MNF Preview Saints vs Raiders

MNF Preview: Saints vs. Raiders

After a long and rich history in Oakland, the Las Vegas Raiders will host their first game in Allegiant Stadium, taking on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. While there will be no fans to support in the stands, many people will be tuning in to the historic event to watch the first game in Las Vegas. Let us analyze the matchup and predict who comes out on top.

New Orleans Saints

After a gutsy 34-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Saints will be without their star receiver Michael Thomas for a couple of weeks with a high ankle sprain. Despite this, New Orleans is loaded on both sides of the ball and are favored to win this game, even on the road. Drew Brees will look to continue his success after finding the endzone twice. With Thomas out for the game, Emmanuel Sanders should see a lot more targets. Look for the Saints to use the running game at a premium, featuring Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray. Defensively, New Orleans needs to key on Josh Jacobs, who is the focal point of the Raiders offense, and make Derek Carr beat them with his arm.

Las Vegas Raiders

After a win in an offensive battle with the Carolina Panthers, Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders will have a tall task in Week 2 against the powerhouse New Orleans Saints. In Week 1, the offense shined, putting up 34 points. Josh Jacobs led the way with 3 touchdowns on the ground. Vegas held off a comeback by Carolina, ultimately coming out with the win. For the Raiders to win this Monday night battle, the Raiders are going to have to control the clock and keep the Saints offense off the field. Josh Jacobs should expect a heavy workload against the stout Saints defense. The Raiders are going to have to limit their mistakes, because they will all prove costly against a team as good as the Saints

My Prediction

Even with the new stadium opening and all the hype surrounding the game, I believe the Saints will still come out on top. New Orleans is deep on both sides of the ball and the Raiders are going to have an extremely tough time slowing down the New Orleans offense. New Orleans will win by a score of 28-10 and move to 2-0.

Stats from profootballreference.com