The time for predictions are over, and it’s time for the official start of the 2021-2022 NFL season! With the offseason behind us, the New Orleans Saints headed to Jacksonville to kick off the season against the Green Bay Packers. Many NFL analysts picked the Packers to demolish the Saints and capitalize on their new interception-prone quarterback Jameis Winston. Much to many’s surprise, New Orleans came prepared and had a few things to say about that.

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Up: Jameis Winston

Jameis Winston looked about as comfortable as we’d ever seem him in his dominant performance Sunday afternoon. Winston would finish the game with 148 yards passing while completing 14/20 of his passes. Don’t let the 148 yards passing part trip you up, Winston ended the day with a whopping 5 touchdowns. Yes, you heard that right. If that wasn’t enough, guess how many times Winston turned the ball over? Zero. Winston seemed like a new man, and the Who Dat nation couldn’t get enough of it.

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Up: Marshon Lattimore

Lattimore’s presence loomed in the secondary all night long for poor Davante Adams. There was just not much that Adams could do with Lattimore blocking passes and keeping him in a prison cell for most of the game. Adams was held to a quiet 5 receptions for a total of 56 yards. Again, with most of the national media picking Adams to dominate this matchup, this was a pleasant sight to see.

Shortly after the game, Lattimore signed a contract for a 5 year extension worth 97.6 million dollars. Even with a minor thumb injury, expect Lattimore to produce more of the same over the season. It’s also worth noting that he did most of this with a cast on. What a guy.

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Up: Juwan Johnson

What a performance for Juwan! If there was any doubt that New Orleans would have some holes to fill at the TE position, Johnson laid them to rest with two beautiful touchdown catches. Johnson ability to leap in the air and go after the ball with defenders on all sides certainly helped this offense out tremendously.

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Down: Injuries

There weren’t many downs to report from a game that went this good. If there had to be any ‘down’ this week though, it would be the injuries. The injury curse continues to plague the Saints. Although things could be worse, both Marcus Davenport and Marshon Lattimore went down with injuries. Luckily, both were able to avoid season ending injuries, but the Saints will be without a few of their star players on defense for the next few weeks. Rest assured, Dennis Allen will be able to cook up defensive schemes to work around this, but the problem of injuries continues to haunt this team.

Davenport’s injury is the most frustrating. For the past few seasons, both fans and possibly the Saint’s front office have been waiting for Davenport to wake up on the field. If this game as any indication, Marcus has not only woken up...but it is wide awake and hungry for a breakout season. Davenport was able to sack Rodgers for an 11 yard sack with showed promise for the type of season he hopes to have.

The Saints head to Carolina next week for a date with the Panthers, they are scheduled for a noon kickoff. Let’s hope that the momentum continues as we are firmly in the Jameis Winston era.

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