Raiders vs Saints Recap: Las Vegas 35, New Orleans 27

The Raiders Came to New Orleans Looking for a Win. They Left With Something Bigger.

 

NEW ORLEANS: There are certain places where a football game feels like more than a football game.

New Orleans is definitely one of them. You can feel it before kickoff, music spilling into the streets, the smell of something cooking around every corner, black and gold everywhere you look. Inside the Caesars Superdome, the noise comes in waves. And on Sunday, the Saints had every reason to believe this was going to be their afternoon.

For a while, they were right. Then the Las Vegas Raiders changed the script. Down 27-16 in the second half, the Raiders could have folded and left the table fresh out of luck. Instead, they kicked it into another gear, turned the fourth quarter into a defensive street fight, and walked out of New Orleans with a 35-27 victory. More importantly, they walked out 3-0. The Raiders haven’t started a season 3-0 in 5 years, since 2021. And this one didn’t come easy; that’s what makes it matter.

 

Game Summary: Las Vegas Raiders vs New Orleans Saints

TEAM	1	2	3	4	Final
LV	3	13	6	13	35
NO	6	7	14	0	27

 

Welcome to the Big Easy, and Nothing About This One Was Easy

The Saints came out swinging, taking an early lead and feeding off the energy of their home opener. But Kirk Cousins stayed steady and consistent. He finished with 248 yards and three touchdown passes, including scores to Michael Mayer, Brock Bowers, and once again Cody White. Bowers, making his season debut after missing the first two games of the season, immediately looked like he had never left. Ten catches, 116 yards, and to top it off, one touchdown.

That’s not a comeback game. That’s a statement.

And there was something fitting about Bowers making his return in New Orleans. If you’ve spent enough time around that beautiful city, you know the word lagniappe, a little something extra. On Sunday, Bowers was exactly that, the lagniappe. The Raiders already had a chance to win, and then they got their star tight end back too.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Raiders, and this is where the game stopped being pretty. And that’s perfectly fine; football doesn’t always need to be pretty. Sometimes it needs to be nasty and gritty. The Raiders’ defense turned the fourth quarter into absolute chaos, forcing four Saints turnovers in the final frame of the game.

A strip sack.

An interception.

Then a forced fumble.

Every time New Orleans tried to breathe, Las Vegas came crashing through that door. An 11-point deficit disappeared, and the Raiders stole a road game. That’s also how a team that finished last season with only three wins suddenly finds itself sitting at 3-0 and tied for first in the division.

 

New Orleans Had the Atmosphere but Vegas Had the Finish

This is the part worth remembering: the Saints had the crowd and the momentum. To top it off, they had an 11-point lead.

However, the Raiders had the fourth quarter, and in New Orleans, where the crowd can make a visiting team feel like it’s trying to run through a brick wall, Las Vegas somehow made the Superdome quiet when it mattered most.

You could almost hear the collective cheer, “What just happened?” The Saints had been in position to close this thing out. Instead, the Raiders ripped it away. No panic. No surrender. Just one more play, then another, and another until the scoreboard read RAIDERS 35 SAINTS 27, Ballgame.

 

3-0 Feels Different on This Team

Nobody is handing out the Lombardi in September. There are still plenty of games left, and tougher stretches are coming. But there is something different about a team that learns how to win a game it could have easily lost. The Raiders have now won three straight; they’ve shown they can score, they’ve shown they can respond to adversity, and, most importantly, on Sunday, they showed they can close the game out.

Don’t sleep on the fact that they did it on the road, inside one of the NFL‘s loudest buildings, after falling behind by double digits. That’s the kind of experience a team carries with it.

And now Raider Nation gets to enjoy the ride because the Raiders are going home 3-0.

 

Waiting for them in Week 4 is another undefeated team.

The Kansas City Chiefs are coming to Las Vegas, but that’s next week. For today, let New Orleans have its music, its food, its lights and its stories. The Saints had the home opener, but the Raiders had the last word. And somewhere beneath the Superdome lights, after four fourth-quarter turnovers and an 11-point comeback, the Silver and Black walked out of NOLA with a little more than a victory.

They walked out chanting.

Three and oh.

Laissez les bons temps rouler.

The Raiders are rolling, too.

 

Post-Game

“That’s a great job of our players. That’s what they’ve been doing since April. They believe in each other. They’re a tight group. Wasn’t pretty, but they found a way to win,” Klint Kubiak said.

