Growing pains of starting a young quarterback were on full display for the New Orleans Saints during their season opener at the Detroit Lions
on Sunday. The Saints lost a 31-30 overtime decision in a wild affair. It was a tale of two completely different games for Shough and the Saints, falling behind 21-0 in the third quarter then roaring back to put up 30 points and nearly pull off the overtime victory.Even with the blatant and corrupt robbery of reversing a Chase Young strip-sack that resulted in a New Orleans touchdown, it was an ugly performance by the Saints in the first 2/3 of the game. This was especially the case from Shough, the second-year quarterback making only his tenth start. We usually do a good, bad, and ugly segment after every
New Orleans game. While we will do so again, the wild ups and downs of Tyler Shough against Detroit deserves it's own article, though we'll take it in reverse order.
The Shough-ing Ugly
Over the first eight New Orleans possessions in two and a half quarters, Shough completed 10 of 23 passes for 85 yards with two interceptions and a lost fumble. These are numbers that would typically get a quarterback benched. Predictably, the Saints had no points, though that stretch did include the criminal fumble return touchdown reversal. Two of Shough's turnovers were on possessions to open the second half, setting up Detroit in excellent field position for touchdowns that turned a 7-0 deficit into a potential 21-0 rout.
Worse than the numbers was the overall look. Tyler Shough was spraying passes all over the field with infuriating inaccuracy. He also looked generally lost, showing trouble reading the defense and exhibiting an astonishing lack of pocket presence. Shough more than bounced back to end the game for sure. However, the major accuracy struggles and abilities to recognize coverages and pressure are certainly a concern.
The Shough-ing Bad
Saints fans: these are some of the growing pains that comes along with the development of a young quarterback. There are bound to be inconsistencies and even flat-out bad play at times. The obvious goal is to eliminate the wild ups and downs and establish a high ceiling of play, but it may take some time.Shough wasn't helped by five drops from his receivers. However, on a few of his drops and even some of the completions, the quarterback needs to put the ball in better locations.
Shough wasn't the only Saint that struggled into the mid-third quarter against the Lions. The success of this offense, and this team, will also be dependent upon its quarterback play. Tyler Shough needs the get into a rhythm early on in games and maintain a high level of consistency. For a quarterback that hasn't even started a full season yet, this may take a little time and patience.
The Shough-ing Good
Over the last six New Orleans possessions, Shough completed 25 of 33 passes for 325 yards with 3 touchdowns and no turnovers while leading the Saints to 30 points. The composure and accuracy issues suddenly vanished, as Shough instantly turned back into looking like a franchise star. New Orleans scored on five of those last six drives, with the only outlier being a missed 62-yard field goal to end regulation.
Shough had 410 passing yards on 35 completions in 56 attempts. In Saints franchise history, that's the second most passing yards (441, Aaron Brooks, 2000), second most passing attempts (60, Brooks, 2003), and most completions by a quarterback not named Drew Brees. Shough showed tremendous resilience and ability in bringing his Saints back against a probable playoff contender on the road. In doing so, he certainly looked like a star franchise quarterback. The next key for Shough, and his team, will be getting off to better starts and eliminating the play that gets them into a hole in the first place.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints QB Tyler Shough provided his own good, bad, and ugly vs. Lions
