The Saints had one last chance, but Tonka Hemingway seemingly sealed the game with an interception off a tipped pass. However, the turnover was negated by an illegal contact penalty on Chinn.
Any frustration from the erased interception was short-lived. Nakobe Dean forced a fumble on tight end Juwan Johnson, who had two touchdowns on the day. The play was reminiscent of Dean’s game-sealing forced fumble on Omarion Hampton just a week ago in Los Angeles.
“We knew we had to rally back, we had to start back playing our type of football,” Dean said. “And that’s our style of play, taking the ball away. We got a goal every week, ‘How many takeaways are we going to get?’ We had none in the first half, so we had to come back in the second half strong.”
“He’s a heartbeat of our defense,” Kubiak said of Dean. “We’re counting on him every week. The other guys thrive off of his maturity, number one, and his play style, number two.”
Dean’s college teammate Eric Stokes recovered the ball, sealing the win and improving the Raiders to 3-0 for the first time since 2021.
“I just want to give a big shoutout to our defense,” Kubiak said after the win. “Four takeaways in the second half was the catalyst to the game. So proud of them and all the guys fighting to the end.”