The Good: Tyler Shough
The Saints rookie QB seemingly has his best career start with each successive week, as he improved his record as a starter to 3-3 with a second consecutive win against a team with a winning record (meaning
that he now has the same amount as Derek Carr did with the Saints). Shough led an incredibly impressive 17 play 95-yard touchdown drive that burned nearly the entire second quarter. On the Saints final two drives facing a 7-point deficit, Shough drove the offense 78 yards for a touchdown and then got them into position for Charlie Smyth to hit the game winning field goal, all in the last 4:37 of the fourth quarter. The game tying drive in particular was nearly perfect, as Shough started by hitting successive passes on 11, 17, 18, and 16 yards to get them into the red zone in four plays before a penalty and incompletion. Two plays later Shough would hit Chris Olave for a 12-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 17. The game winning drive covered 62 yards in 55 seconds with just one timeout, and concluded with Shough drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty on a QB draw to set up the winning field goal. Shough has proven enough this year for the Saints to be comfortable moving forward with him as their QB of the future, and with their remaining three games coming against teams with a combined record of 10-32, we may see even more from Shough before the season is over.
The Bad: Rushing offense
The Saints again were held under 85 yards rushing for the third time in the last four weeks, but thankfully this time it did not cost them as it did against the Dolphins and Falcons. Devin Neal looked good early with 28 yards on 7 carries and a touchdown, but he got injured in the first half and did not return. Backups Audric Estime and Evan Hull combined for just 23 yards on 7 carries while Taysom Hill managed just 2 yards on 2 carries. The Saints will need to address the running back position in the offseason, as their top 3 options have all sustained injuries and Alvin Kamara has shown signs of his age this year.
The Ugly: Pass protection
The Saints offensive line allowed 5 sacks on Sunday, the most they have given up in three weeks. The lack of a run game certainly does not help, but the Panthers do not come with a great pass rush, as coming into the game they only had 18 sacks all year. The line was able to protect Shough when they needed to late in the second half, but you can’t always put yourself in the situation the Saints were in this week by falling behind early.
