The New Orleans Saints came painfully close to pulling off a Week 1 upset. Now, the challenge doesn’t get any easier.
New Orleans will remain on the road Sunday when it travels to Baltimore to face the Ravens in M&T Bank Stadium, as they look to bounce back from a heartbreaking 31-30 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives for the Saints.
After falling behind 21-0, they battled all the way back to force overtime and nearly escaped Ford Field with a victory.
Quarterback Tyler Shough delivered an impressive performance, throwing for 410 yards and three touchdowns despite committing three turnovers. Chris Olave was his favorite target, hauling in 10 passes for 182 yards.
If nothing else, the comeback showed this Saints team is very capable of responding when things go wrong.
But they can’t afford another slow start against Baltimore.
The Ravens opened their season with a dominant 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, piling up 506 yards of total offense. Lamar Jackson threw for 324 yards, while Derrick Henry rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns.
That combination presents a major challenge for a New Orleans defense that struggled early against Detroit before settling in as the game progressed. Containing Jackson is difficult enough, but the Saints will also have to find a way to slow Henry down and keep Baltimore from controlling the game on the ground.
There is, however, some uncertainty surrounding the Ravens’ offense. Wide receiver Zay Flowers, who had 150 receiving yards in Week 1, left the game with a hamstring injury, so his status ????
For New Orleans, the biggest question may be whether Tyler Shough can build on his Week 1 performance while eliminating the costly mistakes.
Throwing for over 4o0 yards in his first start of the season was impressive, especially after the Saints fell into such a large early hole. But three turnovers against a team as talented as Baltimore could quickly put New Orleans in another situation where it is forced to play from behind.
The Saints showed enough in Detroit to make me believe they can keep this game competitive. Shough and Olave showed they can create explosive plays, and the team displayed the kind of resilience that had been missing for a while.
Still, Baltimore presents an even tougher challenge.
Playing Jackson and Henry on the road is a difficult assignment for any defense, and unless the Saints can force Baltimore into some mistakes of its own, I think the Ravens ultimately make enough plays late to remain undefeated.
Prediction: Ravens 31 – Saints 27
New Orleans may leave Baltimore 0-2, but if Shough can clean up the turnovers and the Saints once again go toe-to-toe with one of the NFL’s better teams on the road, there will still be plenty of reason to believe this team is heading in the right direction.
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