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Saints-Raiders | Week 2 Matchup

The New Orleans Saints will kick off their 2020 prime-time slate, the first of five nationally televised contests, when they go on the road for the debut of football in the desert, facing the Las Vegas Raiders in the opening of Allegiant Stadium on "Monday Night Football." While fans will not be present at the contest, the matchup will feature two clubs who both showed promise in winning their season openers in Week 1 as the Saints seek to get off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2013.

New Orleans is coming off a hard-fought 34-23 season opening victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that featured contributions from offense, defense and special teams. Despite the margin of victory, the Saints weren't able to feel completely comfortable in the contest until quarterback Taysom Hill completed a pass to running back Alvin Kamara that resulted in a 38-yard gain with 2:19 left. In their first contest since their relocation from Oakland, the Raiders weathered a contest with seven lead changes to defeat the Carolina Panthers 34-30 at Bank of America Stadium, on the strength of a late fourth quarter six-yard rushing touchdown by Silver and Black running back Josh Jacobs, the final of his three scoring rushes.

The all-time series between the Saints and the Raiders is tied 6-6-1, having been hosted at four stadiums, the Allegiant Stadium christening scheduled to be the fifth facility. This will be the third time the Saints and Raiders face off on "Monday Night Football," with the two clubs having split two meetings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the last a 27-0 Saints win in 1991.

On Sunday in a Mercedes-Benz Superdome devoid of fans, the New Orleans defense managed its own motivation by keeping pressure on the Buccaneers, while some key contributors on offense and special teams also stepped up.

After Tampa Bay marched down the field on their first offensive possession and quarterback Tom Brady scored on a 2-yard rushing touchdown, the New Orleans defense settled down and forced a three-and-out the next time. After the Saints tied the score early in the second quarter on a 12- yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Brees to Kamara, safety Marcus Williams picked off Brady on the next possession, setting up a drive that ended with a rushing touchdown for Kamara and a 14-point swing in less than two minutes of regulation.

Taking a 17-7 lead into halftime, New Orleans completed a 24-point swing when early in the third quarter cornerback Janoris Jenkins snuffed out an intended screen by Brady, picked it off and returned it 36 yards into the end zone for the eighth interception return for a touchdown of his nine-year career, tied for eighth in NFL record books.

Saints-Raiders | Week 2 Broadcast Information

• DATE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 2020 – 7:15 P.M. (CST)
• TV: ESPN/ABC (WGNO ABC 26 locally) – Steve Levy (play-by-play), Brian Griese and Louis Riddick (color analysts) and Lisa Salters (sideline)
• NATIONAL RADIO: Westwood One – Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) and Kurt Warner (color analyst)
• LOCAL RADIO: WWL (870 AM and 105.3 FM) – Zach Strief (play-by-play), and Deuce McAllister (color analyst)
• SPANISH LANGUAGE RADIO: KGLA (830 AM and 105.7 FM) – Mario Jerez (play-by-play), Juan Carlos Ramos and Victor Quinonez (color analysts)

Las Vegas Raiders | Top Stats in Week 1

• Derek Carr: 22/30 for 239 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
• Josh Jacobs: 25 carries for 93 yards and 3 TDs, 4 catches for 46 yards
• Henry Ruggs III: 3 catches for 55 yards
• Johnathan Abram: 13 tackles, 1 TFL

Full Box Score

New Orleans Saints | Top Stats in Week 1

• Drew Brees: 18/30 for 160 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT
• Alvin Kamara: 12 carries for 16 yards, 5 catches for 51 yards, 2 total TDs
• Janoris Jenkins: 9 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD
• Jared Cook: 5 catches for 80 yards
• C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 10 tackles, 1 PD

Full Box Score

Las Vegas Raiders | Week 1 Recap vs. the Carolina Panthers

from Raiders.com

The Silver and Black walked away from their Week 1 matchup with the Carolina Panthers with a 34-30 win, notching the first 'W' in Las Vegas Raiders' history.

Several things contributed to Coach Jon Gruden's group getting the victory Sunday, and many of those things are reflected in the numbers. Before Week 2 gets under way, let's check out the defining statistics from the game:

• Three touchdowns courtesy of Josh Jacobs.
• Zero sacks were allowed by the Raiders' offensive line.
• Nine receivers caught a pass.

