The Raiders traveled to New Orleans and came away with a 25-10 victory for their second win in a row and fourth win of the season.
Here are some key takeaways and metrics from the victory over the Saints.
Bowers Adds To Historic Rookie Resume
Brock Bowers added another stellar Sunday to what has been a historic season for the rookie tight end. He led the team with seven receptions for 77 yards (11.0 avg.) and upped his season total to 108 receptions for 1,144 yards (10.6 avg.).
In the process, he broke the following records:
- Passed Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka (1,076 in 1961) for the most receiving yards by a rookie tight end in NFL history.
- Passed Puka Nacua (105 in 2023) for the most receptions by a rookie at any position in NFL history.
- Passed Amari Cooper (1,070) for the most receiving yards by a rookie at any position in Raiders history.
- Passed Darren Waller (107 in 2020) for the most receptions by any player in a single season in Raiders history.
Defense Stymies Saints
The Raiders defense came into Week 17 with another favorable matchup against a Saints team playing without starting quarterback Derek Carr, multiple starting offensive linemen and multiple starting skill-position players. The Silver and Black took care of business, recording two interceptions, four sacks and a season-high 22 quarterback pressures. The unit also held rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler to a 55.6 completion percentage, the lowest percentage by an opposing quarterback against the Raiders this season.
Excluding the 46 rushing yards from Rattler, the Saints totaled just 10 rushes for 35 yards (3.5 avg.) and finished with only 10 points. Three of those points came on a hurry-up drive at the end of the first half while the touchdown came on a double-pass trick play. New Orleans finished the afternoon 1-of-10 on third down with the lone conversion coming with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. It's the first time since Week 16 of the 2021 season (vs. Denver) that the Raiders have held an opponent to just one third-down conversion.
Thanks in part to the takeaways and defensive success on third down, Las Vegas dominated time of possession, 37:50 to 22:10. It's their highest time of possession in a regulation game since Week 3 of the 2018 season against Miami (38:31).
The Raiders have now held their opponents to 15 points or less in three consecutive games for the first time since 2006.
Abdullah Turns Back The Clock
The Saints defense entered Week 17 ranked 31st in yards per rush allowed and 30th in yards before contact per rush. The Raiders, and specifically running back Ameer Abdullah, took advantage. Abdullah totaled career highs in rushing yards (115) and yards per rush (5.8, min. 10 carries). He also hit 20 carries in a game for just the third time in his career and first time since 2017.
At 31 years old, Abdullah recorded his first 100-yard rushing game in his 141st game played. He also added 32 receiving yards for a career-high 147 yards from scrimmage.
"To do that at 30-plus years old, kind of thrown in the fire late in the season, really, hats off to him," Head Coach Antonio Pierce said. "Really resilient player. True pro. He's been that way throughout the time."
Abdullah also tied a single-game career high with four rushes of 10+ yards. Ironically, the only other time Abdullah has reached that mark in his career was as a rookie in a 2015 Week 15 game at the Saints.
Abdullah is now just the sixth Raiders player since 2000 to record 115+ rushing yards in a game without being tackled behind the line of scrimmage a single time.
Numbers to Know
- Quarterback Aidan O'Connell completed 20-of-35 (57.1%) passes for 242 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. O'Connell averaged 10.1 air yards per attempt, the second-highest mark of his career, per Next Gen Stats. After the Raiders committed turnovers in every single game this season prior to Week 16, O'Connell and the offense have now completed two straight games without a giveaway.
- Linebacker Robert Spillane led the Raiders with eight tackles (four solo) and added two tackles for loss (1.0 sack) and two passes defensed. He is one of only three players in franchise history to record 100+ tackles, 2+ interceptions and 2+ sacks in a single season – and he has now done so in back-to-back seasons.
- Jakobi Meyers tallied five catches for 61 receiving yards and added his first receiving touchdown since Week 8. He now has 904 receiving yards, a new single-season career high, passing his previous high of 866 yards in 2021.
- Jack Jones finished with a career-high three passes defensed. As a team, the Raiders registered nine passes defensed, their most in a regulation game since 2020.
- Tyree Wilson recorded a career-high-tying five quarterback pressures and was one of six Raiders to record at least a half-sack.
View the best photos from the Raiders' Week 17 matchup against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome.