The (1-0) New Orleans Saints will make their first road trip of the 2020 NFL Regular Season in Week #2 when they head out west to the nation’s entertainment capital, the world famous “Sin City” of Las Vegas, Nevada to face the (1-0) Raiders on ESPN Monday Night Football.

The nationally-televised contest will be the very first game ever for the Raiders at their brand new home venue inside of Allegiant Stadium in suburban Las Vegas, where they moved this past off-season from their previous long-time home city of Oakland, CA. Kickoff is slated for 7:15 p.m. Central time and the game will also be broadcast locally on WGNO-TV New Orleans ABC Channel 26.

Monday, ESPN celebrates the #NFL in Las Vegas with multi-network presentation of @Saints/@Raiders

8p ET | @ABCNetwork, ESPN, ESPN2, @ESPNDeportes

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? Las Vegas themed pregame segments
? @AllegiantStadm showcase
? @thekillers halftime performance

More: https://t.co/NsvkGgP4Au pic.twitter.com/eh4CalwQkh

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 17, 2020

With that in mind, here are Big Easy Magazine’s 5 “Bold” Predictions for Monday Night’s eagerly-anticipated match-up. And as always: we’ll count them down first beginning with #5 and then work our way down to #1.

Starting first with….

#5. THE SAINTS RUN DEFENSE HASN’T ALLOWED AN OPPOSING RUNNING BACK TO GAIN OVER 100 YARDS IN NEARLY 3 YEARS — AND THAT STREAK CONTINUES (BUT JUST BARELY) AGAINST RAIDERS RUNNING BACK AND FANTASY FOOTBALL “STUD” JOSH JACOBS

Much has been made of the fact this week of the impressive stat compiled by the Saints defense which dates back nearly three whole years and their past 44 consecutive games, which is the last time that New Orleans allowed an opponent’s running back to gain over 100 yards rushing (November 19, 2017 to then-Washington RB Samaje Perine).

The reason for that is because the Black and Gold’s stout run defense will be facing Raiders 2nd year RB and former University of Alabama star Josh Jacobs, who is considered one of the NFL’s best young players at the position and as the participants in many Fantasy Football leagues nation-wide can attest to, is an absolute “stud” when it comes to piling up plenty of stats which count for additional points in those formats.

Jacobs is coming off a 3-touchdown performance in the Raiders’ 34-30 win over Carolina last week, and he will add another 2 rushing TD’s against the Saints defense in this Monday Night’s contest — but New Orleans still manages to hold another RB under 100 total rushing yards, although they manage to do so just barely (98 yards on 22 carries. or a 4.25 yards per carry average).

#4. DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF ALL-PRO WIDE RECEIVER MICHAEL THOMAS, THE SAINTS OFFENSE IS STILL ABLE TO OPERATE EFFICIENTLY

Obviously the biggest news coming into this Monday Night’s contest was that Saints All-Pro wide receiver and 5th year veteran Michael Thomas will miss the game due to a high ankle sprain injury that he suffered near the end of last week’s season-opening victory over Tampa Bay, and could potentially miss a few more games over the course of the next several weeks as well.

Despite his high ankle sprain, Saints WR Michael Thomas “felt fantastic” at practice Wednesday and there’s a “little glimmer of hope” he can play Monday night, per source. It’s still unlikely, but the Saints were pleased and surprised at Thomas’ progress and condition Wednesday.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 18, 2020

That inevitably led many panic-stricken Who Dats fans as well as a handful of NFL analysts, to speculate that the Saints offense might not be able to run as efficiently or be nearly as successful as they normally are, without Thomas’ weekly contributions which have made him a “superstar” and the Black and Gold a yearly-Super Bowl contender in recent seasons.

But in this game on Monday Night in Las Vegas. the Saints and head coach Sean Payton will compensate for the loss of Thomas as they have done successfully so many times in the past when other stars were missing from their starting line-up (most notably when the team lost Drew Brees to a torn thumb ligament last year for 5 games and won every single time without him).

Saints #2 WR Emmanuel Sanders, TE Jared Cook. RB Alvin Kamara, and back-up WR’s Tre’Quan Smith and rookie Marquez Callaway all contribute by catching the passes that would have been thrown to Thomas, and the offense “doesn’t skip a beat” as a result.