View the full recap on Raiders.com

Saints-Raiders | Series history

The Saints and the Raiders have met 13 times with the series tied 6-6-1. The Saints are 3-3 in matchups played in Oakland and Los Angeles, with the Black and Gold capturing three straight contests in Oakland from 1997-2012.

The series has been defined by several hard-fought contests as six of the games have been decided by a touchdown or less. The first meeting in the series, which took place at Tulane Stadium on Oct. 23, 1968, ended in the first tie in franchise history at 21-21. New Orleans would not capture a win in the series until 20 years later to the day on Oct. 23, 1988, a 20-6 victory at the Superdome that improved its record at the time to 7-1.

The last time the two clubs met was on Sept. 11, 2016 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in a shootout between signal-callers Drew Brees and Derek Carr. The Raiders overcame a 424-yard, four touchdown performance by Brees as Carr connected with Oakland receiver Seth Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown with 47 seconds left and then with receiver Michael Crabtree for the two-point conversion. Kicker Wil Lutz, in his NFL debut, had a last-second 61-yard field goal attempt narrowly miss wide left as time expired.

Saints-Raiders | Statistical Comparison from 2019

Saints-Raiders | Connections

• Saints Coach Sean Payton and Las Vegas Coach Jon Gruden served on the same Philadelphia offensive staff in 1997
• Payton, Saints senior offensive assistant Curtis Johnson and Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable served on the same coaching staff at San Diego State in 1989. Johnson and Cable served on the same Idaho staff from 1987-88
• Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi and Cable served on the same Atlanta coaching staff in 2006. Payton tutored Raiders TE Jason Witten in Dallas from 2013-15
• Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen served as head coach of the Raiders from 2012-14
• New Orleans RB Latavius Murray was a sixth round draft pick of the Raiders in 2013 and played for them from 2013-16
• Saints TE Jared Cook played for the Raiders from 2017-18
• New Orleans assistant strength and conditioning coach Charles Byrd played defensive back for the Arena Football League's Las Vegas Gladiators in 2006
• New Orleans wide receivers coach Ronald Curry was a seventh round draft pick of the Raiders in 2002, playing in 76 career games with 32 starts and registering 193 receptions for 2,347 yards and 13 touchdowns from 2002-08. Cable served as Curry's head coach with the Raiders in 2008
• Saints S D.J. Swearinger Sr. played for the Raiders in 2019
• Saints QB Taysom Hill played at Brigham Young. Hill and Saints RB Ty Montgomery were tutored by Raiders Wide Receivers Coach Edgar Bennett when he served as offensive coordinator of the Packers
• Saints LB Chase Hansen and S Marcus Williams played at Utah. Hansen prepped at Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) HS. Hill's brother-in-law David Nixon, played linebacker for the Raiders in 2009
• Raiders Strength and Conditioning Assistant D'Anthony Batiste is a Marksville native, who played at Louisiana-Lafayette Saints LB Kaden Elliss prepped at Judge Memorial Catholic (Salt Lake City, Utah) HS
• Las Vegas Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia served on the University of Mississippi coaching staff from 1999-2001…New Orleans running backs coach Joel Thomas served on the same staff with Las Vegas assistant defensive backs coach Taver Johnson at Arkansas in 2013. Johnson tutored Saints S Malcolm Jenkins when he played at Ohio State from 2007-08
• New Orleans assistant head coach/ tight ends Dan Campbell played for Las Vegas defensive line coach Rod Marinelli when he was head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2006-08
• Raiders senior offensive assistant John Morton tutored Curry with the Raiders from 202-03 as senior offensive assistant/wide receivers, served as offensive assistant/passing game in New Orleans in 2006, worked with Curry on the San Francisco staff from 2012-14 and served as wide receivers coach of the Saints in 2016
• Brees was tutored by Las Vegas offensive coordinator Greg Olson when he coached quarterbacks at Purdue from 1997-2000. Olson also served as Allen's offensive coordinator with the Raiders from 2013-14, tutoring Murray
• New Orleans secondary coach Aaron Glenn served on Las Vegas defensive backs coach Jim O'Neil's defensive staff in Cleveland when he was defensive coordinator from 2014-15
• Raiders tight ends coach Frank Smith served as an offensive assistant in New Orleans from 2010-14. Smith served as Cook's position coach in Oakland in 2018
• Saints DB J.T. Gray and Raiders S Johnathan Abram were teammates at Mississippi State in 2018. Abram prepped at East Marion (Columbia, Miss.) HS
• Jenkins and Raiders WR Nelson Agholor were teammates in Philadelphia from 2015-19. Saints CB Patrick Robinson also played with Agholor in Philadelphia in 2017…Saints DT Malcom Brown and Las Vegas tackle Trent Brown were teammates in New England in 2018
• Saints S Erik Harris played for New Orleans in 2016
• Robinson and Raiders C Rodney Hudson were teammates at Florida State. Hudson prepped at Ben C. Rain (Mobile, Al.) HS…Saints C/G Cesar Ruiz and Raiders DT Maurice Hurst were teammates at Michigan in 2017. Hurst's father, Maurice, served as director of player programs of the Saints from 1998-99
• Saints LB Zack Baun, T Ryan Ramczyk and Raiders FB Alec Ingold were teammates at Wisconsin
• Montgomery and Raiders DE Datone Jones were teammates in Green Bay in Green Bay in 2016
• Saints CB Janoris Jenkins, Cook and Raiders CB Lamarcus Joyner were teammates with the St. Louis Rams from 2014-15. Saints CB P.J. Williams, QB Jameis Winston and Joyner were teammates at Florida State
• Raiders DE Arden Key played at LSU, where he was a teammate of New Orleans C/G Will Clapp.

