New Orleans Saints’ tight end Juwan Johnson had a standout performance during the team’s 35-27 home-opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
While a lost fumble closed his day, an eight catch, 53-yard day was topped off with a pair of touchdown receptions – his fourth two-touchdown game of his career. He was also a major contributor in the team’s run blocking, which helped the Saints show life in the run game.
However, the final result wasn’t what the team, nor Johnson, wanted to see. Especially after getting out to an 11-point lead over an undefeated Raiders team going into the later portion of the third quarter.
The tables turned quickly and, as Johnson touched on when speaking to the local media the day after the game, there are pitfalls from the game to learn from and fix.
“The biggest thing is just just playing smarter,” said Johnson. “I don’t think that we could really critique everything, but there are some things that we could take and move forward and make it better. Because the moment you try to fix everything something else is going to leak out.
“But we should keep playing how we’re playing,” Johnson said. “We’re playing really aggressive, really strong, really physical, really smart, really fast. There’s a few things to get cleaned up and we’ll be fine.”
The team’s fast, physical and smart identity were apparent in Johnson’s answer, common traits that head coach Kellen Moore uses to describe his team. It’s an example of the message getting through.
There were a lot of things that went right for New Orleans on Sunday, at least in the first three quarters.
Quarterback Tyler Shough had his first career four-touchdown game, wide receiver Chris Olave topped 100 receiving yards for a second time this season. The Saints also averaged 4.15 yards per carry in the run game without Shough’s 36-yard scramble and Johnson and fellow tight end Noah Fant came up with big days.
However, like every player that’s spoken since the loss, Johnson didn’t let himself slide. After a remarkable game from the tight end, his final play on the field was still the lost fumble. He didn’t hide from critiquing himself on the costly play, which ended the Saints’ final chance to drive, score and potentially tie the game late.
A lasting impression from the game.
“I wouldn’t change anything about how I’m playing but I would definitely change the way I was holding the football,” he said. “I was a little bit careless. I think moving forward, just being intentional about securing the ball. ‘Falling in love with it,’ as (Wide Receiver Coach Keith Williams) would say.”
The example set by the team after the loss is something Saints fans clamored for in the days of former head coach Dennis Allen and past quarterback Derek Carr: accountability. One of the most common criticisms of that era of the franchise was a lack of responsibility and a perception to pass the blame or fault.
Every player and coach that’s spoken publicly since the Week 3 loss has accepted a role in the defeat. Many also, rightfully, highlighted the other side of things as well, areas that went well.
New Orleans (1-2) looked like it was set to run away with the game at the six-minute mark of the third quarter and secure its first winning record since Week 3 of the 2024 season.
That perception was created by the things that went positively.
“I feel like we moved the ball pretty well,” he said.”I don’t think we should take away from that. I think we did a pretty good job in the run game. At first we were a little slow, but as the game went on, we got a lot better in the run game. So, just taking the positives for what they were. I mean, the negatives are present, but I think moving forward, we’ll be fine.”
Those successes are also part of what made the eight-point loss so baffling. Four fourth quarter turnovers were the proverbial nail in the coffin for the team.
If they can erase those late-game errors, and return to the fourth-quarter production in the opening two games, while retaining the ability to score early for Week 3, things can indeed pick up quickly for the Saints.
Taking onus is the start, but applying the hard-learned lessons from the team’s Week 3 collapse could be their fastest path to success, if applied correctly.
