Two weeks ago in Baltimore, Tyler Shough finished a comeback with a 1-yard touchdown run, and the New Orleans Saints left with a 24-17 win. A week before that, he threw for 410 yards in an overtime loss at Detroit. The second-year quarterback had made a habit of playing his best with the game on the line.
The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue wrote in her NFL Team Utility Tiers that New Orleans appears to have its long-term answer in Shough, whom she described as aggressive and productive late in games. Then she noted the exception. Against the Raiders in Week 3, he turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter.
How Tyler Shough’s fourth quarter got away from the Saints
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New Orleans led 27-16 in the third quarter and 27-22 entering the fourth. Malcolm Koonce’s strip-sack came first. Hezekiah Masses intercepted an underthrown pass with about eight minutes left, and Jeremy Chinn knocked the ball loose on a fourth-down blitz near the two-minute mark. Tight end Juwan Johnson fumbled on the final drive, giving Las Vegas four fourth-quarter takeaways in a 35-27 win. The Raiders outscored the Saints 13-0 in the quarter.
“Ultimately, turnovers in the fourth quarter got us, and we weren’t able to overcome them,” coach Kellen Moore said, per the team’s website. Shough finished 29 of 42 for 255 yards and four touchdown passes, so the first three quarters were as good as anything he has done.
It was not entirely new. He also had two interceptions and a lost fumble in the opener, and the Saints’ turnover problem has them at 1-2. The opponent had something to do with it, too. Rodrigue has the Raiders third in the NFL in pressure rate and first in takeaways. Shough’s season line is still strong at 91 of 132 for 917 yards with eight touchdown passes and three interceptions, and Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski gave him a C-plus for the Raiders game.
“Each one of those things are correctable,” Shough said this week, according to the Saints’ website. Moore said the fixes run through play calls, play design and timing. Shough gets his next chance Monday night against Atlanta.
