NEW ORLEANS — A great day for the black and gold and Halloween weekend adds a little fun with lots of costumes.
But the creepiest costume, no contest, was Steve Gleason, who came to Caesar’s Superdome shrinkwrapped.
Gleason's sense of humor is inspiring and that may be the creepiest costume I've ever seen.
And by the way, the Saints are 1-0 in games in which Steve Gleason shows up shrink-wrapped.
So much good to talk about, but let's start with this.
#4 Secondary Gains
The Saints’ secondary had by far its best game of the season.
And the star, ironically enough, was the guy with the least experience.
Rookie second-rounder Alontae Taylor was terrific. He brings a swagger to the defense.
Paulson Adebo had his best game on the other side.
They were so good that through three quarters, the Raiders’ three wideouts, Davante Adams Mack Hollins, and Hunter Renfrow combined for four catches for 38 yards.
They got some meaningless garbage yardage at the end of the game. But they were not factors.
At some point, Marshon Lattimore will return, and Lattimore, Adebo, and Taylor have a chance to be a really good threesome.
They all got a chance to celebrate as Tyrann Mathieu got his second interception.
It was the best day this season for the saint DBs.
And Derek Carr's numbers bear that out…we'll get to that in a minute.
#3 Special K
At number three, we got a reminder of just how special Alvin Kamara is.
Alvin Kamara was on, and Pete Carmichael banged that drum all day.
Here are Kamara's numbers Sunday: 18 carries, 10 targets.
That means 44% of the Saints’ offense ran through 41.
Kamara has been used this much seven times now in his career.
Once in '18, once in '19, four times last season, and now once this year.
And guess what?
The Saints are 7-0 in those games.
Were the Saints putting him at a higher injury risk by using him this much? Of course, but they were 2-5, and overworking their best player was the right call.
#2 D-line Dominance
The best thing going forward, the Saints' defensive line had its best game.
Marcus Davenport set the tone early with two third-down plays that forced punts.
David Onyemata had by far his most impactful game of the season. And Payton Turner finally made his mark this season with two sacks.
Cam Jordan has been excellent all year. He got help Sunday.
Without blitzing much, the Saints' pass rush consistently affected Derek Carr.
Carr’s now played in 134 NFL games.
Sunday was his third-worst game by quarterback rating in his career he's never played a whole game and thrown for fewer yards.
The Saints' d-line made his day a nightmare.
#1 A New Hope
This game gives this team and this city..new hope.
This is the team many of us thought the Saints could be this season.
This is why optimism was so high.
And how's this for some Halloween weirdness?
The Falcons are suddenly division leaders, but the Saints team we saw Sunday is absolutely good enough to win this division, and that's my number one takeaway from routing the Raiders.