Credit where it's due: Julio Jones always gave the New Orleans Saints a challenge. And nobody knows that better than Cameron Jordan. The two NFC South rivals competed against each other often after they were both drafted back in 2011. All told, Jones led the Atlanta Falcons into 19 games against Jordan and the Saints, facing off with them more often than any other team.
Jones recently announced his retirement from pro football, and Jordan took time to tip his hat to him. Jordan wrote online that, even with the disrespect he gives the Falcons, Jones was a legend with 13,000 yards to his name: "He was the gameplan," every time the Saints and Falcons squabbled.
And no team did a better job of slowing down Jones than New Orleans. Jones only scored three touchdowns in those 19 games against the Saints. He retired with four fumbles lost, so he actually turned the ball over more often than he put it in the end zone. And he never scored on the Saints again after they drafted star cornerback Marshon Lattimore in 2017.
The only other teams he played against in double-digit games were the other NFC South squads; the Carolina Panthers allowed twice as many touchdowns (6) in 17 games, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers let him score 11 times in 16 games.
The Saints won 11 of their 19 games with Jones and the Falcons. Jordan is right to point out how the Saints had to put extra effort in stopping Jones. And more often than not, those efforts were rewarded.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints DE Cameron Jordan reacts to Falcons WR Julio Jones' retirement
