Oakland Raiders Loss to New Orleans Saints Not a Total Loss

As much as I hate to watch the Oakland Raiders lose, I didn't feel too bummed out about their 40-20 loss on national television Sunday night. That could be because it was preseason, but I have a few other reasons as well.

The negatives that I did take away from that game were Darrius Heyward-Bey having two drops and the pass defense allowing Drew Brees and Chase Daniels to throw at will.

The Raiders did lose by 20 points, but the first-team Raiders were in a close game. Although the New Orleans Saints cruised through the air, it was mostly DeMarcus Van Dyke allowing the catches. Once Lito Sheppard starts to play or Chris Johnson returns from injury, it won't be so easy to throw through the Raiders.

After the Raiders were burnt last week by the San Francisco 49ers on the ground, the Saints' top three backs (Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles) combined for 30 yards on 12 carries. That is an average of less than three yards per carry. Credit that to the first-team run defense.

While DHB had his two drops, another wide receiver stepped up and made plays. Derek Hagan, a free-agent signee a week into camp, had six catches for 121 yards, one of which included him beating Tracy Porter for a 35-yard touchdown catch-and-run on a pass from Jason Campbell.

Speaking of Campbell, he has had a good preseason, and he continued it against the Saints' defense. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 150 yards, highlighted by that TD to Hagan. However, he had a ball tipped and intercepted in the end zone on his last play that left a bad taste of his performance, which was otherwise solid facing a blitz-happy defense.

Speaking of that blitz-happy defense, the Raiders' offensive line showed great progress in not allowing Campbell to get sacked. That line also paved the way for Michael Bush and Taiwan Jones to have field days out there. Jones had a great debut, going for 81 yards on 13 runs and his first NFL touchdown.

Those were the positives that I took away from this game. A loss is a loss, but in preseason, there are some things more important than the standings.