The NFL preseason continues tonight with Week 2 action when the Oakland Raiders (1-0-0 preseason) take on the New Orleans Saints (1-0-0) tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET. The game can be live streamed here. Raiders fans can listen to the exciting action at 95.7 The GAME (KGMZ-FM), while Saints fans can do the same at WWL (870 AM/105.3 FM)
After terrible 2012 seasons, Oakland and New Orleans both got off to tremendous preseason starts as both teams won their opening games. The Raiders downed the Dallas Cowboys 19-17 at home while the Saints defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 17-14 last week.
New Orleans is looking to bounce back after having a rocky 2012 while their head coach Sean Payton spent the entire year serving a suspension due to the bounty-gate scandal. With Payton back on the sidelines, New Orleans looks to get back to the playoffs after going 7-9-0 last year and missing out on the postseason for the first time since 2008.
Seven-time Pro Bowl quarterback and 2010 Super Bowl Champion Drew Brees will look to the lead the Saints back in the right direction. Brees went 422-for-670 in 16 games last season for 5,177 yards with 43 touchdowns and 19 interceptions last year, and looks to build on it this year. Brees will have plenty of weapons on offense, including tight end Jimmy Graham (85 receptions for 982 yards with nine touchdowns in 15 games last season) and Marques Colston (83 catches for 1,154 yards last season with 10 touchdowns in 16 games).
While the Raiders look to be strong on offense, they look to improve on a defense that ranked second-to-last in the NFL in pass defense in 2012.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Raiders are looking to improve on a horrid 2012 that saw the team win just four games. The Raiders, who haven't appeared in the playoffs since 2002 when they lost in the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, went 4-12-0 last year and were stuck in third place in the AFC West.
The Raiders only scored 28 touchdowns last season. Matt Flynn, who has been competing with Terrelle Pryor, will take over the reins at quarterback and look to turn the offense around now that Carson Palmer was traded to the Arizona Cardinals.
Flynn, who has been a career backup behind Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, appeared in just three games last season, going 5-for-9 with 68 yards and no touchdowns. Palmer, meanwhile, went 345-for-565 for 4,018 yards with 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. It'll be tough for Flynn to try and compete in a division that boasts Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers at signal caller for the Raiders' rival Broncos and Chargers.
Raiders head coach Dennis Allen had nothing but good things to say about Flynn recently.
"He's been pretty consistent throughout training camp," Allen said. "He's been making some good decisions. He'sprotected the football well, and really that's what I expect out of him."
Tonight, it will be a battle of two teams trying to turn it around after rough years in 2012.
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