Drew Brees orchestrated the winning drive and Wil Lutz capped it with a career-long 58-yard field goal as the New Orleans Saints opened the season with a thrilling 30-28 win over Houston.

Brees and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson traded last minute heroics before Lutz nailed a walk-off field goal to give the Saints the win in a topsy-turvy season opener for both teams.

"It is crazy, that's an amazing win," Lutz said.

Lutz's kick came just moments after Watson had driven the Texans 75 yards for a touchdown in two plays in front of a crowd of 73,000 at the Superdome stadium.

It gave the Saints a victory in their opener for the first time in six seasons.

"I knew we were going to get a chance," said Lutz. "You got Drew Brees at the helm, you are going to get a chance."

The final drama began with Houston's go-ahead drive with 50 seconds left as Watson connected with DeAndre Hopkins for a 37-yard gain.

Watson then connected with former Saint Kenny Stills for a 37-yard touchdown.

Ka'Imi Fairbairn missed the extra point, but Saints rookie C.J. Gardner-Johnson brushed Fairbairn and a penalty was called. Fairbairn converted on the second attempt to snap the tie.

Brees then completed three passes for 35 yards and the Saints called their final timeout with two seconds left.

They brought on Lutz, who had missed a 56-yarder on the final play of the first half.

"All I wanted was redemption after that miss at the half," he said.

Watson also ran for a 21-yard touchdown in the second quarter and Hopkins snagged two touchdown passes in the game.

Oakland Raiders 24-16 Denver Broncos

The other game on Monday started with Oakland Raiders fans derisively chanting at former disgruntled receiver Antonio Brown and ended with coach Jon Gruden celebrating a victory in the Black Hole.

The saga that consumed the football world for days didn't hamper the Raiders a bit.

Derek Carr threw a touchdown pass on the opening drive of the season, rookie Josh Jacobs ran for two scores and the Raiders responded to a tumultuous week surrounding Brown by beating the Denver Broncos 24-16 on Monday night.

"As much as people talked about it, I mean my god. I feel like somebody was smashing my temple on the side of the head,'" Gruden said. '"Get over it, man. It's over. We were good this preseason without him. We were fine without him. We wish him the best. We gave it a shot. Now New England gets their turn. Good luck to them. I can't deal with it anymore."

The Raiders (1-0) took out any frustration over the drama surrounding Brown with a convincing win over the AFC West rival Broncos (0-1). The offensive line cleared holes for Jacobs and protected Carr, and the defense harassed Joe Flacco into three sacks and kept Denver out of the end zone until 2:15 remained in the game.

The win spoiled the Denver debuts for Flacco and coach Vic Fangio and ended the NFL's longest opening weekend winning streak at seven games.

"Disappointed but we're not discouraged,'" star edge rusher Von Miller said. "First game of the season. Hats off to the Raiders, they outplayed us today. Killed us on third down in the first half."

The final scheduled home opener at the Coliseum before the Raiders planned move to Las Vegas next season began with derisive chants from the boisterous fans toward Brown. Those only grew louder after each successful pass play as both the fans and Raiders players seemed relieved to have the month-long saga over Brown in the past.

(With input from AP, AFP)