CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have been looking for stability at quarterback for quite some time.
At least for one day, rookie Tyler Shough looked like he might be the guy to provide it.
Shough, a second-round pick out of Louisville who began the season as New Orleans' backup QB, threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns as the Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers 17-7 on Sunday to snap a four-game skid. He connected on a 62-yard scoring strike to Chris Olave and a 30-yard TD pass to Juwan Johnson to become the first rookie QB to win for the Saints since Dave Wilson in 1981.
Olave finished with five catches for 104 yards and Alvin Kamara added 83 yards rushing for New Orleans (2-8).
“Tyler took an awesome step today,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “I thought he made awesome plays and he made some off-schedule plays with movement inside the pocket.”
Shough said the best part was watching his teammates congratulate each other in the locker room after what has been a rough season.
“It just came down to playing good complementary football,” Shough said. “It’s been so fun learning each week the formula for success. And I’ve got to keep learning and keep repeating that formula.”
It was a bitter defeat for the Panthers (5-5), who had climbed into playoff contention after winning four of their previous five games.
The Saints seemed to be the perfect opponent for that run to continue.
But New Orleans proved anything but a pushover, outgaining the Panthers 388 yards to 175.
Bryce Young was limited to 124 yards passing and turned the ball over twice as his four-game win streak as a starter ended. Rico Dowdle had 53 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries for Carolina.
It marked the eighth time in nine starts this season Young has been limited to fewer than 200 yards passing.
Panthers coach Dave Canales described the loss as “frustrating.”
“We didn’t play our version of football,” Canales said. “That was not us. We can’t have that. We can’t give up big plays and we can’t turn the ball over. Our offense has to be more opportunistic and take advantage of some of the situations where the defense made some stops for us and got us the ball back.”
Early on, it looked like the Panthers were on their game.
Dowdle scored on a 5-yard TD run on the opening possession capping a 67-yard drive. After being fined last week for his “two pumps” touchdown celebration, he lined up like he was going to do it again — but this time didn't make any pelvic thrusts, and he and his teammates ran off the field laughing.
The Panthers regressed from there.
Their next five first-half possessions resulting in 36 net yards and four punts, and they finished with a season-low 83 yards in the first half.
The Saints took advantage when Olave beat Carolina's best cover cornerback, Jaycee Horn, for a long TD to give New Orleans a 10-7 lead at halftime.
The Panthers appeared to catch a break in the third quarter when the Saints blocked a field-goal try by Ryan Fitzgerald, but had the live ball hit one of their linemen. Carolina recovered and got a new set of downs.
Just a few plays later, Young fumbled a handoff exchange on an end-around to wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. and the Saints got the ball back.
Carolina had another shot after Nic Scourton sacked Shough on fourth down, but Young followed with an underthrown pass down the right sideline that was picked off by Alontae Taylor. Taylor said after the game it was an anxious week after he spent significant time talking with his agent about potentially being traded.
The Saints took advantage of Taylor's pick, with Shough finding a wide-open Johnson down the left sideline for a 30-yard touchdown to make it a two-possession game.
The Panthers remained only 1 1/2 games behind NFC South leader Tampa Bay, which lost to visiting New England on Sunday.
“We know we’re better than that as a team," an agitated Young said. “And we only get so many opportunities in this league, and in life, we only get so many opportunities.”
For Olave, it was a bit of personal redemption after his 2024 season ended at Bank of America Stadium last November, when he suffered a concussion following a vicious hit from ex-Panthers safety Xavier Woods.
Woods was fined by the league.
Olave said he hadn’t thought much about the hit until he arrived at the stadium Sunday morning and walked onto the field. He drew strength and comfort from having family in the crowd.
“My ‘Pops’ was here, so I went over and talked to him pregame to try and loosen my mind up,” Olave said. “It was a tough situation from last year. It ended my season.”
Panthers: TE Michell Evans (ankle) left in the first half and linebacker Trevin Wallace (shoulder) exited in the second half.
Saints: Have a bye next week before hosting Atlanta on Nov. 23.
Panthers: At Atlanta on Sunday.
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