Stock up, stock down after Saints stun Ravens: Winning plays delivered

The story was familiar for the New Orleans Saints, but the ending? This one was a lot more fun.

The Saints fell in an early hole against the Ravens but found the winning plays to take down an AFC contender in the Baltimore Ravens 24-17 in the M&T Bank Stadium opener. Another big statistical day for Tyler Shough and the offense, while Chase Young and a heavy pressure defense led the way on defense.

At 1-1 and with favorable matchups ahead, all things seem possible. Below we'll break down our stock up and stock down players from the matchup, and yes, of course we'll talk about special teams.

STOCK UP

CLUTCH SHOUGH

You just run out of ways to explain it. Honestly, if he does this a few more times I’ll have to stop including it in my stock up column because crazy comebacks will be the expectation.

You’d obviously prefer a team that could put together an effective, efficient, mistake-free four quarters. But if I had to choose between what the Ravens did — start strong and go out with a whimper — versus what the Saints did — scuffle in the first half and completely control the game in the 4th quarter, I know where I’m leaning.

The odd thing is that throughout I never felt like Shough was having his best game. He, again, looked sped up and had happy feet a bit too often. He took his checkdowns when available, but it didn’t seem like he was willing to force the issue until the Saints landed in third and long. All the way up to the three-and-out that saw Kelvin Banks leave with an injury there was really no indication the Saints had much hope of finding the end zone, let alone finding a lead.

But from that point on, Shough locked in. He flushed everything but what he needed: The understanding of how the Ravens were attacking him. Over the next two drives he went 12-14 for 104 yards and a touchdown.

He also had some help along the way. Chris Olave delivered in critical moments and got loose for his first touchdown of the season. Travis Etienne found his way to the corner of the end zone for a game-tying 2-point conversion. Juwan Johnson converted multiple first downs after catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage. And sure, the Saints were the beneficiaries of a questionable touchdown ruling that the refs didn’t see enough to overturn (they also missed a blatant facemask on the play, but I digress).

Confidence is contagious. This team might dig itself too many holes, but it never loses the faith that it can dig its way out of them. They came up one play short in Week 1. This time they had the finishing punch.

Oh, and despite being under pressure all day and sacked three times, zero turnovers. He finished with 27-34 (79%) for 252 yards and a TD, which was good for a 107.4 QB rating.

That was start No. 12. Pretty soon he won’t be a poor-man’s Josh Allen, he’ll be a rich man’s Tyler Shough.

PRESSURE PLAYERS

The Ravens are a brutally difficult matchup for a lot of reasons, but mostly because they force a defense out of its comfort zone. Defensive ends can't just pin their ears back and get to the QB, because that's how Lamar Jackson can tear you to shreds. The rules are different, too, for Derrick Henry in the run game. It's about taking out his legs and gang tackling, a lot easier said than done.

But the Saints went in with a plan and they executed it. It was frustrating at points. The Saints sat back in a lot of soft zones and forced Baltimore to go underneath. They did that to extend drives and in the first half, rolling up 228 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Things tightened up significantly in the second half.

Chase Young cashed in for 1.5 sacks, in both cases opting to grab a handful of Jackson's jersey and swing him to the ground rather than go for the big hit. It was impressive. Kaden Elliss applied pressure and forced Lamar off his spot, and Pete Werner got through for the second sack of his career. It was a clear plan ... send pressure, keep the action underneath. It seemed to frustrate the Ravens, who inexplicably abandoned the run game. After 11 carries for 51 yards in the first half, he was held to 17 yards on 5 carries in the second half.

All of that said, though, the pivot point in the game was clear. The Ravens sacked Tyler Shough twice and forced a punt deep in Saints territory. Ryan Wright sent it away and Baltimore took over with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter and leading 17-9. A touchdown drive there would've been devastating. Even a field goal would've changed the match considerably. Neither of those things happened.

A false start backed Baltimore up 5 yards, then a Carl Granderson TFL made their situation even worse. On 2nd and 18, Young got through again, taking down Jackson for a big loss and setting up 3rd and 26. After an incompletion the Ravens punted the ball back, and from that moment the Saints took full control of the game.

