The Las Vegas Raiders will look to spoil the New Orleans Saints' Week 3 home opener with a win and a 3-0 start. This is an intriguing matchup between teams that have shown early signs of promise during the 2026 NFL season.
Las Vegas could get an offensive boost from All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers, who's questionable for Sunday, but reports are indicating will play. With or without him, head coach Klint Kubiak should focus on a glaring weakness in the Saints' defensive front.
On the opposite side of the trenches, defensive coordinator Rob Leonard must put pressure on backup left tackle Asim Richards, who will fill in for Kelvin Banks Jr., whom the Saints placed on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. All of this matters in what should be a close contest.
Here are three predictions for the matchup.
Raiders will have opportunities to make plays against the Saints' high-flying offense while establishing a ground-and-pound attack
Raiders rush for 100-plus yards in total
Most fans are either excited or anxious about Bowers' return from a meniscus trim, but the most effective way to attack the Saints' defense is on the ground anyway.
New Orleans fields the 26th-ranked run defense, which has allowed five yards per carry. Even if you exclude Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson's four rush attempts for 34 yards, the Saints are still giving up about 4.7 yards per carry.
Running back Ashton Jeanty and the offensive linemen struggled against the Los Angeles Chargers last week. Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. logged 24 rush attempts for 55 yards; both averaged 2.3 yards per carry.
The Raiders' ground attack should have more success against a weaker defensive front that can be pushed around at the line of scrimmage.
Malcolm Koonce records at least one sack
As mentioned, New Orleans will start Richards in place of Banks at left tackle. The backup offensive lineman has five career starts in four seasons, four of them last year.
As a starter in 2025, Richards allowed 16 pressures, including two sacks, giving up at least five pressures in three of those starts, per Pro Football Focus.
The Raiders' edge rushers will be licking their chops as they try to tee off on quarterback Tyler Shough, who's taken eight sacks in two games. The Saints will likely bring in help to chip-block on Shough's blind side, but it may not be enough to slow down Leonard's unit, which leads the NFL with a 45.6% pressure rate.
On the far right side of the Raiders' defensive line, which will be lined up against the Saints' backup left tackle, Malcolm Koonce could wreck this game. In two weeks, he's taken the most pass-rushing snaps on the left side of the opposing team's offensive line, per PFF.
From the same side, Kwity Paye is second on the Raiders in pass-rushing snaps, but he's battling an illness that kept him out of practice on Thursday and limited him on Friday.
After registering 1.5 sacks last week, Koonce can put together another strong outing, showing signs of the player who broke out at the end of the 2023 season.
Raiders defense records at least one takeaway
Although the Saints aren't one-dimensional, they rely heavily on their aerial attack, currently ranked second in pass attempts. Shough has fared well in a pass-heavy offense. He's thrown for 662 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Since Shough made his first start under center in Week 9 of the previous season, New Orleans has turned the ball over at least once in nine of 11 games. With an advantageous matchup at the line of scrimmage and Shough likely under duress, the Raiders have a good chance to come away with at least one takeaway.
It's worth noting that Shough has fumbled three times (lost one) in addition to his two interceptions in two games.
Moe Moton writes about the Raiders for Just Blog Baby. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.
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