The New Orleans Saints needed a win to keep their season alive. That's exactly what they got. They can worry about Week 18 when they get there.
And a big part in doing that with a 23-13 win over the Bucs was that it started early with the first opening drive touchdown of the 2023 season. The defense picked it up from their in a four-takeaway performance that showed flashes of the squad that had Saints fans so confident heading into the year.
So who stepped up in the big win over the Bucs, and who fell flat? Here's our stock report from Week 17, starting with the big guy who delivered his biggest game when it was needed most.
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BIG-GAME JUWAN JOHNSON
It's. About. Dang. Time.
One of the more frustrating things about Juwan Johnson’s season to this point is that I don’t think the flashes of elite play-making from training camp were a mirage. They just didn’t carry over to the regular season for a handful of reasons. Whether it was health, chemistry, hands, something was just off.
A low point came in the loss to the Lions earlier this season where not only did he have drops, but the first pass of the game deflected off his hands for an interception.
It’s taken a while, but we’d seen clear signs of the connection growing between he and Derek Carr the last several weeks. It’s why I made the prediction that this might just be the “Juwan Johnson game.” My guess was somewhere around 7 catches for 100-plus yards and 2 TDs. He ended the game with 8 catches for 90 yards and a TD. It's a career high in both catches and yards. I’m counting it.
Juwan made big plays from the jump, and that’s even after he injured his shoulder on the first play of the game. On third down in the red zone he capped off the opening drive TD — the first of the season for the Saints — before jogging back to the locker room for treatment. He came back in the game and it didn’t take long for him to deliver in a big moment, hauling in a fingertips grap for a long gain that moved the Saints out of the shadow of their own goalpost.
He told me that the somersault maneuver was actually something he picked up from Chris Godwin back when they were teammates at Penn State.
Again, like I said before, the most frustrating element of Juwan’s season is that we knew this player was in there. It might be too little, too late, but this team isn’t going to be blown up (even if that frustrates some folks). These playmakers getting into a rhythm down the stretch is a positive however you slice it.
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ALONTAE TAYLOR’S REBOUND
It’s easy to take for granted what Alontae Taylor managed to do this week.
Like Tyrann Mathieu said after the game, the dude was benched … on national television. That’s not nothing. It’d have been all too easy to go in a shell, woe is me, all that kind of stuff. Tyrann says he’s seen players lose all confidence and never get out of that cycle.
That wasn’t the case for Alontae, who made it clear early in the week that he was handling things the right way. Reports were that he had an excellent week in practice and he came out and delivered. On one play he bumped outside and brought down Mike Evans with an open field tackle on a screen that looked like it had a chance.
Later in that drive his eyes got wide as he was in perfect coverage on Trey Palmer deep downfield. Baker Mayfield threw it up anyway and he undercut the ball perfectly and came away with the first career interception that’s been so close so many other times.
He finished the game with four tackles, a pass defensed and that INT.
Impossible not to be happy for the kid after that performance.
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THE BLOCKING
The Saints’ offensive line has been an easy punching bag this season, and personally I expected them to get feasted on in this matchup. That didn’t happen.
The Saints didn’t dominate on the ground, but they did stick to the gameplan and it paid dividends down the stretch. When they went with play action, it worked.
Derek Carr was technically sacked once, but that was an instance where the QB waited too long to throw the ball away after being flushed from the pocket.
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The Saints started the day with Landon Young at RT, but he left with a knee injury and was replaced by Cam Erving, who was signed to the active roster this week after Ryan Ramczyk was placed on IR. Erving wasn’t perfect, and he was having troubel with cramping late in the game. But if Young can’t get next week, it’ll be Erving again.
There’s going to have to be a major focus on improving the OL this offseason, and the fact that Trevor Penning apparently can’t even be the backup right now is frustrating, to say the least. But the OL wasn’t the issue in Week 17. If anything it was a strength. Good on them.
