NEW ORLEANS -- When the Oakland Raiders had a chance to get even with the New Orleans Saints, coach Jack Del Rio wanted more.

Derek Carr threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts to get the Raiders within a point with 47 seconds left and Del Rio left his offense on the field. Carr followed with a two-point conversion pass to Michael Crabtree.

When Saints rookie kicker Wil Lutz was just wide left on a 61-yard kick with no time left, Oakland had a 35-34 season-opening victory Sunday afternoon in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Del Rio told his players at the start of the decisive possession, which began at the Raiders 25 with 6:03 left in the game, that he was going for two points.

"I was thinking, we're here to win, let's win it right now," Del Rio said. "That's why we took some clock there at the end, so they wouldn't have as much time. Everything about our strategy at the end was to win."

Carr led the Raiders to 22 points and 210 yards in the fourth quarter, upstaging New Orleans' Drew Brees' 14th 400-yard passing game, which tied Peyton Manning for an NFL record.

"It wasn't unexpected," Saints coach Sean Payton said of Del Rio's decision. "Considering how they had moved the ball in the fourth quarter -- we were having trouble stopping anything -- and being on the road in a game like this, I probably would have done the exact same thing."

Carr completed 24 of 38 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown and Brees completed 28 of 42 for 423 and four touchdowns.

"Your triggerman is the guy who's got to make it happen for you at the end," Del Rio said. "I thought Derek did an excellent job of continuing to battle and trade punches with a great quarterback like Drew Brees."

Oakland was penalized 14 times for 141 yards, compared to seven penalties for 53 yards for New Orleans, but overcame that in part by not allowing Carr to be sacked and having one takeaway and no turnovers.

"We're developing that grittiness that we're going to keep coming," Del Rio said, "that we came here today to win and that's what we're about."

The Saints extended their 17-10 halftime lead when Brees and Brandin Cooks connected on a franchise-record 98-yard touchdown pass with 7:52 left in the third quarter.

The Raiders cut the deficit to 11 when Sebastian Janikowski made a 31-yard field goal. New Orleans missed an opportunity to negate that when Lutz, who was signed as a free agent earlier in the week, was wide left on a 50-yard field-goal attempt early in the fourth quarter.

Oakland cut the deficit to 24-19 when Jamize Olawale ran 2 yards for a touchdown but a 2-point conversion failed with 11:53 left in the game.

After Lutz made a 20-yard field goal, Jalien Richard ran 75 yards for a touchdown and Carr teamed with Amari Cooper on a 2-point conversion that tied the score at 27 with 8:42 left.

Brees responded with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Travaris Cadet that gave the Saints a 34-27 lead with 6:03 left.

The Saints' first possession was comprised of two incompletions and a Brees fumble. Bruce Irvin caused the fumble and Jihad Ward recovered the ball on the New Orleans 21.

The Raiders lost 8 yards on three plays and Janikowski kicked a 47-yard field goal.

The Saints responded with a 65-yard drive that yielded Lutz's 42-yard field goal that tied the score with 5:52 left in the first quarter.

Oakland came right back with a 91-yard drive that ended with Latavius Murray's 6-yard touchdown run.

New Orleans tied the score at 10 when Brees threw a touchdown pass to Willie Snead on fourth-and-goal from the 1. The Raiders lined up with just 10 defenders after a timeout prior to the play.

The Saints took a 17-10 halftime lead when Brees threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cooks with 4:55 left in the second quarter.

But the second half, especially the fourth quarter, belonged to Carr and the Raiders.

"If we had made just one or two more plays," Brees said, "this game is different."

NOTES: K Sebastian Janikowski became Oakland's all-time leader in seasons of service (17), passing former WR Tim Brown. ... RB C.J. Spiller was a non-injury inactive for New Orleans. ... Jahri Evans, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, started at RG for the Saints just four days after being re-signed as a free agent. Evans was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round of the 2006 draft and played 10 seasons with them before being released in February. Seattle signed him and released him. ... New Orleans defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was Oakland's head coach from 2012-14.