The takeaways erased a 27-16 deficit and started a 19-0 run to close the game. Malcolm Koonce strip-sacked Tyler Shough, Hezekiah Masses intercepted him, Jeremy Chinn strip-sacked him on fourth down, and Nakobe Dean punched the ball loose on the final New Orleans possession. “It’s all about connection,” Maxx Crosby said. “We have a great group of guys who love playing football together. In those big moments, there’s no panic. We went down 11 and got together on the sideline and talked about not panicking. We just kept playing and knew there was a lot of football left.”

 

Masses’ interception return set the offense up at the New Orleans 4, and Bowers scored two plays later. Cousins, who now has nine touchdown passes and is the first quarterback to throw three touchdowns in each of his first three games with a team, gave the credit to the defense. “When the defense gives you the ball back on the 6-yard line, it’s a little easier to score touchdowns.”

“He’s been leading this way since April,” Kubiak said of Cousins. “So, not surprised with what he’s doing. He has the experience. He has the maturity. And he’s making plays.”

White was called up from the practice squad for a third straight week and scored his third touchdown of the season, the go-ahead catch with 9:21 to play. “There he is again,” Kubiak said. “All he does is work hard and produce. I’m very happy for No. 82. Glad we got him.”

Receiver Jack Bech, a native of nearby Lafayette, Louisiana, left before halftime of his homecoming game with a fractured forearm and will be evaluated Monday in Las Vegas. Right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson suffered a groin injury late in the game.

Next up is Kansas City, and Kubiak already had his eyes on it. “It’s a 17-game season,” Kubiak said. “We can’t be happy or satisfied with this win. We know what’s coming to our place next week, so let’s take it one game at a time, and that’s how you win games. Don’t look too far ahead. You don’t look behind. Just keep your eyes on the prize and get better every day.”

 

TOP PERFORMERS

	LAS VEGAS RAIDERS	NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Passing	Kirk Cousins 22-33, 248 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT	Tyler Shough 29-42, 255 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Ashton Jeanty 19-56 (2.9) Mike Washington Jr. 5-54 (10.8), 1 TD	Travis Etienne Jr. 13-57 (4.4) Alvin Kamara 9-36 (4.0)
Receiving	Brock Bowers 10-116, 1 TD Tre Tucker 4-43 Ashton Jeanty 3-37 Michael Mayer 3-32, 1 TD Cody White 1-4, 1 TD	Chris Olave 9-107 Juwan Johnson 8-53, 2 TD Devaughn Vele 3-39 Noah Fant 4-33, 2 TD
Tackles	Nakobe Dean 12 (1 FF) Jeremy Chinn 8 (1 sack, 1 FF) Taron Johnson 8 (1 FR) Quay Walker 8	Kaden Elliss 9 Danny Stutsman 7 Jonas Sanker 7
Sacks	Malcolm Koonce 1.0 (1 FF, 3 QB hits) Jeremy Chinn 1.0	Chase Young 2.0 Khristian Boyd 1.0
Interceptions	Hezekiah Masses 1-35	None
Kicking	Matt Gay 3-3 FG, long 41, 2-2 XP, 11 pts	Daniel Carlson 0-0 FG, 3-4 XP, 3 pts
Punting	AJ Cole 3-147 (49.0), long 62, 1 inside 20	Ryan Wright 3-132 (44.0), long 47, 1 inside 20
Returns	Dareke Young 2 KR-55 (27.5) Dylan Laube 1 KR-28 Malik Benson 1 PR-13	Jayden Price 4 KR-83 (20.8) Jayden Price 1 PR-11

 

TEAM STATS

	LAS VEGAS RAIDERS	NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
First Downs	24	27
Total Yards	340	381
Total Plays	63	72
Yards Per Play	5.4	5.3
Passing	227 (22-33)	233 (29-42)
Rushing	113 (27 att, 4.2)	148 (28 att, 5.3)
Third Down	7-12 (58.3%)	9-15 (60.0%)
Fourth Down	0-0	0-1
Red Zone	3-6	4-4
Sacks Allowed	3-21	2-22
Penalties	5-19	8-36
Turnovers	1	4
Time of Possession	27:32	32:28

Field Goals 3-3 | Red Zone 3-6 | Third Down 7-12 | Turnovers 1 | Attendance 70,006

 

Next up: Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, October 4, 2026, 1:25 p.m. PT, Allegiant Stadium, CBS

 

Franchise Sports Media. Las Vegas sports news about Las Vegas Sports teams.

– Jordan Vega – Franchise Sports Media

Follow Jordan on Instagram: @jordantvegas

Photography by TQ (@tqthetrojan) for Franchise Sports Media

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