The Las Vegas Raiders will travel to New Orleans to face the Saints in Week 3 riding their first 2-0 start since 2021, led by the quarterback play of Kirk Cousins and defensive success early in the season.
Saints veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan has long respected what Cousins brings to a team, and he said he has never understood why franchises were so quick to move on from the veteran quarterback.
“Kirk Cousins has been a winner anytime he’s been at the helm,” Jordan said. “For the franchises that try to get rid of Kirk Cousins, I’ve never understood that when you don’t have something better than Kirk Cousins.
“He’s going to dissect the defense. He can read the defense. He can make the plays, and (teams) are not giving him credit.”
Saints second-year quarterback Tyler Shough also has plenty of respect for Cousins, whom he said he grew up watching and faced firsthand during his rookie season.
“Obviously, (Cousins) got us a couple times last year, and he’s still playing at a really high level,” Shough said. “We’ve got to be able to be dialed. This is a really good football team. They’re playing at a high level right now and especially him, he’s clicking, and he’s seen it all.”
While Cousins has commanded much of New Orleans’ attention entering game week, Saints coach Kellen Moore also knows the success extends to the Raiders’ coaching staff, including first-year coach Klint Kubiak.
Moore said he has long respected Kubiak’s work, dating back to his time with the Minnesota Vikings, where he also had the opportunity to work with Cousins early in his coaching career.
“I’ve always loved what Klint’s done,” Moore said. “Going back to even when he was at Minnesota, to me I thought he did a really, really good job there. He had Kirk there at that time and I thought they were rolling.
“I think he’s always done a really good job from a run game and an action game perspective and giving the quarterback a chance to be successful. So again, I thought he’s done a great job everywhere.”
Kubiak and Moore also share a unique connection. The two coaches are the last two offensive coordinators to win Super Bowls, with Moore doing so with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025 and Kubiak with the Seattle Seahawks last season.
Because of that similarity, Moore said he can relate to the challenges Kubiak faced this offseason while making the transition to the lead role in a new organization.
“I think there’s always timing to everything,” Moore said. “It’s a unique thing when you have an opportunity to play all the way through the Super Bowl and then you kind of feel like right after that, there’s a lot of work to do — hiring a staff, free agency comes quickly, draft comes quickly — and so I can certainly relate to how busy the offseason was.”
Despite Cousins’ impact, the Saints’ preparation has not been limited to just one side of the ball, as Moore detailed how Las Vegas has played well in all three phases through the first two games, particularly when it comes to creating big plays.
“I think they’re playing fast and physically,” Moore said. “They’re able to create some explosive plays on offense. Their defense was able to create some turnovers, some sacks, and big-time negative plays. They’re just making impact plays throughout the game.”
One of the players on the Raiders defense Moore knows particularly well is linebacker Nakobe Dean, who spent his first three NFL seasons in Philadelphia while Moore was on the Eagles’ coaching staff before signing with Las Vegas this offseason.
“Nakobe is as smart of a linebacker as you’re going to meet in this entire league,” Moore said. “He’s a really physical player. He’s seen everything playing at Georgia and playing in Philadelphia over those years, and I think he does a really good job kind of being the green dot in the middle of all that, getting everyone on the same page.”
Contact Donovan Hicks at dhicks@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HicksSports on X.
