The New Orleans Saints have made Tyler Shough’s life harder than it needs to be, and the problem starts on the ground. If the run game doesn’t come around, this offense isn’t going anywhere - and Shough is the one paying the price.
That was on full display in the Saints’ Week 4 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. New Orleans managed just 50 rushing yards and finished at 2.6 yards per carry, leaving Shough to carry an offense that never found any balance. He still played well, but the workload was brutal: he was pressured 25 times on 51 dropbacks, a 49% pressure rate.
That kind of stress has become a theme under Kellen Moore, and it can’t keep happening. When the quarterback is under siege that often, the season starts slipping fast.
The Saints did give Shough help elsewhere. The front office added receivers, running backs and offensive linemen.
But those additions don’t mean much if the unit can’t actually produce. Right now, the offense is too easy to defend because opponents don’t have to respect the run.
That changes everything. Defenses can sit on the passing game, crowd coverage and take away explosive plays.
At the same time, defensive linemen can devote themselves almost entirely to getting after the quarterback. Even when they’re not perfectly set up to stop the run, they can still do enough to force Shough into constant pressure and little time to operate.
There’s also a bigger concern: hits. Shough hasn’t dealt with injuries at this level yet, but his college history makes that a real worry. He was frequently sidelined there after suffering two broken collarbones and one broken leg.
The Saints can’t overhaul everything overnight unless there’s an unexpected trade, but they do have a path to getting better quickly. First, they have to stop digging early holes. New Orleans has scored only 6 first quarter points this season, and those slow starts push them into catch-up mode, which makes abandoning the run almost inevitable.
After that, the blocking has to sharpen and the running backs have to do more. The Saints have spent plenty of draft capital to get better results than this, and the same frustration applies to the backs, with Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara’s contracts.
It looks simple on paper. It rarely is in real time. But if the Saints want to help Tyler Shough and keep this season from unraveling, improving the run game is the place it has to start.
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Kellen Moore Is Already Feeling Heat As Vikings Loom
The Saints have little time to sit with a lopsided loss that exposed familiar trouble spots, especially on the ground and in the flow of the offense. Kellen Moore said the teams execution was poor and that changes are needed, an admission that fits the frustration around a game in which the rushing attack never got going and the playcalling drew questions.
Practice has reportedly looked better in terms of effort, which at least gives New Orleans something to lean on as it resets for Minnesota. The Vikings are next on the schedule, and after a game like this one, the Saints need more than cleaner work during the week - they need it to show up before the problems start stacking again. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Suddenly Have One Offensive Concern Fans Can't Ignore
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Kamara still found the end zone twice in the game despite limited carries, and Olave turned in another productive outing with eight catches for 116 yards. Still, for a New Orleans offense trying to find steadier footing, any issue involving either player carries obvious weight, especially with the Saints already looking for answers after the setback in Atlanta. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Suddenly Have A Superdome Problem Fans Wont Ignore
The Superdome has always been the Saints stage, the place where noise has traveled in their favor and where visiting teams were supposed to feel the pressure. Lately, though, the building has felt different. A stretch of disappointing home losses has taken some of the shine off one of the leagues most recognizable venues, and the frustration has started to show in the stands, where fans made their feelings known with boos during a recent home game.
For the Saints, the issue is bigger than one bad afternoon. Home field advantage is supposed to be a difference-maker in New Orleans, but recent results have made it harder to count on the Superdome as a weekly boost. The next few games now carry extra weight, not just for the standings but for the mood around the team, because getting back on track at home may be the clearest way to pull the fan base back in. [Read more 🡒]