The result certainly wasn't ideal, but Saints rookie Tyler Shough is taking things in stride and with perspective as he moves forward from his starting debut.
The Saints only ran 40 offensive plays in a 34-10 loss to the Rams, but the QB didn't see that as an issue of a young player being unprepared or overwhelmed, as he explained to Mike Hoss on WWL Radio this week.
“I thought it was encouraging from a standpoint that I didn’t come in and feel like there was any nerves, any hesitation from a standpoint that I’m going out there and attacking," Shough said. "I think from a decision-making standpoint there’s really [not much] I would’ve done differently."
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The Saints got off to a slow start in the game with three consecutive 3 and outs, but things started to get untracked before halftime with touchdown drive in the final minute, capped off by a 11-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson.
Head coach Kellen Moore highlights a scramble drill on that drive that resulted in a 27-yard completion to Chris Olave, and Shough explained that his TD pass didn't go as intended. The play was drawn up for WR Devaughn Vele, isolated to the right of the formation, but the Rams doubled him. Shough then worked back to the opposite side where Olave was also doubled and he got the ball to Johnson, his old college teammate from Oregon, who turned upfield and dove in for the score.
"It was hard for sure," Shough said. "When you’ve got to clock winding down, you’re trying to throw this ball to Vele, the big target in the red zone to kind of choke it down and then also move onto the next one and, especially to get that first touchdown to Juwan was pretty cool.”
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The Saints didn't score again, though they did drive into the red zone in the 4th quarter before being stopped on 4th down. Shough also threw an interception trying to force a ball on a 4th down play. He finished with a line of 15-24, 176 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. The story of the second half, though, was the Rams possessing the ball. They came out of halftime and executed a 16-play, 10-minute touchdown drive, churning a majority of the third quarter before the Saints touched the ball again after their scoring drive.
Shough found Johnson again for a first down on the ensuing possession, but the Saints offense had a ball punched out for a fumble on the next play. The Rams followed that takeaway with a 10-play touchdown drive, making the score 34-10 when the Saints offense finally got the ball back with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
“I think from a momentum standpoint, and especially in the NFL and just football in general, is such a big thing," Shough said. "I think going into the half we felt really, really good about it and, you know, we weren’t going to get the ball back, you know, was hoping to be able to get it and I think it would’ve flipped the switch a little bit and I think at that point it just was really tough to get things going and you have a turnover right, almost immediately and it feels like, man, we’ve got to start getting going here or we’re going to be out of it, so I think a combination of those things and it’s really great for me to see, just because it’s like, how valuable each possession is and especially in that middle eight area, to kind of get things flipped."
The Saints are now 1-8, with eight more chances to get things moving in the right direction with the young quarterback at the helm. That first opportunity will come against a surging Carolina Panthers team in Week 10 before a bye week and a home matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
"We’ve got to be able to start faster," Shough said, "running the ball, get some more shots down the field and I think that’s kind of part of the plan, to create some of those more opportunities and I think we’re going to continue to do that, and it was good to just get out there, get your feet wet a little bit and just be able to get after it.”