Guts & Glory

For Oakland coach Jack Del Rio, calling for a do-or-die, 2-point conversion was less a gamble than a philosophical declaration.

Del Rio had no interest in a conservative point-after kick, and let his offense know it well before the decision had to be made. So when Derek Carr hit Seth Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown to cut New Orleans lead to a single point with 47 seconds left, kicker Sebastian Janikowski stood far from the action, helmet at his side, watching as Carr delivered a decisive fade pass to Michael Crabtree for a 35-34, season opening victory Sunday.

“Everyone knew about our strategy,” said Del Rio, now in his second season with Oakland. “I didn’t really ask for any feedback there. I said, ‘When we score here, we are going to go for 2 and win it right here.'”

His Raiders had already demonstrated considerable resolve just to get to that point.

Oakland had to overcome a 14-point, second-half deficit and a 424-yard, four-touchdown performance by Drew Brees.

“The belief and trust that coach has in us gives us so much confidence,” Carr said.

Brees called the late 2-point try gutsy, but not surprising.

“You’ll see that from time to time. You feel like you have the momentum, and let’s dial it up and let’s win the game,” Brees said. “I could see us doing that.”

After the Raiders took their late lead, they still had to sweat out rookie kicker Wil Lutz’s last-second field goal attempt from 61 yards, which narrowly missed wide left as the Superdome crowd briefly erupted before realizing the kick was no good.

“I thought it was good off my foot,” Lutz said. “The ball moved on me.”

Jalen Richard ran 75 yards for a touchdown on his first NFL carry and Amari Cooper caught Carr’s pass for a 2-point conversion to briefly tie the game at 27 in the middle of the fourth quarter.

But Brees marched New Orleans for another score, highlighted by a 57-yard completion that receiver Willie Snead fumbled and rookie wideout Michael Thomas recovered and advanced to the Oakland 2. That set up Travaris Cadet’s short touchdown catch, giving New Orleans a 34-27 lead.

New Orleans nearly held on, but Saints linebacker Craig Robertson was flagged for interference on a fourth-down pass that sailed out of bounds.

“I’m not going to start the season off complaining about the officials. We have to play better,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “That was just one play.”