The Saints are back on the road again following the loss in Detroit, and the matchup is not getting any easier. The Saints have to travel up to Baltimore and line up across from a two-time MVP in Lamar Jackson.
Jackson has a new head coach in Jesse Minter and a new OC in Declan Doyle. Doyle was an assistant under Sean Payton from 2019-2022 and then went with Payton to Denver for the 2023 and 2024 seasons as well. He was promoted to OC under Ben Johnson last season with the Chicago Bears, but now he is serving
as the play caller for Minter in Baltimore, and it seems like that was a great move.
Baltimore and Jackson were unlocked last week in Indianapolis against the Colts. Jackson finished the game 17/25 for 324 yards, 13 yards per attempt, one passing touchdown, 40 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown with no turnovers.
If Doyle can make Jackson a more efficient passer of the football, this will definitely cause problems for the rest of the league, especially considering the balance that the offense has with Derrick Henry still being able to run the ball effectively.
The Saints are going to have their hands full with Jackson at QB. He’s becoming a more patient passer, but he’s still just as dangerous as a runner. His speed and quickness are second to none, and his vision with the ball makes him as elusive as a running back in the open field. This will not be an easy challenge.
Overall, the Saints defense did not play poorly against Detroit. The offense put them in some very tough situations, and in the third quarter, it did so rather quickly with back-to-back turnovers. Hopefully, those issues get cleaned up this week.
That leads us into Tyler Shough.
Shough is coming off one of the most impressive second-half performances the Saints have seen in quite some time. Shough finished the game last week with 410 passing yards on 35/56 completions for a completion percentage of 62.5%. He had three touchdowns, but he also had two interceptions and a fumble.
It was literally a tale of two halves for Shough.
It was not until the Saints went down 21-0 in the third quarter that this young, budding star turned the lights on and absolutely went off. Shough finished the second half 25/34 for a 73.5% completion percentage with three touchdowns, leading the Saints to score 30 points.
That is a franchise-level performance for a half of football.
But the Saints and this offense need to come out faster than this. In this game, on the road in Baltimore against a defense that will look to be aggressive, starting slow could potentially bury the Saints.
The Saints did not fare too well against Aidan Hutchinson last week, and the Ravens added Trey Hendrickson over the offseason to bolster their pass rush. Not only that, but they also have a really good corner in Nate Wiggins who can match up with Chris Olave.
Shough will have to be consistent from start to finish if the Saints are going to pull off this upset. Right now, the Ravens are favored by 8.5 points to win the game. It is a tall task, but upsets happen every day in the NFL.
How do you think the Saints match up at the QB position, and do you think they can pull off this upset?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
