Biggest Treats From Saints Terrorizing of Raiders

New Orleans made the Caesars Superdome a House of Horrors for the Raiders on Sunday. Here were the Saints top performers from a dominating performance.

Author:
Bob Rose
Publish date:
Oct 31, 2022 1:45 PM EDT

In this story:

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints gave everyone in attendance at the Caesars Superdome an early Halloween treat with a 24-0 slashing of the Las Vegas Raiders. New Orleans had control of the game from the start and improved their record to 3-5 with their easiest win of the year.

The Saints defense took out the Las Vegas offense like a B-character in a horror movie. New Orleans allowed just 183 yards of total offense and did not permit the Raiders to even cross midfield until just two minutes left in the game.

Offensively, the Saints dominated the line of scrimmage, controlled the football, and did not commit a single turnover for only the second time this year. Andy Dalton had an efficient performance at quarterback, completing 73% of his throws for 229 yards and two scores.

New Orleans got a spectacular performance from their offensive line and relied on three stars to move the ball. A defense that had been underwhelming much of the year showed exactly why they were expected to be an elite unit coming into 2022.

This victory was an all-around team effort, but here are the players who caused the most nightmares for the Raiders on Sunday.

Alontae Taylor, CB

Playing without corners Marshon Lattimore and Bradley Roby, the entire Saints secondary had a spectacular effort against a respected Raiders passing attack. New Orleans broke up nine passes and limited Raiders QB Derek Carr to just 101 yards passing before giving way to Jarrett Stidham on the final drive.

Rookie CB Alontae Taylor was the star of the unit. The second-round pick out of Tennessee was targeted four times. He gave up one reception for just two yards while breaking up three passes. It was his second straight stellar outing after a strong performance against Arizona last week.

Saints coverage allowed Vegas wideouts Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow to just two catches for nine yards on seven combined targets. Taylor was often matched up on Adams, one of the league's premier receivers. The young Taylor made Adams irrelevant. He caught just one pass in five targets for three yards.

Taylor's coverage ability allowed the Saints to employ the aggressive coverage packages they normally do when Lattimore is in the lineup. He also provided exemplary run support, cutting down Jacobs at the edge a few times. A surprising draft choice, Taylor has shown why the Saints were so enamored with him over the last two weeks, his first significant action as a pro.

Defensive Line

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) hits Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) just as he gets rid of the football. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Raiders RB Josh Jacobs came into this contest with three straight games of over 140 yards rushing. The Saints held him to a paltry 43 yards on 10 carries and recording 7 tackles for loss. Their pass rush also came to life, sacking Carr four times, having another nullified by penalty, and registering 9 QB hits.

It was such a strong group effort by the entire unit that, like a piece of Halloween candy, it’s impossible to pick just one. Defensive tackles David Onyemata (1 sack) and Kentavius Street (half sack) got great penetration into the Raiders backfield, stopping Jacobs in his tracks and pressuring Carr all afternoon.

Second-year DE Payton Turner finally showed signs of life, leading all players with two sacks. Ends Cam Jordan (half sack) and Marcus Davenport combined to have two tackles for loss and two QB hits along with several pressures. Davenport also had another sack reversed because of a questionable penalty.

The New Orleans defensive line terrorized Las Vegas blocking throughout the contest. Their dominance allowed the secondary to be more aggressive with their schemes and permitted linebackers Pete Werner (11 tackles) and Demario Davis an unimpeded path to the ball.

Alvin Kamara, RB

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) eludes Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo (5). Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY

As expected, Taysom Hill and Chris Olave were big contributors to the offense. However, Alvin Kamara was the Michael Myers to the Raiders defense. Kamara was heavily involved early, getting 10 touches on the Saints two first half touchdown drives.

Unbelievably, Kamara did not have a single touchdown through five games this season. That changed with a vengeance on Sunday. He accounted for all three of the game’s touchdowns. First a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give the Saints their first points of the day, then a 16-yard scoring reception to give New Orleans a 17-0 lead at halftime.

Kamara capped off the day’s scoring by taking a perfect pass from Dalton for a 36-yard touchdown catch to open the third quarter. After that, the dominance of the Saints defense and offensive line just pummeled the Raiders for the rest of the game.

Kamara finished the day with 62 yards rushing and a score on 18 carries and added 9 receptions for 96 yards and two more scores. His 158 total yards were more than the entire Las Vegas offensive output until a garbage-time drive at the end of the game.

This was a dominant performance by the entire New Orleans team that did it without stars like Marshon Lattimore, Michael Thomas, and Jarvis Landry. With the return of those players expected soon, the performance of a short-handed New Orleans team may have sent shudders of terror through the rest of the NFL.