NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The NFL’s current Coach of the Year favorites will engage in a battle of wits Sunday (Sept. 27), when Klint Kubiak’s Las Vegas Raiders take on Kellen Moore’s Saints at Caesars Superdome.
Moore is the current favorite to win the award, listed at 5-1 at Caesars Sportsbook. Kubiak currently is the second choice, with odds of 9-1.
Former Saints coach Sean Payton is tied as the 25th choice on the Coach of the Year board, currently at 60-1 for Denver. But we digress.
The Kubiak-Moore confrontation pits the past two Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinators in an early season struggle to maintain their new teams’ surprisingly strong starts.
The Raiders (2-0) find themselves tied with the Kansas City Chiefs atop the AFC West Division, after defeating the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 (27-13) and upsetting the Los Angeles Chargers last week (26-14).
The Saints (1-1) also are in a first-place tie, with Carolina atop the NFC South. New Orleans is a two-point conversion away from its own 2-0 start, after a 31-30 overtime loss in Detroit, followed by a 24-17 road upset of the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday.
Caesars has listed the Saints as a 3½-point favorite over the Raiders for Sunday’s 3:25 p.m. game, the first time New Orleans has been favored before a kickoff this early season.
Kubiak, 39, spent the 2024 season as the Saints’ offensive coordinator under former coach Dennis Allen. He moved on to Seattle last season, winning a Super Bowl with the Seahawks that he parlayed into the head coaching opportunity with the Raiders.
“I’ve always loved what Klint’s done,” Moore said, referring to Kubiak’s offensive schemes. “He’s always done a really good job, from a run game and action game perspective, and giving the quarterback a chance to be successful.”
Kubiak has the Raiders off to their 2-0 start with 38-year-old journeyman Kirk Cousins at quarterback, and with Pro Bowl tight end Blake Bowers unavailable for the first two games after a minor knee surgery.
Moore, also 38 (born 6½ weeks before Cousins), said of the Raiders quarterback “it’s really cool to see what he’s doing.” The two were on the same Senior Bowl roster when Moore was a quarterback coming out of Boise State.
Moore won his Super Bowl ring as the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 2024-25, leading to his opportunity heading the Saints. After a 6-11 first season last year, Moore has New Orleans generating some national buzz behind the play of second-year QB Tyler Shough.
Shough enters Week 3 leading the NFL in completions (62) and passing yards (662). His top target, Chris Olave, ranks second in the league with 18 receptions and 268 receiving yards.
Kubiak called the Saints “a hot team” this week.
“They’re playing really good football,” Kubiak said earlier this week in Las Vegas. “Playing in their place, very loud environment, it will be a great challenge for our team.”
The Saints on Friday ruled out rookies WR Barion Brown (hamstring) and DL Christen Miller (toe) from Sunday’s game. The Raiders have listed Bowers (knee) as questionable and backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell (bereavement leave) as out.
_The Associated Press contributed to this report._
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