Saints DC Brandon Staley came up with a plan. His defense executed it, all the way down to some fearsome NASCAR packages at the end of the game. On the final Ravens play, which ended in a Julian Blackmon interception, Granderson rushed from the inside and forced Jackson to throw before he was ready.

It's impossible to not be impressed by that defensive group through two weeks, and even more impressively is the variety of ways they've done it so far.

SPECIALISTS

NFL games often come down to fine margins. It’s often special teams where you can steal an extra bit of that margin, and boy did the Saints do that in this one.

First off, Daniel Carlson has been exactly what the Saints hoped he would be. Other than the 62-yard miss in Detroit he’s been rock-steady. In this one he nailed kicks from 23, 47 and 51 and both PATs. He’s also been incredibly efficient on kickoffs. The Ravens drives after kickoffs started at the 20, 32, 28 and 29. That's an average start of the 27 yard line -- anything inside the 35 is a win.

On the other side, the Saints managed to keep 3 points off the board when Carl Granderson got a paw on a Tyler Loop attempt from 49 yards out. The ball sailed wide right. Three points saved.

And then there was Barion Brown, who found his first big impact kickoff return at exactly the right moment. The Ravens had just scored a backbreaking-type TD late in the first half and led 14-3. The Saints were getting the ball back with 24 seconds remaining. They probably weren’t planning to be aggressive in that situation. But then Brown found daylight for a 53-yard return that set the Saints up at the Ravens 44. That meant just enough time to move the ball into field goal range and Carlson delivered, essentially stealing points before the half and keeping it a one-score game.

We also saw the first impact day from Ryan Wright. He pinned the Ravens at the 6 on one punt and surrendered zero return yards.

Oh, and a shoutout to Scott Daly. We talked about him in the pregame, then never said his name again. That’s the telltale sign of an elite long-snapper day.

All things considered, Phil Galiano and Co. deserve a lot of credit for the work they've done with this group. Don't forget, Week 2 of last season was a special teams debacle amid a blowout on the road against the Seahawks. Changes need to be made, and they were. Today, I'm fairly certain the Saints don't win the game if they don't dominate special teams.

LAGNIAPPE

The Saints were 8-15 (53%) but that's only part of the story. The Saints converted 3rd downs of 7, 13, 8, 13 and 8 yards. This time last year the Saints were struggling mightily to convert any extended third down scenario. It's a massive reason that they were able to hang in this game. ... It's tough to review Asim Richards' performance without the film, but considering the Saints did score touchdowns on both possessions after he got in the game. It's not an easy gig to get thrown into the fire like that, deserves a lot of credit. … Kool-Aid McKinstry continues to deliver as the Saints' CB1. He had a key PBU on a deep ball in the 4th quarter that set up the Saints' go-ahead drive. … Juwan Johnson is the ultimate security blanket for Tyler Shough and his 25-yard catch and run on a 3rd and 8 in the final minutes was one of the most impressive things I've seen. I also thought he got in for a touchdown on a dive prior to the questionable sneaks. Either way, I feel like after years of searching he's exactly who the Saints need him to be as a player. … Pete Werner is playing with an incredible amount of confidence right now. He's reacting quickly and he's all over the field, even picking up a sack in this game. He led the Saints with 11 tackles (8 solo) and the tandem of Werner and Kaden Elliss has been really impressive thus far. ... Oscar Delp made his NFL debut and first career catch. Gold star. ... Cam Jordan made his season debut and by his accounts beat his injury timeline by a WIDE margin, which is par for the course for Cam. He's back just in time to tee off against Kirk Cousins again next week.

STOCK DOWN

MISTAKES, MISTAKES, MISTAKES

OK, my stock isn’t really down in mistakes … just the idea that the Saints are capable of avoiding them.

I will say that I think this team will benefit from a home game. They’ve started the season with two road games against playoff caliber teams. These would be difficult environments at any point, but particularly sir in the opener for each. Being the road team is a disadvantage for a reason and I hope things look cleaner the next three weeks at the Caesars Superdome.

But still, not good. The Saints weren't penalized a ton in this game, but they came at inopportune times. In one instance with the Saints driving Chris Olave finished off a 20-yard reception by spinning the ball in Marlon Humphrey's face on the sideline. The merited penalty didn't erase the first down, but it did reduce the gain to 5 yards.

