NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints played by far their most complete game of the season, dominating on both sides of the ball in a 24-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at the Casesars Superdome Sunday.
"It's a big win for us," said head coach Dennis Allen. "Anytime you get a chance to get a shutout in a game, that's huge. They're hard to come by in this league."
The Saints bludgeoned the Raiders with a solid running game and efficient passing plus large doses of Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill and on defense they completely throttled the Raiders, holding them to just over 150 yards total offense.
The Saints are waged in a tight battle for the top spot in the struggling NFC South. The Saints and Bucs are both 3-5 and in second place in the division behind the 4-4 Falcons. The Panthers, who have defeated both the Saints and Bucs, are last at 2-6.
The Saints next game is Monday, Nov. 7 against the Baltimore Ravens in the Superdome.
Kamara ran the ball 18 times for 62 yards and and a score, while he caught 9 passes for 96 yards and two more scores.
"Alvin is one of our best players, so we are going into every game wanting to utilize him," Allen said.
He gave a talk to the Saints after the team's last loss and said the Saints had gotten some of their swagger back.
"After the Arizona game, I said what I said. Some of the things we were doing weren’t up to par to our standards," Kamara said after the win Sunday. "I think it’s on its way, but swagger ain’t s&*t if it’s not consistent. I’m not hip-hip hurray, let’s see if we can do it again.”
Taysom Hill did his "Jack of All Trades" role by running 10 times for 61 yards, catching a pass for a key first down and completing his only pass.
On defense, the Saints sacked Derek Carr and Jarrett Stidham four times and limited the Raiders to 173 total yards - a large part of them on the final, meaningless drive.
Star receiver Davante Adams was held to one catch for 3 yards.
"Davante's a hell of a player and one of the best receivers in our league - Paulson and Alontae rose up to the challenge."