Game recap

Raiders @ Saints

2026 Wk 3 · NO 27, LV 35

The Saints led by 11 in the third quarter, then gave the ball away four times in the fourth.

FanIQ Research · September 28, 2026 · 5 facts, every one from the play-by-play

New Orleans gave the ball away four times in the fourth quarter while holding a lead. Six teams since 1999 have done that. All six lost.

Rare

Every team since 1999 with 4+ fourth-quarter giveaways after leading through three quarters

Season	Wk	Team	Score after Q3	Final	Result
1999	4	DEN	DEN 13, NYJ 7	NYJ 21, DEN 13	Loss
2003	13	GB	GB 14, DET 13	DET 22, GB 14	Loss
2005	17	PHI	PHI 20, WAS 17	WAS 31, PHI 20	Loss
2012	6	LAC	LAC 24, DEN 14	DEN 35, LAC 24	Loss
2013	8	WAS	WAS 21, DEN 14	DEN 45, WAS 21	Loss
2026	3	NO	NO 27, LV 22	LV 35, NO 27	Loss

The four Saints giveaways in the fourth quarter

Clock	Down	Play	Recovered by
13:04	3rd and 4	Tyler Shough sacked by Malcolm Koonce, fumble	Maxx Crosby
8:03	3rd and 6	Shough pass intercepted by Hezekiah Masses, returned 35 yards to the NO 8	Masses
2:21	4th and 1	Shough sacked by Jeremy Chinn, fumble forced by Crosby	Taron Johnson
1:02	1st and 10	Juwan Johnson catch, fumble forced by Nate Dean	Eric Stokes

Since 1999 there have been 30 team games with four or more giveaways in the fourth quarter alone. Only six of those teams were ahead when the quarter started, and New Orleans is the first to do it in thirteen seasons. The interception set the Raiders up at the 8 yard line, and Brock Bowers scored three plays later for the final margin.

Why it matters. A team that leads entering the fourth quarter is supposed to shorten the game, and each giveaway here handed the Raiders a short field or ended a drive that could have run clock. The cohort is small by construction, but the record inside it is not ambiguous: no team has survived four fourth-quarter giveaways from ahead. Two of the four came on sacks, which points at pass protection under pressure rather than one bad decision.

Down 27 to 16 with 5:54 left in the third quarter, the Raiders scored the last 19 points. It is their 11th win since 1999 after trailing by 11 or more in the second half.

Trend

Every scoring play, in order

Qtr	Clock	Team	Play	Score (LV-NO)
1	7:39	LV	Matt Gay 41 yard field goal	3-0
1	0:54	NO	Shough 2 yard TD pass to Juwan Johnson	3-6
2	11:30	LV	Gay 37 yard field goal	6-6
2	5:49	LV	Kirk Cousins 3 yard TD pass to Michael Mayer	13-6
2	1:57	NO	Shough 3 yard TD pass to Noah Fant	13-13
2	0:04	LV	Gay 25 yard field goal	16-13
3	6:44	NO	Shough 1 yard TD pass to Johnson	16-20
3	5:54	NO	Shough 16 yard TD pass to Fant	16-27
3	3:29	LV	Mike Washington 35 yard TD run	22-27
4	9:27	LV	Cousins 4 yard TD pass to Cody White	28-27
4	6:28	LV	Cousins 4 yard TD pass to Brock Bowers	35-27

Raiders wins since 1999 after trailing by 11+ points in the second half

Season	Wk	Opponent	Worst 2nd-half deficit	Final
1999	7	NYJ	-17	OAK 24, NYJ 23
2000	2	IND	-17	OAK 38, IND 31
2016	13	BUF	-15	OAK 38, BUF 24
2003	4	SD	-14	OAK 34, SD 31
2012	7	JAX	-14	OAK 26, JAX 23
2016	1	NO	-14	OAK 35, NO 34
2018	4	CLE	-14	OAK 45, CLE 42
2015	14	DEN	-12	OAK 15, DEN 12
2001	1	KC	-11	OAK 27, KC 24
2004	12	DEN	-11	OAK 25, DEN 24
2026	3	NO	-11	LV 35, NO 27

New Orleans took its largest lead on Noah Fant's second touchdown, then ran 29 more offensive plays for 102 yards and no points, at minus 0.709 EPA per play. The Raiders ran 23 plays for 138 yards and 19 points over the same stretch. Two of the franchise's eleven double-digit second-half comebacks since 1999 have come in the Superdome, and both ended with the Raiders at 35 points.

Why it matters. The comeback list is a decade-scale rarity for this franchise, roughly one such win every two and a half seasons, so a Week 3 entry is a real signal about the 2026 team's resilience rather than a routine result. The mechanism was not a shootout: New Orleans stopped scoring entirely, and the Raiders needed three touchdown drives to flip an 11 point deficit into an 8 point win. The 2016 game in the same building is the closest historical match in this table.

