The Raiders are feeling pretty good right now sitting at 2-0. But with every week comes fresh concerns. And their trip to New Orleans to face the Saints (1-1) looks to be especially concerning in several ways. We take a look at three big ones.
1. Saints passing attack vs short handed secondary
No passing attack in the NFL is hotter than the one in New Orleans right now. QB Tyler Shough leads the NFL in passing with 662 yards through the air and his top receiver Chris Olave's 268 yards is second in the NFL in receiving yards. And it's not like they've faced two bad teams either. They faced the Lions in Week 1 and the Ravens in Week 2. This will be by far the toughest aerial attack the Raiders have faced this season so far.
The Raiders will do so without starting safety Treydan Stukes who is OUT
with a concussion. That means Isaiah Pola-Mao -- who Stukes was drafted to replace -- will start the game alongside Jeremy Chinn. Not ideal to not have your best five DB's on the field.
2. Hostile environment
Another first for the 2026 Raiders is facing a hostile environment. They opened at home and then went to an equally friendly crowd in Los Angeles against the Chargers. They will see the polar opposite of that in New Orleans where the Saints fans are always loud in the Caesar's Dome, but will be especially loud being that this is their home opener and the Saints have given them plenty to be excited about so about. The Raiders offense will be in a deafening situation, which means all silent calls and probably a few pre-snap penalties that will set them back.
3. Saints late game heroics
It's not how you start, but how you finish that matters. And no team this season has closed out games like the Saints. In both their first two matchups, they fell behind early. In the opener in Detroit, they fought back from down 21-0 in the third quarter to tie it up at 24-24 and take it to overtime. Last week they came roaring back to score twice in the fourth quarter to beat the Ravens 24-17 in Baltimore. So, even if the Raiders can come out swinging, they can't let up one bit because this Saints team comes through in the clutch.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: 3 causes for concern for Raiders Week 3 game vs Saints
