Several New Orleans Saints players deserve a lot of props for how they performed in the team’s season-opening road win over the Atlanta Falcons, both for consistently helping throughout the game and for rallying to make a stand in its biggest moments. Let’s hand out our Week 1 game balls for top performers:
WR Michael Thomas
After over 600 days since his last live game action, Thomas had a resurgent performance in Atlanta. His 5 catches for 57 yards may have been less than anticipated in his return to the gridiron. But his two touchdowns when the Saints needed him most are a convincing reminder of how dominant Thomas can be. According to the All-Pro receiver, this is only the tip of the iceberg for he and fellow pass-catchers Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave. He told us after the game that he feels the receiving corps has a lot left to put together. Not a bad start in his return. — Ross Jackson
WR Jarvis Landry
Who predicted Landry would lead the team in receiving? If so, stake your claim and take your prize. The veteran slot receiver was very impressive with 7 receptions for 114 receiving yards, throttling his opponents deep downfield with big gains of 31 and 40 yards throughout the Saints’ fourth-quarter comeback. Landry was also a reliable target underneath coverage and led the team with four first-down conversions. He’s started out on a ridiculous pace. Whether he keeps it up or not isn’t really a concern right now. It’s just great to see him and Jameis Winston already working from the same page. — John Sigler
K Wil Lutz
On a Sunday where game-winning kicks were missed in multiples, Wil Lutz came in the clutch for the Saints and proved why his absence last season was sorely missed. He missed a 44-yard attempt in the first half, but there was a sense of calmness when he trotted out each time thereafter. It wasn’t just the missed field goals last season; the amount of missed extra points cost New Orleans games. Not only did Lutz record a 51-yard field goal with 19 seconds left, but he made a 49-yarder on their opening drive out of the third quarter to make the team deficit 6 points. It was reminiscent of the electric Houston Texans opener in 2019 when he won the game on a 58-yard field goal with two seconds left. — Maddy Hudak
LB Pete Werner
Werner paced the team with 13 tackles (12 solo, 1 tackle for loss) and created a clutch forced fumble in one of the game’s biggest moments. He was surprisingly steady and reliable for someone who missed most of training camp with an injury. You don’t want to see him making double-digit tackles each week because it’s a product of mistakes by teammates up front letting runners get past them, but Werner formed a very effective combo at the second level with Demario Davis. Hopefully the Saints defensive line can make his job easier in the weeks ahead by doing a better job of setting the line of scrimmage. — John Sigler
QB Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston gets my game ball for calming down after a rough three quarters for the offense and orchestrating a perfect fourth quarter game plan. Though the offensive line didn’t give him much to work with early on in the game, he still didn’t play perfectly. In the fourth quarter, when they had to bring more tempo into the fold he handled it without error. Winston went 16-of-19 for 213 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He also had a perfect passer rating. His throws were on time and in places that only the receivers could come up with. If the team gets that Winston every week, things could be very fun for New Orleans this year. — Dylan Sanders
CB Alontae Taylor
Taylor was a menace on special teams, which is exactly what we were hoping for when Bradley Roby and Paulson Adebo held onto their spots on the depth chart ahead of him. The rookie was a dynamic player in the kicking game at Tennessee and that’s his path towards contributing early on this year. And we already saw it against Atlanta, where Taylor was the only Saint to get downfield in time to force a fair catch on multiple punts. He saw work as the jammer and gunner on punts and even got in on the field goal block team that won the game. He did miss one tackle in that phase, but we’ll chalk it up to rookie mistakes. Taylor won’t be limited to covering punts and kickoffs forever, but it’s still good to see him making an impact so early. — John Sigler
