It took a team effort to put away the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the New Orleans Saints are left feeling pretty satisfied. This was a complete win with the offense, defense, and special teams units each pulling their weight.
But who were the standouts? Who made a difference on Sunday afternoon — for good or bad? Who stood out for positive and negative reasons? Let’s break down this week’s Studs and Duds:
STUD | TE Juwan Johnson
Johnson finally broke out the way we expected when the Saints first signed Derek Carr — he set new career-highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (90) against the Buccaneers while also scoring the team’s first opening-drive touchdown of the season. Hopefully this is the start of a trend as the coaching staff better tailors the offense to Carr’s strengths. Johnson is a big, athletic target with reliable hands and they should be getting more out of him.
DUD | WR Chris Olave
You hesitate to be too hard on Olave on a day when so many targets are flowing to the tight ends, not the receivers, but this wasn’t one of his better games. He had an ugly drop on the opening drive and ended up totaling 3 receptions for 26 yards, with his longest pickup gaining just 14 yards. Olave was targeted six times and caught half his passes. That isn’t up to his usual standards, even if it was enough for the Saints to get a win on Sunday.
STUD | S Johnathan Abram
Abram was given the starting nod in Jordan Howden’s place with the rookie battling an illness (and filling in for Marcus Maye in the first place), and he responded very well. Abram had a couple of bad missed tackles but he more than made up for it by forcing a fumble and intercepting Baker Mayfield. He finished the afternoon with 5 tackles (all solo), tied for second-most on the team with Tyrann Mathieu.
DUD | DE Carl Granderson
Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs got his hands on Granderson and didn’t let him move a muscle. Granderson leads the Saints in sacks and pressures this year but he came away with a single tackle on the stats sheet. Now, there’s no shame in losing reps to a Pro Bowl-quality player like Wirfs, but for someone who has found so much success this season it was a quiet afternoon from Granderson.
STUD | LB Demario Davis
Davis was all over the place; he only totaled four tackles (one solo) but he had a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and several pressures when asked to blitz Mayfield. So many fans will rightfully remember Davis scooping up the loose ball and returning it 20 yards to midfield, but his best play of the day may have been an assisted tackle to shut down a Buccaneers screen before it could develop. Initially shading over the A-gap, Davis read the play design and correctly bailed out to cross the formation and run down the receiver before they could even turn upfield, doing enough for his teammates to rally to the ball on a big stop. It was the kind of heady play that Davis has become known for as one of the league’s best linebackers.
