CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tyler Shough was asked to make a play.
It was third-and-11 late Sunday afternoon, and New Orleans Saints coach Kellen Moore dialed up a passing play for his rookie quarterback — after notably taking the ball out of his hands for a few previous third downs. But this was an obvious passing situation, and with the Saints trying to preserve a lead against the Carolina Panthers, it was time for the Saints to see what they truly had in the 26-year-old.
Shough passed the test.
The Saints quarterback hit tight end Juwan Johnson for a 30-yard touchdown to seal New Orleans’ 17-7 win over the Panthers, earning New Orleans’ second victory of the season — and the team’s first with Shough under center.
The touchdown was a cap to an impressive outing for the second-round draft pick, who finished with 282 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-27 passing. Shough’s arm opened up the Saints’ passing attack, especially on third down — where Shough went 7 of 10 for 201 yards and two scores.
One of the Saints’ most pressing questions entering the weekend was how the team would fill the void created by sending Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks at the NFL trade deadline. Initially, Moore said that hole would be filled by a combination of Devaughn Vele, Brandin Cooks and Mason Tipton.
But it was Chris Olave who ended up emerging as the team’s blazing deep threat.
With 9:21 left in the second quarter, Shough saw a streaking Olave in one-on-one coverage against cornerback Jaycee Horn down the sideline and ripped off a pass that traveled 55.6 yards through the air. Olave outmuscled Horn to complete the catch — proceeding to take it to the house for a 62-yard score to give the Saints a 10-7 lead, their first in a game since Week 6.
The touchdown was rewarding for Olave — who suffered a season-ending concussion just a year ago on this field — but it also said a lot about Shough.
Not only did the throw demonstrate Shough’s willingness to be aggressive, but it also showed what he could do with a clean pocket.
For most of the afternoon, Shough was under duress and navigated collapsing pockets with the Saints deploying three backup offensive linemen. The rookie quarterback danced around often to avoid oncoming rushers, slipping and weaving his way through traffic.
In a way, however, Shough’s ability to handle Carolina’s pressure was also a sign of growth.
In training camp, the 26-year-old occasionally looked a step slow when tasked with diagnosing blitzes. While that could be expected of most rookies, it was one of the reasons that Shough wasn’t named the starter out of the gate — with Spencer Rattler winning the summer’s quarterback competition.
But over the course of the season, Shough improved — and his coaches saw it. Each week on the scout team, Shough would be asked to deal with the planned blitzes and pressures that defensive coordinator Brandon Staley would scheme up for the upcoming game. And although Shough wasn’t running New Orleans’ exact playbook in this setting, the chaos created on these plays helped him grow more comfortable when facing the speed of an NFL pass rush.
Shough’s development was evident from the start of Sunday’s game. On the Saints’ opening drive, Shough evaded several Panthers to find tight end Juwan Johnson for a 52-yard gain on third-and-12.
While the Saints eventually settled for a disappointing 21-yard field goal, that didn’t take away from the impressiveness of Shough’s progress.
Elsewhere, the Saints’ defense also showed noticeable improvement after last week’s one-sided loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
At first, the unit seemed headed for another long day when the Panthers marched down the field for a 5-yard touchdown from Rico Dowdle, with Carolina getting a new set of downs after a Demario Davis interception was negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty.
But the defense did not get discouraged by the setback. And for most of the outing, the Saints made life uncomfortable for Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. New Orleans’ heavy use of zone defense forced the former No. 1 overall pick into check-downs, and the pass rush forced Young to make quick decisions.
The Saints defense also didn’t buckle whenever it appeared like momentum would swing back toward Carolina. In the third quarter, for instance, the Panthers somehow managed to keep the ball after a blocked field goal when the officials ruled that a Saints player touched the ball after the block and the Panthers recovered it past the chains for a first down. But shortly after, the Saints forced a fumble that linebacker Pete Werner recovered.
Later in the fourth, after a failed fourth down from the Saints’ offense, cornerback Alontae Taylor picked off Young with 12:54 left to give his team great field position.
The turnover set up Shough’s game-defining drive. And the quarterback delivered.