The Raiders are just a few days away from their Week 2 matchup with the New Orleans Saints. To get you prepared for that contest, we talked with John Sigler, the managing editor of the Saints Wire. Here is what he had to say about the Saints and their game with the Raiders:
1. Michael Thomas is the best wide receiver in football. But he is likely out this week with an ankle injury. How big of a loss is that for the offense and how will New Orleans try to replace him?
Losing Thomas is huge, there’s no mistaking that. Even if he didn’t draw his typical target share in Week 1, his quiet day against the Buccaneers created a lot of problems for the Saints — which is a credit to Tampa Bay’s defense for containing him.
Without Thomas being an every-down option, Drew Brees sometimes struggled to get through his reads against a good Bucs pass rush. Expect the Saints to lean hard on Emmanuel Sanders, the veteran free agent New Orleans signed earlier this year. He and Brees put in work during the offseason in several training sessions together. Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook should each also see greater targets.
2. Drew Brees is 41 years old. Has his game dropped off in any big way over the last few seasons?
The narrative all summer has surrounded Brees’ arm strength, and there were times against Tampa Bay when he wouldn’t pull the trigger on a tight-window pass or a route deep downfield. But the real issues I noticed were with his rapid decision-making under pressure and his pinpoint accuracy on shorter throws. Brees didn’t consistently put the ball on his receivers’ outside shoulder or lead them into a pass in stride, which are usually strengths of his game.
Maybe it was Week 1 jitters, but it appears Brees is starting to feel his age more and more.
3. The Raiders managed to record just one sack in Week 1 vs. Carolina. How strong is the Saints’ offensive line and where is their biggest liability in the unit?
There might not be a better pair of bookend tackles around the league than in New Orleans, where Terron Armstead mans the left tackle spot with Ryan Ramczyk on the right side. As a group, they allowed just one sack to a talented Bucs defensive line. But their interior line play has had its ups and downs.
Left guard Andrus Peat is a high-variance pass protector but can make a real difference on run downs. Second-year center Erik McCoy is great, but he’s in a tough spot between Peat and an elevated backup right guard (Nick Easton, who started Week 1 in place of injured draft pick Cesar Ruiz).
Don’t anticipate much success off the edge, but the Raiders can disrupt the Saints by attacking the guards.
4. Give us one under-the-radar player for the Saints that could make a big impact in this contest.
A name to watch on defense is C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a defensive back out of Florida. He starts in the nickel package as a slot corner, predominately, but he tackles better than some linebackers.
The Bucs found that out the hard way by targeting him on six different first-down run plays, but he only allowed one gain of more than two yards (which went for just four yards).
But Gardner-Johnson can make plays in coverage, too, and he should have a great battle against Raiders slot receiver Hunter Renfrow.
5. Who do you expect to win this game and why?
I really like this matchup between the Saints defense and the Raiders offense. If the Saints run defense remains strong in the face of Josh Jacobs (they’ve gone 44 games straight without allowing a 100-yard rusher), they have the defensive backs to smother the Raiders passing game just like they limited Tom Brady’s Buccaneers.
On the other side of the ball, I expect the Saints offense to take a step back without Thomas, but I’m not convinced the Raiders defense can capitalize on that by consistently pressuring Brees.
Saints 24, Raiders 17
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