On Sunday in their home opener, the New Orleans Saints lost by a 35-27 score to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Saints were done in by a combination of four turnovers, bad defense, and blatantly corrupt officiating. More on those another time. New Orleans had a few standouts in the disappointing and frustrating loss that dropped them to 1-2 but still a first place tie in the NFC South.
Chase Young was one of the very few defensive standouts. Young had 2 sacks, despite getting blatantly held (mugged) on nearly every play. The Saints were able to finally put together a semblance of a running game, though Travis Etienne was lost to an apparent hamstring injury. Tight ends Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant were terrific, combining for 12 receptions for 86 yards
and 4 touchdowns. However, Johnson lost a costly fourth quarter fumble that was the nail in the coffin of this loss. There's really only one deserving of a game ball.
WR Chris Olave
It was another outstanding game for Olave. He was targeted 13 times, pulling in 9 receptions for 107 yards. It was Olave's second 100-yard outing of the young season. He was productive against double coverage most of the game, on a day where quarterback Tyler Shough wasn't his sharpest. Several of Olave's catches came in crucial moments with his team in need of a play, as most times he either fought off close coverage or absorbed a big hit.
Olave accounted for seven first downs, including three on third down, with another setting the Saints up at the goal line. Vele on Johnson continue to come up big in those situations also, but Olave is the offense's most dependable weapon. New Orleans had a few solid performances against the Raiders, but his stood out above the rest.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: There's just one deserving game ball from Saints' home loss to Raiders
