New Orleans Saints
Home Sweet Dome.
The New Orleans Saints return back to Casears Superdome for the first time since their August 15 preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and first regular-season game since December 21, 2025. It’s been quite a while, but there’s something to look forward to, as they face off against the undefeated Las Vegas Raiders.
Returning off a stunning seven-point victory against Jesse Minter’s Baltimore Ravens, all momentum has changed for the Saints, and it couldn’t have been said better than the man himself, Chris Olave.
“I feel like since I’ve been here, we haven’t really beaten a good team. To come in here and get a ‘W’ was huge for us,” Olave told Matthew Paras of Nola.com.
Las Vegas is sitting comfortably in the AFC West behind the Kansas City Chiefs at 2-0. Sunday will be the second-straight away game this season for this franchise; yet, there’s various storylines and aspects of this matchup to unfold. Without further delay, let’s begin.
Several Storylines to Watch in Week 3: New Orleans Saints vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Kirk Cousins Faces a Former Rival
Ahead of Las Vegas’ 2026 campaign, head coach Klint Kubiak announced Kirk Cousins as the starting quarterback for the Raiders over No.1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. This decision took longer than expected, but it was worth the wait.
In two games, Cousins is playing his best football to date, passing for over 400 yards, completing 67.8% of his passing attempts, and a superb 100.5 passer rating. This rating puts the third-highest paid quarterback in NFL history, near Super Bowl LIX Jalen Hurts (100.7), and the reigning 2025 AP NFL MVP Matthew Stafford (101.9).
It’s also worth noting that Cousins has played this team nine times in his career, earning a 5-4 record against the franchise. Unfortunately for the Saints, one of those was a 2019 Wild Card defeat at home.
During his brief stint with Atlanta, Cousins had a winning record of 3-1 against New Orleans, and the Saints only got the best of him once in November of 2024.
This record can change for both respective sides on Sunday, and most certainly you can expect veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan to put his best foot forward in this one, as he infamously called out Cousins dating back to 2023.
Travis Etienne’s Amount of Workload
This past offseason, New Orleans signed Louisiana native Travis Etienne to a four-year, $52 million deal, after previously securing his third-career 1,000 rushing season campaign with Jacksonville. Given the money Mickey Loomis and the Saints spent on the 27 year old, an increase in workload was expected alongside Alvin Kamara.
That case hasn’t translated through the first two games of 2026, finishing below 20 carries after Week 2, solidifying him at No.39 among all league rushers. Despite his amount of carries, Etienne is averaging 4.2 yards which is more than notable running backs like Breece Hall, Ashton Jeanty and De’Von Achane; however, in terms of carries they’re ranked above. The unfortunate reality of this situation is quarterback Tyler Shough achieving a rushing attempt total of 13, only four-number margin behind the former Clemson standout.
According to Saints journalist Nick Underhill, Etienne was limited in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practice with a hamstring injury, a major concern against a Raiders’ defense allowing an average of 100.5 yards to backs. Though it’s still early in the season, Kellen Moore should utilize Etienne more offensively, because statistically he can provide when given the opportunity.
The Potential Neutralization of Ashton Jeanty and Tre Tucker
Drafted in 2025, former Heisman candidate Jeanty has completely transformed Las Vegas into a hard-hitting, bell cow backfield. The same couldn’t be said more with former Cincinnati Bearcat standout Tre Tucker, who has proven to be the teams’ No.1 target in recent years.
He showed this most last year against the Washington Commanders, scoring three touchdowns in Week 2, a career-high, and this past Sunday, leading the Raiders with over 100 receiving yards. In December 2025, Jeanty couldn’t be contained against the Houston Texans, rushing for 128 yards and logging touchdowns in both receiving and rushing.
These are prime examples of how liable these two are two Las Vegas’ offense with or without Brock Bowers. If not contained both can explode, potentially defining the game in its entirety.
Tucker will most likely match up against former Alabama standout Kool-Aid McKinstry. According to PFF’s player grading system, McKinstry has allowed a 120.1 passer rating when targeted by quarterbacks, and 12.5 yards per reception on 81 coverage snaps. This isn’t great whatsoever for the third-year starting corner, despite being in the vicinity of a potential rookie contract extension in 2027.
Containing the run still remains an issue for Brandon Staley’s defensive unit, as they place 27th out of 32 with approximately 136.5 yards allowed per game. Improvement was shown in Week 2 at M&T Bank Stadium, holding Derrick Henry under 70 rushing yards, but given the amount of carries Jeanty receives, the effort put on defense will need to heavily be on display.
The Last Word: Tyler Shough Has the Final Say
The beginning of the regular season for most quarterbacks is still a learning process. A process to translate the assembled chemistry from training camp, OTA’s, and preseason, to the ever-so demanding 18-game schedule. That can be difficult, especially for a young quarterback entering his sophomore season in the league.
New Orleans dealt with this in a different way, sitting Shough throughout the preseason for Spencer Rattler, Zach Wilson and former Saints quarterback Hunter Dekkers. From being a second-round pick, to one of the most evaluated quarterbacks this offseason, based on his notorious nine-game stretch for the team in 2025, and not starting wasn’t ideal. It was odd.
Nevertheless, he showed up, better yet—he performed. 400 passing yards against Detroit in Week 1, to then passing for 252 yards and scoring a controversial game-winning touchdown against the Ravens, being one of the major reasons in the Saints success this early into the season. As of late, Shough leads the league in passing and yards thrown per game (331).
If Shough maintains this performance, he can legitimately be a serious MVP candidate, similarly to Drake Maye’s sophomore leap in 2025.
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Main Photo Courtesy of Jamie Sabau – Imagn Images