For the second week in a row, the Las Vegas Raiders won a game that they typically would have lost in past years with their Week 3 35-27 victory over the New Orleans Saints
. The Raiders started the second half about as poorly as they could, going three-and-out and fumbling a kickoff return to fall behind by two possessions with a little more than 20 minutes of game time left.The Saints had all of the momentum, signalling a classic loss that Las Vegas has come accustomed to under the previous regimes.
However, new head coach Klint Kubiak has changed the culture, and the Silver and Black never stopped fighting or gave in.
The Raiders defense certainly didn’t have its best performance, giving up a season-high 27 points. But when it mattered most in the fourth quarter, the unit managed to create a turnover on every drive the Saints had with three fumbles and an interception during the final frame. On top of that, Kubiak engineered two touchdown drives to play complementary football.
That puts the Silver and Black at a perfect 3-0 heading into October, making the culture change feel tangible. The vibes are high in Sin City, leading us into the internet’s reaction to the hot start.
There’s a much different tune in the locker room compared to this point in the season last year.
Even Chargers fans have to give Kubiak props.
The interception: good rush from Malcolm Koonce and good ball tracking from Hezekiah Masses.
Nakobe Dean = baller.
The strip-sack that set up the W.
Defying odds.
Brock Bowers with a casual 10 catches, 116 yards and a touchdown in his season debut.
A few thoughts from our community chat (click the links/quotes below to join the conversation):
- Loved the way how Koonce picked up the slack with a key strip where Maxx was lacking today. Love the way Washing put a spark in the run game when Jeanty was struggling. Jeremy Chin tried to hold down with the safety position. Loved the way the rookie Zeke Masses kept fighting. I can’t say enough about LBs Dean and Walker’s play every minute as always. — Raidwin
- I’m blown away. I don’t even know how to comprehend this. That was the game of the week, maybe the NFL season so far. F’ing Raiders play 60 minutes, finally. This is good s***! — 17 Bob Trey 0
- I’m just going to say it. We are developing a nasty D. Not perfect, but when is the last time we ended a game with 4 turnovers? — seayuh
- There were some mistakes this game (Laube fumble, IPM being a bad coverage safety), but thank goodness the rest of the defense bailed us out. — WilliamDoe
- How big a get was Dean!!!! — WalkdaPlank
- What is this feeling? It’s been so long not sure how to feel! — Raiders_0075
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