shough's controversial lost fumble after Koonce hit him as he attempted to throw. Replay upheld the ruling, and the Raiders capitalized six plays later with Cousins' go-ahead touchdown pass to Cody White.

Regardless of the controversy surrounding that play, what followed was entirely self-inflicted.

On New Orleans' next possession, pressure affected Shough again, and Hezekiah Masses intercepted his underthrown pass, returning it to the Saints' 4-yard line. Cousins found Brock Bowers for a touchdown moments later, quickly turning a one-point deficit into an eight-point hole.

The Saints still had opportunities to recover, but the turnovers continued.

Shough was stripped again on fourth down at the Las Vegas 20, ending a potential scoring drive. New Orleans somehow got one final opportunity with enough time to potentially tie the game, only for Juwan Johnson to lose a fumble after making a reception with less than a minute remaining.

In all, the Saints committed three lost fumbles and one interception in the fourth quarter. Shough was responsible for three of the four turnovers after otherwise producing one of the better performances of his young career, throwing four touchdown passes.

That's what makes the finish particularly ugly. The Saints didn't spend the afternoon getting thoroughly outplayed. They built an 11-point second-half lead and were in position to beat an undefeated Raiders team.

Then they gave the ball away four consecutive times.

For an offense that had done plenty right for three quarters, the final period was a complete meltdown — and ultimately the difference between moving to 2-1 and falling to 1-2.

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