The New Orleans Saints failed to protect their home turf, falling to the Las Vegas Raiders 35-27. With the offense still showing up, it was actually the defense that woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Sunday.
It quickly became apparent on the afternoon that the Saints would not be able to contain Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers, allowing him to have over 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in his season debut. Vegas clearly knew when to attack the New Orleans linebackers, who have been better at tackling than coverage this year. Kaden Elliss in particular could've done better and showed a few flashes of why the Saints moved on from him in the first place.
Folding every time that a tight end on the field really didn't help things, as the Brandon Staley-led unit truly had their worst game of the season so far. Giving up a total of four touchdowns, 248 passing yards, and 116 rushing yards, it was the first time in 2026 that the defense has been a reason for a Saints loss. As the season goes on, they have to get as far away from this version of themselves as they can
The Saints' defense was just frustrating
The defense started the season okay enough, allowing just one first-half touchdown against the Lions in week one. Week two was even better, with them holding future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry to under 100 yards on the ground. But they weren't able to hold anybody back against the Raiders, as Kirk Cousins threw for nearly 250 yards and had two separate tight ends do a touchdown dance in their endzone.
It gets worse when you see how they choked in the fourth quarter, losing the lead in the game as Bowers and the Vegas offense scored 13 unanswered points. At least they were able to make them miss their two-point attempts, which kept the game close. However, those stops weren't enough to boost the offense, who put up a frustrating performance in the final minutes.
The good thing is that it's early in the season and that it's fixable. Heck, the pass rush still showed up, sacking Cousins three times on the day, but it's not up to just them to hold an opposing offense back; it's all 11 men on the defense. A tweak here or a tweak there to how he handles tight ends and Elliss in coverage will have to be made, unless the defense wants to be the reason the Saints lose on the national stage.
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