The Las Vegas Raiders are 3-0 after a comeback that looked unlikely midway through the third quarter.
Las Vegas rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit Sunday to beat the New Orleans Saints 35-27 at Caesars Superdome. The Raiders closed the game with 19 unanswered points and matched their entire win total from last season in just three weeks.
Las Vegas flips the game late
New Orleans pushed ahead 27-16 in the third quarter, but the Raiders answered fast. Mike Washington Jr. broke loose for a 36-yard touchdown run to cut the gap. In the fourth quarter, Kirk Cousins found Cody White for a 4-yard score that put Las Vegas in front 28-27.
Brock Bowers then capped the comeback with a 4-yard touchdown catch. The star tight end was making his season debut after recovering from a knee issue and finished with 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Cousins completed 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, giving him three touchdown passes in each of the Raiders' first three games. Michael Mayer also caught a touchdown in the second quarter.
A 3-0 start changes the early-season conversation
The Raiders opened the season with wins over Miami and the Los Angeles Chargers before taking down New Orleans on the road. The team's official schedule shows Las Vegas beginning the year with back-to-back wins before Sunday's trip to New Orleans.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Raiders overcame the 11-point deficit to stay unbeaten, while postgame reporting from New Orleans noted that Las Vegas scored the final 19 points of the game.
Three games do not decide a season, but this start gives Las Vegas something it has not had much of lately: momentum. The Raiders now come home unbeaten with a chance to build on a road win that required both patience and a fourth-quarter finish.
What comes next
Las Vegas returns to Allegiant Stadium next week to face the Kansas City Chiefs. That game will give the Raiders another early measuring stick after a 3-0 start that has already changed the tone around the team.
