Raiders comeback against Saints hints at something special…
NEW ORLEANS — It was cute at first.
The Raiders beat the Dolphins, then the Chargers, and a team that gained three games last season immediately had gained its first two this 12 months.
Good for them. Nice little story. Give them some consideration while there was still a cause to.
You may nearly sense the remainder of the nation ready for actuality to reach. The other shoe would drop. The Raiders would return to being the Raiders, then disappear into the background the place they’ve spent a lot of the last three a long time.
Sunday, the acquainted ending gave the impression to be writing itself.
The Saints had wrestled away management, the Superdome was roaring, and the Raiders had been staring at an 11-point deficit with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter.
The Raiders had been again to being the Raiders. After so many collapses and a lot hapless soccer, who may blame anybody for pondering it?
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) calls a play in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES through Reuters Connect
“I just remember in past years, being down 11, it’s kind of like, the game’s over with,” said Raiders huge receiver Tre Tucker.
Except those Raiders never confirmed up.
“Not for us,” Tucker said.
Business as standard turned something however. The Raiders pressured turnovers on the Saints’ final 4 possessions, scored 19 unanswered factors and walked out with a 35-27 victory that retains difficult what we expect we all know about them.
Cute not covers it.
“You just keep playing,” said quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Simple recommendation. It carries more weight when the quarterback delivering it will possibly present everybody how.
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Cousins is proving he’s more than a bridge to prized younger quarterback Fernando Mendoza. There is still life in his arm, knowledge in his choices and a steadiness that can settle a sideline when a game threatens to unravel.
Sunday, he helped the Raiders flip panic into poise, then poise into profitable soccer.
“Playing through the smoke,” Cousins said. “Which is inevitably what’s going to happen in this league.”
You don’t go into New Orleans, fall behind by double digits in the second half, and take the complete afternoon again without carrying something significant out with you.
Something past a 3rd victory.
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) catches a landing cross as New Orleans Saints security Jonas Sanker, rear, defends during the second half of an NFL soccer game in New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Something that makes you wonder if a franchise with only two playoff appearances since Rich Gannon quarterbacked it to the Super Bowl in 2002 would possibly lastly be constructing something value believing in.
And wouldn’t you recognize it?
The archrivals and up to date tormentors arrive in Las Vegas next week, just as the Raiders are making it more and more tough to dismiss their start as a pleasing September diversion.
That dialog can wait a day.
First, recognize how they earned it.
On a day when the working game struggled to search out traction, rookie Mike Washington Jr. broke unfastened for a 36-yard landing that lower the deficit to 27-22.
Hard to search out working backs with the explosiveness Raiders rookie Mike Washington Jr. has at 223 kilos … 97th percentile 40 (4.33).He was top 10 in the Power 4 in 15+-yard runs (17) and breakaway fee (48.3%) at Arkansas last season. pic.twitter.com/5BdEmDcXGU— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) September 27, 2026
One opening. One burst. A cause to consider again.
“A huge run,” said Cousins.
Then Malcolm Koonce sacked Tyler Shough and knocked the ball unfastened, with Maxx Crosby lastly securing the recovery.
Cousins turned that alternative right into a landing cross to Cody White, the observe squad receiver whose third landing in two games provided another reminder that contributions can come from wherever.
Rookie cornerback Zeke Masses adopted along with his third interception in two games. Cousins capitalized with a 4-yard landing throw to Brock Bowers, and immediately the Raiders led 35-27.
“The defense just kept showing up for us in the second half,” said Cousins.
That protection wasn’t finished, though.
Jeremy Chinn delivered a strip sack that Taron Johnson recovered. Then Nakobe Dean knocked the ball unfastened from Juwan Johnson and scooped it up himself.
Four straight Saints possessions ended with the Raiders taking the soccer.
Four separate reminders that this team had little interest in cooperating with the anticipated collapse.
Dean embodied that refusal.
His sideline-to-sideline presence gave the protection a participant able to influencing the game wherever the Saints tried to take it. When they wanted one final cease, he equipped each the disruption and the recovery.
New Orleans Saints working again Travis Etienne Jr. (3) is tackled by Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Nakobe Dean (17) in the second half at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES through Reuters Connect
“We knew we had to rally back,” Dean said. “We had to start back to playing our football.”
Those are the performs that flip offseason additions into foundations.
Cousins offers another.
There is something to be said for having a quarterback whose experience can decrease the temperature when every little thing round him is heating up.
An 11-point deficit in the Superdome could make every possession really feel like the last one. It can tempt a quarterback into making an attempt to win the game with one throw.
Cousins provides the Raiders somebody who understands there may be still a next play.
His worth extends past delivering the ball. It is the steadiness he brings to the people ready for him to ship it.
“He’s poised, he’s confident. He just commands,” said Tucker. “There’s not enough words to describe him.”
Sunday, Cousins had a well-known difference-maker out there for the first time this season.
Bowers returned from knee surgical procedure and promptly caught 10 passes for 116 yards and a landing.
So a lot for alleviating again into issues.
The Raiders had figured out learn how to win without their best cross catcher. His return confirmed how a lot more they’ll develop into with him.
He provides Cousins a solution when a play wants one, instructions consideration that can profit everybody else and makes the offense more tough to include.
But Sunday mattered because the solutions went properly past Bowers.
They got here from a rookie working again, a rookie cornerback, a receiver working to determine his place and defenders taking turns making the largest play of the game.
That is how perception turns into something tangible.
Players cease ready for another person to rescue them. They start anticipating the next contribution to return from wherever, including themselves.
There are flaws, definitely.
The working game wants consistency. Falling behind by double digits and forcing 4 consecutive turnovers isn’t any weekly components.
Klint Kubiak has a lot to scrub up.
Kirk Cousins (8) of the Las Vegas Raiders throws during the second quarter against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. Getty Images
But there’s a distinction between explaining why a team misplaced and correcting what practically price it a victory.
The Raiders preserve incomes the latter dialog.
Now they get the opponent that can provide all of this another dimension.
Beating the Chiefs wouldn’t settle every query. Losing wouldn’t erase what occurred right here.
But the Raiders have earned the proper to method that game with something more substantial than hope that their rivals have an off day.
They have proof of their very own resilience, their very own depth and their very own ability to alter a game.
And that is real progress.
The first two weeks made them attention-grabbing.
Sunday made you surprise how far this would possibly go.
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