Oakland Raiders (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) vs. New Orleans Saints (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS)
Week 1 NFL
Date/Time: Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 1PM EST
Where: Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
TV: Fox
By Loot, NFL Football Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Point Spread: OAK +1/NO -1
Over/Under Total: 51
The Oakland Raiders come to the Superdome to face the New Orleans Saints in week one Sunday action. Both teams were 7-9 last year, not so good for a recent Super Bowl champion in the Saints, but a good sign for the Oakland Raiders who equaled their win total from the previous two seasons combined. The Raiders are looking to keep their trajectory going upward, while the Saints look to get on the right track again.
With a defense ranked last in points allowed at nearly 30 per game, the Saints were not able to see their still-illustrious aerial attack take shape. With 4870 yards through the air, Drew Brees was again NFL passing champion. New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen certainly has his work cut out for him with a "D" that has spent recent seasons in the dumps for the most part. Oakland is looking for nice things to happen on both sides of the ball. A young offense is now a year older and Derek Carr is in his third season after a year where he threw for nearly 4000 yards with 32 touchdowns. They are also looking for some improvement on the other side of the ball after being the 22nd-ranked defense in 2015.
Carr is on the right path and his 32 touchdown passes were the most for the Raiders since 1969. The offense got a boost with Latavius Murray going over 1000 yards, while Marcel Reese remains a great weapon at fullback. Problem is he won't be back until week 4. The receiving crew nearly had a pair of 1000-yard receivers with Amari Cooper at 1070 yards as a rookie and Michael Crabtree at 922 yards. Mychal Rivera and Clive Watford make a nice combo at tight end and should see their pass-catching production go up.
What would really allow the Oakland offense to take the next step would be a line that does a little better of an overall job. Getting Kelechi Osemele from Baltimore gives them nice inside presence and with Gabe Jackson at the other guard slot and Rodney Hudson at center, they should spring a little bit better of a run game. Look for coordinator Bill Musgrave and line coach Mike Tice to find some more answers with this bunch in 2016—making Oakland a more-consistent and dependable producer on offense.
Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio's expertise should take greater hold on the defensive side of the ball. With Khalil Mack more of an end now, his pass-rushing prowess could reach epic proportions this season, as he isn't that far from Von Miller-like status. Run-stuffers Dan Williams and Justin Ellis round out a tough front. Free agent acquisition Bruce Irvin should help the linebacker crew, with Dan Heeney and Malcolm Smith. It's should be an effective trio. The secondary was the worst part of this defense a season ago and needs to replace Charles Woodson now. Getting safety Reggie Nelson (questionable) from Cincy was a big move, as was acquiring corner Sean Smith from Kansas City. They spent the 14th pick on another safety in Karl Joseph. Smith joins David Amerson at corner, with rookie Joseph joining Nelson to form a strong starting unit that should make gains this season.
Brees still has the arm and will be working with a deep cast of playmakers on the New Orleans offense. This isn't the year where that's going to change. The lion's share of catches look to be split up with Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead. TE Benjamin Watson departs, leaving incoming Coby Fleener the tight end work. They would get a big boost with a healthy Mark Ingram—a threat running and catching balls out of the backfield. Maybe a healthier CJ Spiller can make an impact. Second-round Ohio State rookie Michael Thomas figures to see some time.
The selection of first-round pick DT Sheldon Rankins will start to address a Saints' "D" that was run ragged in 2015 and applied no pressure. Nick Fairley looks to help beef up their run-defense, with Cameron Jordan applying a nice pass-rush on one end. The defense could get a boost with the signing of linebacker James Laurinaitis, the kind of vocal leader they've missed in the middle in recent seasons. Stephone Anthony is in his second season and with Dannell Ellerbe, the middle should be pretty sound. A big source of their issues was because of a leaky secondary that helped give up an astounding 45 TD passes. Safeties Kenny Vaccaro and Jairus Byrd missed a lot of time and getting them healthy could help. Delvin Breaux was a revelation at corner, with perhaps rookie Vonn Bell sliding into the other spot. We'll see how it goes, but there's a whole lot of bad momentum to reverse.
With the Saints, the issue is assuredly defense. Coordinator Dennis Allen has one of the more unenviable gigs in the NFL with trying to salvage this group. But with extra attention being given that area in the last few drafts and free agent seasons, some positive signs could begin to resonate. And with the Saints still one of the more-prolific offensive teams, they don't need to be the '85 Bears. If they could just not be terrible…
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This is a super-pivotal season for the Raiders. A lot of times, observers of football can become overly-optimistic with teams heading in the right direction. Not all of them get to their desired landing spot. There's just not enough room at the top. Teams could see a little surge and stall out or even recede. Not that the Raiders will suffer that fate, but they could. This is a once-proud franchise that has been flung into a long era of dysfunction. They haven't cracked the .500 barrier since 2002. Granted, this is the most-promising team of all those squads, but you can't just assume everything will go according to plan with the Raiders.
Still, it's hard to look at the Raiders and not see what they're trying to do and how they're making a lot of good moves. But before we go ahead and cast Oakland as the team on the up with the Saints on the way down, let's slow down a second. As far as openers go, it's hard to think of many worse places for the Raiders to start their season than the Superdome. The Saints' offense still has a ton of firepower and this road Oakland "D" will be tested. But unless New Orleans latched onto some magic, they're not going to be all that stout. With the risk of being too obvious, I'm taking the over.
Loot's Pick to Cover the Point Spread: I'm betting over 51 points in the Oakland vs. New Orleans game. Tired of your credit card not working for sportsbook deposit? End that problem today by signing up at Bovada Sportsbook where your credit card WILL work and where you'll receive a generous 50% sign-up bonus!
