By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer
AP file photo: You might see a lot of this more often Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) and wide receiver Amari Cooper (89) jumping for joy in this Aug 27th photo against the Tennessee Titans as they open up in New Orleans on Sunday
OAKLAND, Calif — With the preseason in the rear view window, the 2016 regular season begins for real for the Oakland Raiders as they open up on the road in New Orleans against the Saints in Week 1 action.
Kickoff is at 10:00 a.m. PT at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome where the Raiders are a 3-point favorite to notch their first win of what people are predicting will be a great year for the Silver & Black. The game can be seen locally on KTVU/FOX Channel 2, making breakfast and football a perfect match.
Sunday’s game will mark the first time Oakland has opened up against an NFC opponent on the road since 1999, where Oakland traveled to Green Bay to start that season.
This will also mark the first time that Oakland and New Orleans face each other in the regular season opener.
With the Raiders hosting the Atlanta Falcons next week in Oakland’s home opener, it will also mark the first time since 1999 that Oakland (who played the Packers and Vikings), will begin the season facing two NFC opponents in back-to-back weeks.
Quarterback Derek Carr leads a promising Raiders’ offense headlined by wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper. In four preseason games, Crabtree and Cooper combined for 10 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown.
Crabtree and Cooper are primed to have huge seasons for Oakland, which is looking to end the team’s playoff drought, dating back to 2002, the team’s last playoff appearance.
Oakland is hoping with the additions of rookie running backs DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard added to the backfield with starter Latavius Murray can make the offense more diverse. Oakland was a pass-first, run-second team last season, even though Murray was one of only seven running backs in 2015 to rush for 1,000 yards (1,066 rushing yards to be exact).
Defensively, Oakland had trouble stopping the run in the preseason.The Raiders were getting gashed by beefy running backs like Green Bay’s Eddie Lacy, and Tennessee’s duo of DeMarco Murray and rookie Derrick Henry.
Oakland will be without defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr. for at least the first eight weeks of the season due to a hip injury. Edwards Jr., along with defensive tackles Dan Williams and Justin “Jelly” Ellis are so critical to the Raiders’ run defense.
New Orleans features former Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram, Tim Hightower, and C.J. Spiller in the back field and each can run the ball well between the tackles, a weakness for Oakland.
The Raiders’ rebuilt secondary could be in for a long day when it faces one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL in Drew Brees.
Brees, who enters his 16th year in the NFL, is coming off a season where he threw for a league-leading 4,870 yards in 2015. It was the seventh time in Brees’ career that he threw for over 4,500 yards in a season.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback continues to get better with time and still plays at a high level at age 38, as evident of the new deal he signed on Wednesday.
Details of Brees’ new deal, provided by Spotrac, Brees will pocket roughly $44 million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons, with $20 million coming in 2016 and only $17.25 million going towards the salary cap.
The deal will almost certain guarantee that Brees finishes his career in New Orleans, the franchise he led to a Super Bowl title in 2009.
Wide receiver Brandin Cooks leads a dangerous Saints’ passing attack. The third-year wide receiver from Oregon State, recorded his first career 1,000-yard receiving season finishing with 84 catches, 1,138 yards, and nine touchdowns, which Cooks led the team in all categories in 2015.
One Saints player to really keep an eye on is second-year wide receiver Willie Snead, who burst on to the scene last season for New Orleans recording 69 catches for 984 yards and three touchdowns.
Former Raiders head coach Dennis Allen enters his first full season as the Saints’ defensive coordinator. Allen, who has seven total seasons on New Orleans’ defensive staff, looks to improve a defense that ranked 31st last season in rushing yards per game allowed (129.8), passing yards per game allowed (284.0) and total yards per game allowed (413.8).
With the additions of veterans in defensive tackle Nick Fairley, linebacker James Laurinaitis, and defensive end Paul Kruger, to go along with mainstay in defensive end Cameron Jordan, the Saints are hoping to provide more pressure to the quarterback this season.
With both teams having suspect defenses heading into the match up, this game could be an offensive barrage by both teams and could come down to which team has the better, more confident quarterback in the fourth quarter.
Will it be Brees, who is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in NFL history and holds a 8-2 career record (19 touchdowns and four interceptions) against Oakland?
Or will it be Carr, who is 4-12 on the road in his young career, but has thrown 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions in those games?
Sunday is almost here.
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