Ezra Shaw
The Saints continued to roll in Week 11 with a blowout victory over the Raiders. Oakland has now lost three in a row.
The New Orleans Saints are really starting to find their groove this season. The Oakland Raiders are not.
As the two teams met at O.co Coliseum on Sunday afternoon, Drew Brees and the Saints cruised to a 38-17 win to pick up their fifth win. The Raiders were never really in the game after the first couple of minutes and looked like a team deflated with injuries.
Drew Brees picked apart Oakland's defense. The veteran quarterback went 20-for-27 for 219 yards and three touchdowns. Brees posted a near-perfect QB rating of 134.6. He hit Jimmy Graham on their first drive of the game to take an early 7-0 lead, and a 55-yard interception return from Malcom Jenkins pushed the lead to 14-0. A 38-yard TD pass to Lance Moore gave New Orleans a 21-7 lead just before the half.
The Saints came out in the second half and scored on their first drive to effectively end the game. Brees hooked up with Moore yet again in the third quarter to increase the lead to 35-10. Garrett Hartley's field goal and a three-yard touchdown strike from Carson Palmer to rookie Juron Criner accounted for the only scoring in the fourth quarter.
Palmer did not have a great day. He threw two interceptions and completed just 22 of his 40 pass attempts. After falling into an early hole, the Raiders had no choice but to scrap their gameplan and air the ball out for four quarters.
Fantasy studs and duds
Brees continued to have an excellent year with 20 points (219 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT) in standard leagues. Moore was one of Sunday's top scorers at wide receiver with 53 yards and two touchdowns. On Oakland's side, backup tailback Marcel Reece rushed for 103 yards and caught four passes for 90 yards.
Injury report
There weren't any key injuries of note on Sunday. As expected, star running back Darren McFadden did not play for Oakland.
Did they cover?
New Orleans opened as three-point favorites, so they covered the spread easily.
What's next?
11/25 4:25 p.m. ET: Saints vs. 49ers
11/25 1 p.m. ET: Raiders at Bengals
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