The Las Vegas Raiders started the game well offensively. On their first possession of the game, the Raiders held the ball for over nine minutes. A locker check prevented a potential touchdown and the New Orleans Saints stopped the drive at the one-yard line.

New Orleans was able to keep the Raiders out of the end zone until the end of the half, but Las Vegas still scored on three of their four possessions. New Orleans made big plays to boost Las Vegas’ offense.

Typical problems such as tackling continued to occur. Ameer Abdullah has already reached 71 rushing yards, which is the most he has rushed for in a game this year. The mix of poor tackling and explosive plays did the most damage to the defense in the first 30 minutes.

The Saints go into halftime trailing by just 3 points. A big reason for this was the ability to stop the Raiders on their first possession. If Las Vegas scores a touchdown there, it’s a different game.

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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: The Saints defense struggled in familiar areas in the first half against the Raiders