For the first time this season, it's been very difficult to pick out any duds from a Saints performance.
That's what will happen when you utterly dominate the Raiders in a 24-0 shutout that honestly wasn't as close as the score indicates.
But we have a segment on Inside Black & Gold called "Studs and Duds," so we still did our best. Let's start out with the negatives.
Listen to the full segment from today's Inside Black & Gold podcast in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
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Jeff's dud: K Wil Lutz
Why: Let me start out by saying, the only reason Wil is here is because there really wasn't much to choose from. But if you're looking for one real negative play in this game, it happened just before halftime. The Saints were already up 17-0 an executed a drive into Raiders territory for what should've been a guaranteed 3 points and a 20-0 lead. Instead a 38-yard field goal attempt was pushed to the right. It never really had a chance. It might be nitpicking in an easy win, but not every game will be that way and that kick has to be automatic. It's also a concerning trend. Lutz has made 9 of 13 kicks from 20-49 yards (69%), and 3 of 4 from beyond 50 (75%). He's like a basketball player who shoots a better percentage from three-point range than the free-throw line. The long kicks are great, but the consistency has to improve.
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Steve's dud: KR/WR Rashid Shaheed
Why: Well, let's start by pointing out that this is a joke. Rashid Shaheed finally had multiple touches, but all he did was catch 3 passes for 38 yards (the first was a 30-yard reception on the Saints' opening scoring drive). On the positive side, he continues to be a weapon in the passing game. On the negative side, his run of long touchdowns has come to an end. Darn. But yea, we could only really come up with one actual dud in this game.
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Jeff's stud: CB Alontae Taylor
Why: The rookie drew his second career start, and he didn't disappoint. A week after holding his own against DeAndre Hopkins, he and Paulson Adebo combined to limit Davante Adams to 1 catch for 3 yards. The rookie was targeted 10 times in this game and allowed four catches. He had multiple big tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage. A lot of folks griped about the decision to take a cornerback in the second round considering it was already a stacked position. With the track record of this team drafting cornerbacks, I'm never going to be mad at it.
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Steve's stud: RB Alvin Kamara
Why: We all knew the lack of touchdowns wasn't really a red flag, because Alvin Kamara has clearly been playing at an incredibly high level. Taysom Hill has just been vulturing them (and AK won't complain). But it was good to see him finally get in the end zone in this one. Then again. Then again. When AK eats, everybody eats, and that was certainly the case in this one (and I'm sure his fantasy owners were plenty happy about that). It was his first 3-plus TD game since the 6-touchdown performance on Christmas Day against the Vikings in 2020.
Honorable mention studs: OC Pete Carmichael; WR Chris Olave; DE Payton Turner; DT Kentavius Street; all five members of the OL (zero sacks in back-to-back weeks)
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