Saints-Raiders | Series Fast Facts

• Saints' Largest Margin of Victory: 31 points, Saints won 34-3 on 10/12/08 at the Louisiana Superdome.
• Raiders' Largest Margin of Victory: 38 points, Raiders won 48-10 on 11/9/75 at Oakland Coliseum.
• Current Series Streak: Raiders won last contest, 9/11/16- Present.
• Saints' Longest Win Streak: Three games, 10/24/04-11/18/12.
• Raiders' Longest Win Streak: Three games, 11/9/75-10/13/85.
• Most Points by Saints in a Game: 38 points, Saints won 38-17 on 11/18/12 at O.co Coliseum.
• Most Points by Raiders in a Game: 42 points, Raiders won 42-35 on 12/4/79 at the Louisiana Superdome.
• Most Combined Points (Both Teams): 79 points, Raiders won 42-35 on 12/3/79 at the Louisiana Superdome.
• Fewest Points by Saints in a Game: 10 points, Raiders won 48-10 on 11/9/75 at Oakland Coliseum.
• Fewest Points by Raiders in a Game: Zero points, Saints won 27-0 on 12/16/91 at the Louisiana Superdome.
• Fewest Combined Points (Both Teams): 23 points, Saints won 13-10 on 11/9/97 at Oakland Coliseum.

Raiders | 2019 Season Recap

Coach: Jon Gruden
Quarterback: Derek Carr
2019 record: 7-9, third in AFC West

The Raiders concluded their time in Oakland with a 7-9 record, finishing three games above their 2018-win total. Underneath Jon Gruden, the Silver and Black fell short of a playoff berth but conclude the 2019 season moving in the right direction. Quarterback Derek Carr completed a career-high and new franchise-record 70.4 percent of his passes, finishing 361-513 and became the first quarterback in franchise history to record multiple seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards.

Rookie running back Josh Jacobs rushed for 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns while breaking the team's record for most Rookie of the Month awards. Jacobs was the only player in franchise history with multiple Rookie of the Month honors. The offensive line produced two Pro Bowlers, tackle Trent Brown and center Rodney Hudson. In 2020, the Raiders will enter their third season underneath head coach Jon Gruden in the club's new home city, Las Vegas. Gruden and the team look to improve their record in 2020 with a young, athletic, core group of players.

Las Vegas Raiders | Notable 2020 Additions

• Linebacker – Cory Littleton
• Linebacker – Nick Kwiatkoski
• Tight end – Jason Witten

Las Vegas Raiders | Notable 2020 Losses

• Safety – Karl Joseph
• Quarterback – Mike Glennon
• Cornerback – Daryl Worley