On the Saints' first scoring drive of the day a 2nd and 10 was turned into a 2nd and 15 because Bryce Lance lined up offside. Kelvin Banks had two false starts. Noah Fant had a false start with the Saints trying to score a go-ahead touchdown at the goal line. There were also a pair of holding penalties that the Ravens declined.

The Saints also lost 4 yards and nearly had a turnover on a pair of toss plays that I’d be perfectly fine retiring from the playbook. The first was dropped and recovered by Travis Etienne for no gain.The second was bobbled and the delay got him tackled for a 4-yard loss.

There were coverage breakdowns in the first half. Just a lot of things that weren't a product of getting beaten, moreso the Saints beating themselves.

There are plenty more examples, but this is a happy day, so I’ll leave it there. The good news is the Saints won the game despite those issues, and those things are fixable.

THE RUN GAME

Playing from behind for the vast majority of the first twol games is a factor, but I’m just not sure what to make the Saints run game at this point. I’m also not sure why the big investment was made in Travis Etienne if he’s not going to at least look like the lead back in a tandem.

Perhaps the early fumble early irked coaches, I don’t know, but Etienne finished the first half two touches, while Alvin Kamara — back early from a knee injury — logged 10. Neither was particularly efficient on those touches. I did appreciate the usage of pony personnel (two backs), and there should some exciting possibilities with that personnel going forward.

I’ll have to watch the tape to assess what exactly wasn’t working, but the closing lines were:

- Etienne: 8 carries, 25 yards (3.1 YPC), 2PT; 2 catches, 6 yards
- Kamara: 9 carries, 14 yards (1.7 YPC); 5 catches, 7 yards

Rookie CJ Donaldson also took on a good number of third-down snaps. That tells you how high an opinion the Saints have of the UDFA, but also … do we not trust either lead back in those situations? It can’t all be about keeping guys fresh.

Etienne did have a nice moment with a 2-point conversion. He said prior to the play that Juwan Johnson said ‘follow me,’ and that’s what Travis did, even if it took a bit of a circuitous route.

I don’t know, I just feel like Travis needs to be given more of an opportunity to leave his fingerprints on games.

OL QUESTIONS

I went into this season hoping to finally be able to talk about how all the Saints offensive line investments were finally paying off. They had the tackles set for the foreseeable future. Erik McCoy is back. David Edwards was a big-money investment and a serious upgrade on the left side. Cesar Ruiz has all the motivation in the world to bounce back from a tough 2025 season.

Through two games I can’t say I’ve felt that way. Again, playing on the road in two hostile environments don’t help. I’m going to hold out until we see how things look over the next three games before I really form a hard opinion.

The only problem: It sure looks like we might not be seeing left tackle Kelvin Banks in those games. Kellen Moore didn’t have an update after the game, but it sure looked like a significant ankle injury and he was carted off the field, though it could’ve been precautionary.

If Banks does miss time the Saints will turn to Asim Richards, who got in for the final stretch of this game and held up well. The Saints could opt to move Taliese Fuaga to the left side and toss Richards at the RT spot. Either way it will be limiting. Defenses will target Richards and the Saints will have to adjust the scheme to protect him with help from TEs or backs.

There's a long way to go and plenty of time for this group to find its stride, but it's not an encouraging sign that attrition has already hit and there are still more questions than answers.

A FEW MORE

We'll have to wait and see what Martin Emerson Jr.'s injury situation is. He went out with a shoulder issue after a penalty and a big play allowed. He's been rotating in with Quincy Riley for series over the first two weeks. If he's out for any extended period that will leave the Saints dangerously thin at cornerback. The next options on the outside would likely be Decamerion Richardson and Jayden Price. I don't know how aggressive you'd be to bring in a depth piece, but it'd probably be worth kicking the tires. ... I wasn't a huge fan of the clock management at the end of the game in this one, but all is well that ends well. Oddly I think the Saints were saved a bit by Noah Fant false starting at the goal line. The Saints seemed primed to hand the Ravens the ball back with wholly too much time and a pair of timeouts. It ended up being 1:28 and no timeouts. The Saints haven't been in that position much and it did work out, ultimately, so I'll just note it as something to keep an eye on.