The Good: Tyler Shough
The Saints quarterback threw 4 touchdowns for the first time in his career on Sunday and continued his strong start to the season against the Raiders. Shough found tight ends Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant twice each in the end zone and found Chris Olave nine times for 107 yards. Shough did throw a costly interception in the 4th quarter but up until that point he had played a great game. The offensive line started to get beat in the fourth quarter which also led to a “fumble” by Shough which started the comeback
for Vegas, but all things considered the Saints QB was not the biggest reason this game went awry in the fourth quarter and overall had a pretty good game.
The Bad: Pass Defense
The Saints allowed Raiders QB Kirk Cousins to complete 22/33 passes for 248 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. Brock Bowers returned for Las Vegas and had an immediate impact catching 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Chase Young had two sacks, but outside of Young no one on the Saints has been able to consistently put pressure on the QB this year, as no one else on the team has more than 1 sack so far. The defense couldn’t get the stops they needed to at the end of the game, as after taking a 27-16 lead the Saints allowed 19 straight points to the Raiders on three drives which all lasted just 6 or fewer plays.
The Ugly: Turnovers
The last four drives of the day for the Saints all ended in turnovers, three of which were fumbles and one interception. Shough fumbled twice, but the offensive line did not do him any favors on either and also got beat on the interception he threw. The first fumble came on a play that looked more like a forward pass than the one called back in Detroit in Week 1. The NFL is going to have to explain in detail the difference between the two plays, as right now it looks like their rules are not being enforced consistently by their officiating crews. The bad call by the refs completely derailed the game, as instead of potentially going up two scores the Saints fell behind thanks to the officials ruling the Shough play a fumble. Call it a fumble if you want, but if that was a fumble than so was the play in Detroit, and all we want is a little consistency and also some accountability if the refs miss a call that potentially changes the outcome of a game. The refs were not the sole reason or even the biggest reason the Saints lost however, as the offensive line was completely overwhelmed in the fourth quarter. There are many things that were ugly about this game, but the ultimate result of them was the Saints just giving the ball back to the Raiders when they had multiple chances to take the lead or tie in the final frame. The offensive line could be a problem going forward without Kelvin Banks Jr., but hopefully they will get it figured out as the Falcons come to town off their first win in a Monday night showdown next week.