Tyler Shough threw four touchdown passes and lost. Saints quarterbacks have done that five times in 41 four-touchdown games since 1999.

Rare

Saints regular-season losses with a 4+ TD passer, 1999 to 2026

Season	Wk	Passer	TD	Yards	Att	INT	Final
2008	17	Drew Brees	4	386	49	1	CAR 33, NO 31
2012	17	Drew Brees	4	396	43	1	CAR 44, NO 38
2019	14	Drew Brees	5	349	40	0	SF 48, NO 46
2022	7	Andy Dalton	4	361	47	3	ARI 42, NO 34
2026	3	Tyler Shough	4	255	42	1	LV 35, NO 27

Shough this season

Wk	Opponent	Cmp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
1	at DET	35	56	410	3	2
2	at BAL	27	34	252	1	0
3	vs LV	29	42	255	4	1

The four previous entries all came in games where the Saints scored at least 31 points and the passer threw for at least 349 yards. Shough's 255 yards is the lowest total on the list by 94 yards, and all four of his touchdowns traveled 16 yards or less: 2, 3, 1 and 16 yard throws to Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant. He has now thrown 8 touchdowns in three games as a starter.

Why it matters. Four touchdown passes in a loss usually means a shootout the defense could not hold. This one is different: the Saints scored 27, not 38 or 46, because the touchdowns were red zone finishes on drives that did not need a big throw. That makes the loss a fourth quarter story rather than a Shough story, and his 8 touchdowns in three starts is the part of his line that carries forward.

Brock Bowers and Chris Olave each saw 13 targets. Bowers turned his into 116 yards and the go-ahead touchdown.

Comparison

Every player with 6 or more targets in this game

Player	Team	Targets	Rec	Yards	TD
Brock Bowers	LV	13	10	116	1
Chris Olave	NO	13	9	107	0
Juwan Johnson	NO	8	8	53	2
Devaughn Vele	NO	6	3	39	0

Bowers' 100-yard receiving games, career

Season	Wk	Targets	Rec	Yards	TD
2024	11	16	13	126	1
2024	13	14	10	140	1
2025	1	8	5	103	0
2025	9	13	12	127	3
2026	3	13	10	116	1

Both offenses funneled the ball to one player: Bowers drew 13 of Kirk Cousins' 33 attempts and Olave 13 of Shough's 42. The lines are nearly identical in volume and yardage, 10 for 116 against 9 for 107. The difference is the 4 yard touchdown with 6:28 left that made it 35-27. It is Bowers' fifth 100-yard game, and the fourth of the five with a touchdown.

Why it matters. When two offenses each lean on a single target this heavily, the game often turns on which one finishes drives, and Olave's 107 yards produced no points while Bowers' 116 included the clinching score. For the Raiders this is the third straight season with at least one Bowers 100-yard game, so the usage is a plan rather than a one-week spike. Michael Mayer's touchdown means both Raiders tight ends scored, which is the shape of a passing game built around the middle of the field.

The Raiders are 3-0 for the third time since 1999. The other two teams that did it both finished with double-digit wins.

Milestone

Raiders 3-0 starts, 1999 to 2026

Season	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Final record
2002	OAK 31, SEA 17	OAK 30 at PIT 17	OAK 52, TEN 25	11-5
2021	LV 33, BAL 27	LV 26 at PIT 17	LV 31, MIA 28	10-7
2026	LV 27, MIA 13	LV 26 at LAC 14	LV 35 at NO 27	3-0 so far

Raiders versus Saints, every meeting since 1999

Season	Wk	Home	Final
2000	12	NO	OAK 31, NO 22
2004	7	OAK	NO 31, OAK 26
2008	6	NO	NO 34, OAK 3
2012	11	OAK	NO 38, OAK 17
2016	1	NO	OAK 35, NO 34
2020	2	LV	LV 34, NO 24
2022	8	NO	NO 24, LV 0
2024	17	NO	LV 25, NO 10
2026	3	NO	LV 35, NO 27

In 28 seasons since 1999 the Raiders have opened 3-0 only in 2002, 2021 and now 2026. The 2002 team went 11-5 and reached the Super Bowl; the 2021 team went 10-7 and lost a Wild Card game at Cincinnati. This win also moves the Raiders to 5-4 in the series with New Orleans and gives them three wins in the last four meetings, each by 8 points or more.

Why it matters. Two prior 3-0 starts is a thin sample for forecasting, but both produced winning seasons, and in a franchise that has had only three such starts in 28 years the rarity itself is the point. The series table adds a smaller note: the Raiders have won three of the last four against New Orleans after losing three of the four before that, and the 35 points ties their most ever in the series, matching the 2016 game in the same stadium.

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