s on the injury front was tempered Monday by the team losing two of its startting offens

NEW ORLEANS -- For Oakland coach Jack Del Rio, calling for a do-or-die, 2-point conversion was less a gamble than a philosophical declaration.Del Rio had no interest in a conservative point-after kick, and let his offense know it well before the decision had to be made. So when Derek Carr hit Seth Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown to cut New Orleans lead to a single point with 47 seconds left, kicker Sebastian Janikowski stood far from the action, helmet at his side, watching as Carr delivered a decisive fade pass to Michael Crabtree for a 35-34, season opening victory Sunday.Everyone knew about our strategy, said Del Rio, now in his second season with Oakland. I didnt really ask for any feedback there. I said, `When we score here, we are going to go for 2 and win it right here.His Raiders had already demonstrated considerable resolve just to get to that point.Oakland had to overcome a 14-point, second-half deficit and a 424-yard, four-touchdown performance by Drew Brees.The belief and trust that coach has in us gives us so much confidence, Carr said.Brees called the late 2-point try gutsy, but not surprising.Youll see that from time to time. You feel like you have the momentum, and lets dial it up and lets win the game, Brees said. I could see us doing that.FURIOUS FINISH: After the Raiders took their late lead, they still had to sweat out rookie kicker Wil Lutzs last-second field goal attempt from 61 yards, which narrowly missed wide left as the Superdome crowd briefly erupted before realizing the kick was no good.I thought it was good off my foot, Lutz said. The ball moved on me.Jalen Richard ran 75 yards for a touchdown on his first NFL carry and Amari Cooper caught Carrs pass for a 2-point conversion to briefly tie the game at 27 in the middle of the fourth quarter.But Brees marched New Orleans for another score, highlighted by a 57-yard completion that receiver Willie Snead fumbled and rookie wideout Michael Thomas recovered and advanced to the Oakland 2. That set up Travaris Cadets short touchdown catch, giving New Orleans a 34-27 lead.New Orleans nearly held on, but Saints linebacker Craig Robertson was flagged for interference on a fourth-down pass that sailed out of bounds.Im not going to start the season off complaining about the officials. We have to play better, Saints coach Sean Payton said. That was just one play.BIG NUMBERS: Brees eclipsed 400 yards passing for the 14th time in his career, tying Peyton Manning for the most such performances in NFL history. Snead finished with nine catches for 172 yards, including fourth-down, 1-yard TD catch in the first half.Carr finished with 319 yards and one touchdown passing against a Saints defense coached by his former Raiders head coach, Dennis Allen. The Raiders rushed for 167 yards, including touchdown runs of 6 yards by Latavius Murray and 2 yards by Jamize Olawale.RECORD TD: Brees touchdowns included a franchise-record 98-yarder to Brandin Cooks, who beat Sean Smith in single coverage and raced away from free safety Reggie Nelson. It was a career-long passing play for Brees as well.Brandin got a great release, I threw it up to him and he did the rest, Brees said. He looked like Usain Bolt running down the sideline there.Previously, Billy Joe Hobert and Eddie Kennison owned the Saints longest scoring play -- a 90-yard connection against Atlanta on Oct. 10, 1999. The Saints previous longest play from scrimmage was as 96-yard passing play from Billy Kilmer to Walter Roberts on Nov. 19, 1967, the franchises inaugural season.COOPED UP: Cooper, familiar to fans in the Gulf South from his college days at Alabama, elicited cheers of, Cooop! from an audible contingent of Raiders fans in the Superdome with a couple receptions for long gains. He finished with six catches for 137 yards.CAREER KICKOFF: Lutz made two of four field goal attempts -- missing twice from 50 or more yards -- in his NFL debut. Payton made the surprising move of cutting veteran incumbent kicker Kai Forbath in favor of Lutz this past week after the undrafted rookie out of Georgia State had been waived by Baltimore. Lutz hit his first field goal from 42 yards. He also handled kickoffs and hit a 20-yard field goal that was tipped.I like this guy a lot, Payton said of Lutz. Hes going to be kicking long after I am coaching here. Hes really talented. There are obviously going to be some bumps along the way.INJURIES: Raiders right tackle Menelik Watson left the game late in the first half with what team officials said was a groin pull. Saints starting cornerback Delvin Breaux left the game with an undisclosed lower left leg injury. He was replaced by undrafted rookie Ken Crawley, who was covering Crabtree on the decisive 2-point play.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFLCeltics Jerseys China . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Wholesale Custom Celtics Shirts . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. http://www.custompacersjersey.com/ . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Cheap Custom Celtics Jersey . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Custom Celtics T-shirts . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net.PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins passed his physical Monday and returned to practice for the first time since undergoing surgery this offseason to repair a broken left foot.Watkins, who declined to speak to reporters after practice, took several snaps with the first- and second-team offense, catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor during a red-zone period.In addition to Watkins coming off the active/physically unable to perform list, the Bills also cleared veteran defensive linemen Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams to practice for the first time this summer. Dareus had been on the non-football illness list with an undisclosed ailment, while Williams was on the physically unable to perform list after season-ending knee surgery last fall.The Bills positive news on the injury front was tempered Monday by the team losing two of its startting offensive linemen to health issues.dddddddddddd Left tackle Cordy Glenn was in a walking boot and will miss an undetermined amount of time after injuring his ankle in Saturdays intrasquad scrimmage, while left guard Richie Incognito left Mondays practice with rib soreness and did not return.Coach Rex Ryan did not have an update Monday on rookie linebacker Reggie Ragland, who remains out after injuring his left knee in Fridays practice. Ryan said the Bills are waiting for swelling in Raglands knee to go down before they can conduct further tests.An initial MRI showed that Ragland appeared to have suffered a partial ACL tear in his left knee, but the team is confident it is not fully torn, a team source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. ' ' '