Facing the Las Vegas Raiders, with a first-time head coach and rookie quarterback in the New Orleans Saints’ home opener of the 2026 regular season once looked like a walk in the park, an advantageous way to start the Caesars Superdome playing slate.
Now, all of a sudden, the Raiders are 2-0 after beating up a hapless Miami Dolphins team, and a Los Angeles Chargers team that many expected to challenge for the AFC West going into the season.
The Saints can’t take anything for granted going into this matchup. With veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins leading the way with rookie Fernando Mendoza preparing for his NFL playing career to begin, one thing the Saints do know for certain is that getting pressure in the backfield is going to be a major priority in Week 3.
Cousins, an experienced passer in his 15th NFL season, has seen a lot of what the league’s defenses have to show. He doesn’t often get confused, but he does get rattled. That is where the Saints can make an impact.
The veteran passer, with whom the Saints are familiar thanks to his days as the Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback, gets the ball out relatively quickly. He is currently averaging a 2.88-second time to throw, which ranks No. 20 out of NFL quarterbacks so far this season, per Next Gen Stats.
He finished the 2025 season ranked No. 9 in that metric, averaging his throws in 2.79 seconds after the snap.
On top of that, the Raiders’ protection unit has been stellar so far this season. While the Saints are tied at No. 28 in defensive pressure percentage generated (30.8%), the Raiders allow pressure at the league’s No. 12 pace (33.3%), per Pro Football Focus.
Where New Orleans can have an impact is by generating “quick pressures,” or pressures that get to the quarterback within 2.5 seconds of the snap. As of now, the Saints rank No. 4 in the league, generating pressures on 25.8% of those quick passing attempts.
On those passing attempts, the Raiders have completed only 59% with one touchdown and one interception thrown.
If the Saints can continue generating these quick pressures against the Raiders, it could help them get the Las Vegas offense off of schedule and out of rhythm.
The player that will be most impactful in creating those opportunities will be Saints edge rusher Chase Young. With 1.5 sacks on the season through two games, Young has generated seven quick pressures, per Next Gen Stats, T-No.3 in the league with Baltimore Ravens pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.
Not far behind Young, tied at No. 8 in the same metric is Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss with five such pressures.
Both Young and Elliss have been the Saints’ key defenders in pressure generation. If they continue to play to the high standard that they have set for themselves and their teammates through the first two weeks, they could be the key in slowing down a Raiders offense that has Cousins tied for the most passing touchdowns thrown by a quarterback so far this season.
