It certainly didn’t start off very well.

The New Orleans Saints 2023 season got off to a rocky start, fumbling the kickoff, but capitalizing on three Ryan Tannehill interceptions for a 16-15 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Syndication: The Tennessean
Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Derek Carr, making his first start for the Saints, was 23-33, 305 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Neither team scored a touchdown until the end of the 3rd when Carr hit rookie wide receiver Rashid Shaheed for a 19-yard score on a nice double move by Shaheed.

Syndication: The Tennessean
Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Up until that point, it was all field goals. Saints rookie Blake Grupe hit 26, 33 and 52 and was matched by 16-year veteran Nick Folk with 50, 27, 31, 45 and 29.  Eventually Folk hit 5 field goals, accounting for all of the Titans’ points.

Syndication: The Tennessean
Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Returning wide receiver Michael Thomas 4 passes for 53 yards, including Carr’s first pass of the game.  Chris Olive led the Saints with 8 catches for 112 yards.

Marcus Maye, Marshon Lattimore, and Paulson Adebo each picked off Tannehill, directly resulting in 10 Saints points.

NFL: Tennessee Titans at New Orleans Saints
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
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The Saints defense was outstanding, bottling up Derek Henry for just 63 yards on 15 carries.  Meanwhile, Tannehill was erratic, going 16-34, 194 yards and those 3 big interceptions.

Carr and the Saints put the game away, facing a 3rd & 6th, and hit Shaheed down the sideline for 41 yards.  For good measure, new Saints running back Jamal Williams converted a 3rd & 4, allowing New Orleans to run out the clock.

NFL: Tennessee Titans at New Orleans Saints
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New Orleans begins the season 1-0 and will play at Carolina next Monday night.

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