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HONORABLE MENTIONS
There’s almost too many honorable mentions for this section to be reasonable, but it’s got to start with Johnathan Abram. The veteran who started the season on the practice squad got the start because Jordan Howden missed some practice with an illness and he certainly delivered with a fumble forced as the Bucs seemed to be seizing momentum, then an interception later in the game that took away really any hope from Tampa. He’s turned out to be a really solid addition for this team on the whole. … It’s not often 1 carry for 7 yards will get you on this list, but playing fullback is a thankless job. Adam Prentice hadn’t touched the Week 4 loss to the Bucs when he fumbled at his own goal line in a pivotal moment, setting up a Bucs touchdown before halftime. Well in this one it was Prentice picking up a massive first down that helped the Saints burn clock late in the game. Alvin Kamara is dealing with an ankle injury and Jamaal Williams was the only tailback active. Prentice stepped up and I’m happy for him. … Both Loud Hedley and Blake Grupe put their names in the Saints record book today. Hedley pinned 3 punts inside the 20, giving him 30 on the season and setting a new single-season record in that category. He’s settled in and honestly had a really solid rookie season after early struggles. He’ll never blow you away with distance or hangtime, but that’s not the point. His kicks averaged 44.4 yards today. He flipped the field when he needed to. Nothing to complain about. On the other side, Blake Grupe went 3-for-3 on field goals and has now made 28 on the season, which ties the team’s rookie record previously set by WIl Lutz in 2016. Both players had rookie struggles, but that’s the deal when you go with rookie specialists. Both navigated those and have found consistency down the stretch. They’ll have the jobs again next year, no question in my mind. … People tell me all the time how players have quit on Dennis Allen, but it’s based on nothing but assumptions. In reality this team plays hard for the guy. You can argue about decision making, scheme, whatever, there’s no question this team is bought in and giving everything they have. You don’t show up and embarraass that Bucs team unless that’s the case. There are worse things to be than a team that starts playing its best football in the final month of the season, and that’s what we’ve seen each of the past two years. The Saints have a chance to close out the final five games at 4-1 and give themselves a chance at the postseason. There are things to be answered for and changes that need to be made, but the front office will look at this team and appreciate the fight. The schedule will be more difficult next season, but will the division really be any better? I think this game could’ve gotten DA fired if it went a certain way. The result we got probably ensures DA another season. … Derek Carr is healthy now and I think it’s resulted in more efficient play. Is his ceiling high enough? Maybe not, but I do think the shoulder was hindering him more than he let on. Either way, his performances against the Giants and Bucs should offer at least some encouragment that there’s room to build with him leading the way. … Jamaal Williams has had a rough season. The production hasn’t really been there, even when he’s had opportunities. We can blame it on the blocking, whatever, but it’s been disappointing. Well, when you had no choice but to turn to him today he delivered down the stretch to burn a good bit of time off the clock. His 71 yards on 23 touches won’t jump off the page, but they were important.
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STOCK DOWN
CLOSING DEFENSE
I mean, what the heck, guys? There’s literally one way you lose a 20-0 lead in the 4th quarter, and it involves getting beat over the top. That’s the only thing you can’t allow to happen … yet somehow it did anyway.
The Saints got bailed out by a Trey Palmer fumble that football gods gave back. It was exactly the same way Chris Olave fumbled in Week 2 of last season in a virtually similar time/score situation. The Saints also got bailed out of a successful 2-point conversion after Chris Godwin got called for going out of bounds and being the first to touch the ball … but even that was after a deep ball to Godwin for a 47-yard TD. For cripes sake, the drive only took FIFTEEN SECONDS. How?!?
It’s nitpicking, but it’s a fair nit to pick. We can probably chalk it up to the Saints not being in that situation much this year, and thus they didn’t handle it well. But man, if not for the gift Palmer fumble, we might just be talking about another epic collapse at Raymond James.
Still, no harm, no foul. It’s a learning moment.
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3RD AND PENALTY
The Saints had the Bucs living in third and long in this game, and that’s the biggest reason why this game went differently than in Week 4. But oof … can we cut out the penalties?
On one long drive that ended in Taylor’s interception the Saints had the Bucs in third and long three separate times. One was a facemask on Bryan Bresee as he took down Mayfield close to the goal line. Another was a 3rd and 15, but they were gifted a first down on a Paulson Adebo illegal contact.
Oh, and there was a 3rd and 9 converted for a 33-yard gain to Mike Evans after Paulson Adebo fell in coverage.
On the whole it was a banner day for the defense. The Saints only had 5 penalties for 31 yards total, they just came in bad moments.
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THE BAG MAN
I honestly can’t think of another thing that’s worth criticizing, so I’m going to talk to the guy who showed up with a bag on his head.
Here’s the thing: If you’re gonna wear the bag, own the damn bag. Don’t lose it because the team starts playing well. That’s just kinda weak. If you’re gonna show up with that energy, own that energy.
In the end, this is not a baghead team. It’s frustrating. The team we saw today should be the team we see more often. That said, we’re talking about 8-8 and with a chance to win the NFC South in Week 18.
There’s frustration. There’s the demand for changes on the coaching staff and some accountability for way too many draft misses. But bags should be reserved for truly putrid seasons.
The irony is that this is the second time the Saints went on the road to face a team that’s won multiple Super Bowls since the turn of the century and dominated so thoroughly that home fans were booing by halftime … and that’s also been the scenario for the Saints in several of their home games.
The NFL is a weird place, y’all. Still, we can probably leave the bags at home for now.