late in the fourth quarter. Calgary Flames Gear . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding s

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. Custom Calgary Flames Jerseys .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-NFL Calgary Flames Store . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Calgary Flames Gear . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. https://www.cheapflames.com/ .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. NEW YORK -- The NBA begins its season Tuesday night with international players making up one-quarter of the league.The 113 international players come from 41 countries and territories. A maximum of 15 players are allowed on the 30 NBA teams.The NBA said Tuesday that the Utah Jazz lead the way with seven international players. Every team has at least one such player. Canadians are most represented for the third straight year. Eleven players ffrom Canada are on NBA rosters, followed by France at 10, Brazil at nine, and Australia and Spain at eight. Cheap Flames Jerseys. International newcomers making debuts Wednesday night include Dragan Bender of Croatia, the No. 4 overall draft pick by Phoenix, and Buddy Hield of the Bahamas, the No. 6 selection by New Orleans. ' ' '