#3. SAINTS SAFETY CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON (a.k.a., “CEEDY DUCE”) MAKES THE DEFENSE’S SECOND “PICK 6” INTERCEPTION FOR A TOUCHDOWN IN BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS

Last week in the team’s 34-23 win over the Buccaneers, the “turning point” or key moment of the game was when Saints veteran #2 CB Janoris Jenkins stepped in front of a pass thrown by Tampa QB Tom Brady that was intended for TE Rob Gronkowski and made a “Pick 6” interception return for a touchdown that ultimately led New Orleans to a hard-fought season-opening victory.

JACKRABBIT PICK-6! ?

?: @NFLonFOX | #Saints pic.twitter.com/SYJV6OG36w

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 13, 2020

And as fate would have it: in this coming Monday Night’s contest against the Raiders, it will happen yet again.

This time around, the beneficiary will be none other than outstanding 2nd year Saints safety Chauncey-Gardner Johnson, a.k.a. “Ceedy Duce” — who will snag a pass thrown by starting Raiders QB Derek Carr intended for rookie WR Henry Ruggs III — and runs it back 65 yards “to the house” to give the Saints a slim lead, as the time left remaining on the game clock winds down to the 4th quarter.

#2. RAIDERS QUARTERBACK DEREK CARR IS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE HIS PREVIOUS HEROICS AGAINST THE SAINTS FROM FOUR YEARS AGO

Speaking of Carr, many Saints fans might recall that the 7th year veteran QB helped the Raiders beat the Black and Gold four years ago, by a score of 35-34 in the 2016 Season Opener at the Superdome in an upset which led them to their last winning season (12-4 that year) and post-season appearance in the AFC Playoffs.

Carr ended up throwing the pass to then-Raiders WR Seth Roberts for a 2-point conversion with only 47 seconds remaining, that ultimately gave them their first trip to the NFL Playoffs in 14 years and where they have failed to return since that time. Only four players on the Raiders current roster now in Las Vegas remain from that year’s team in Oakland at the time, with Carr being one of them.

But unfortunately for Carr, the Raiders offense, and head coach Jon Gruden, the 29-year old former Fresno State University star won’t be able to duplicate the success that he had in NOLA 4 years ago; as the Saints defense limits him to 14 completions out of 34 pass attempts, for a meager 161 passing yards and zero TD’s, along with two interceptions (including the one by Ceedy Duce) and additionally is sacked 4 times,

#1. “VIVA NUEVA ORLEANS”

There probably isn’t a more famous song that’s specifically about the city of Las Vegas, than the 1964 hit recording “Viva Las Vegas” by legendary rock musician Elvis Presley; which was the main tune on the soundtrack of the movie by the very same name over 55 years ago.

And while there will be plenty of hype for this game with it being the Raiders’ big debut in their brand new city and home stadium, that song undoubtedly will be on the minds of football fans across the country since it’s likely to be played over and over again on many different occasions prior to kickoff.

But for fans of the Black and Gold watching on from their TV’s at home throughout the ‘Who Dat Nation’, the name of the song will seem more appropriate if it were to be changed to “Viva Nueva Orleans” instead.

That’s simply because while Las Vegas will be able to keep the score relatively close during the 1st Half on the strength of those previously-mentioned 2 rushing TD’s by Josh Jacobs, the rest of their offense will find points hard to come by against an ever-increasingly opportunistic Saints defense that essentially stifles Gruden and the Raiders’ aggressive offensive scheme.

And with their offensive attack being able to remain effective without the All-Pro Thomas, New Orleans is eventually able to distance themselves from Las Vegas by the end of the 3rd Quarter — and slowly pull away with what becomes a double-digit win out in the Nevada desert and a (2-0) start to the 2020 NFL Season — with their NFC rivals the Green Bay Packers up next on the schedule….

FINAL SCORE: SAINTS 35, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 20

Barry Hirstius is a semi-retired journalist, who has worked previously as a sports editor and columnist. Barry is a New Orleans native who grew up as a fan of the Saints while attending their games as a young boy during the early 1970’s, uptown at the old Tulane Stadium. He is also the proud Grandfather of two beautiful young girls, Jasmine and Serenity. Follow him on Twitter: @BarryHirstius