The Raiders fell behind 23-0 in the first half of their preseason loss to the Saints, and coach Dennis Allen was not happy with his starters, on offense, defense or special teams.
“I don’t know if we played well in any one of the three phases in the first half,” Allen said.
The Saints had Drew Brees and the first-string offense going up against the Raiders’ first-string defense for five series, and New Orleans scored on all of them, with two touchdowns and three field goals. The Raiders did score a touchdown with quarterback Matt Flynn leading the starting offense, but it came at the end of the first half, when the Saints had already pulled many of their defensive starters. Allen said he was frustrated with the way the Raiders’ offensive line failed to protect Flynn.
“I think he was under duress most of the evening,” Allen said. "[The Saints] brought a lot of pressure, and they did some different stuff than they did in the first preseason game.”
The Raiders will need to protect Flynn a lot better when the regular season starts.