NEW ORLEANS – With last week's revelation that the publicly fired and humiliated Lane Kiffin called JaMarcus Russell to discuss New Orleans' defensive schemes, perhaps the one-time Raiders coach also phoned another former player.
Maybe he gave Saints running back Reggie Bush, who played for Kiffin at USC, a heads up that the Raiders can't tackle on defense. Or score touchdowns on offense.
Jokes and cheap shots aside, it was not the debut Raiders interim coach Tom Cable hoped for Sunday, a 34-3 demolition by the Saints before an announced crowd of 70,068 at the Louisiana Superdome.
The Raiders, coming off a bye, fell to 1-4. The Saints improved to 3-3.
"We could have played harder," said Cable, who replaced Kiffin on Sept. 30. "With the way we practiced, and everything we've been through, no excuses, I thought we put it behind us and worked with a real purpose this week.
"The thing we have to do is look each other in the mirror and say, 'Hey, we're better than that. We can play harder than that.' And it starts with me."
Sunday, it began – and ended – with Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the league's leading passer.
Brees, with a passer rating of 144.4, threw for 320 yards by completing 26 of 30 passes, including his first 16, and three touchdowns.
His quick release and the dizzying dink-and-dunk system that took advantage of the acres of open space underneath simply wore down the Raiders.
"I was trying to complete them all," said Brees, who completed passes to nine receivers.
With little pass rush to be concerned with – the Raiders had one sack and were missing defensive end Derrick Burgess, who aggravated a right triceps strain last week – Brees toyed with Oakland after the Raiders took a 3-0 lead on Sebastian Janikowski's 24-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Sure, it gave the Raiders three points, but it was more of the same, Oakland settling for a field goal after misfiring in the red zone.
The Raiders' first possession started on the Saints' 39-yard line after a 35-yard punt return by Johnnie Lee Higgins. They advanced to the 6-yard line before the drive stalled, and Janikowski trotted out.
And though the field goal gave the Raiders the early lead, it was another missed opportunity. How big a difference could scoring a touchdown be rather than another Janikowski chip shot?
"It could be a big difference in the game to get in (the end zone) there," said Russell, who endured a rough game with a 40.1 passer rating. He went 13 for 35 for 159 yards, an interception and a lost fumble on a sack.
"We score (a touchdown), then they have to go out and score it as well. We just have to capitalize on field position."
New Orleans took control of the game in the second quarter with an epic 18-play, 86-yard touchdown drive that took 10:59 and culminated with Bush scoring untouched from three yards.
So dominant were the Saints, they had but one three-and-out series, their first series of the game, and they only punted twice.
The sum of the Raiders' offense, meanwhile, was getting in Janikowski's range, even as he missed 116 yards worth of field-goal attempts.
With 1:48 until halftime, Janikowski was wide left on a 57-yard attempt, and the Saints took advantage by converting their own 44-yarder 54 seconds later to go up 10-3.
Then, with 11 seconds to go in the half, Janikowski missed again, this time from 59 yards.
New Orleans outgained Oakland in total net yards 441-226, had 11 more first downs, and were 64 percent on third-down conversions, compared to the Raiders' 38 percent.
So what was there to glean?
"I really like how we played in the first half," Cable said. "We moved the football but with no production.
"So I like the fact we're moving it, but at the end of the day, you got to cross the goal line with the football in your hands, and we didn't do that."
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556.
