The Saints’ offense looked like a work in progress for much of Sunday’s overtime loss to the Detroit Lions, but the finish offered a glimpse of what New Orleans is trying to build.
Tyler Shough’s first interception came when he rushed a throw to Noah Fant, a mistake he put on himself. On the play with 5:31 left in the second quarter, Shough saw Fant open and delivered the ball beyond the first-down line, but he did not account for the tight end breaking outside. Safety Chuck Clark picked it off.
“We had an option route. I thought he was going to sit down and (Fant) broke out, which he was right in doing,” Shough said.
The play fit the larger theme of Week 1 for New Orleans: a revamped offense still learning how to move together. Shough and Fant have only been working side by side for a few months since Fant joined the Saints in March, and the same kind of timing issues showed up elsewhere as the team tried to integrate new pieces after an offseason overhaul.
That included the run game. New Orleans committed $54 million in guarantees to running back Travis Etienne and guard David Edwards to strengthen the ground attack, but the Saints still managed only 3.6 yards per carry as a team against Detroit.
“I would say that’s a continuous evolution through a season,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “There’s always different ways you can use guys.
For all of us, we had a great offseason. We know where we’re going and there will be adjustments as we go.
“That’s just inevitable.”
Still, the comeback showed the offense can adjust on the fly. Shough and Fant were not clean for the whole game - half of Fant’s targets were off the mark, including another throw that became Shough’s second interception - but they found a rhythm when the Saints needed it most.
On the final drive, Shough connected with Fant for 9 yards and a first down on an out route. Then, from the 8-yard line, Fant created just enough separation for Shough to thread the ball into the window for an overtime touchdown.
The Saints had been waiting a long time for Fant. They pursued him in free agency last year, but he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals instead before finally landing in New Orleans in March.
“The really cool thing about Tyler is he’s so open to the communication and just being like, ‘Hey, next play. We’re going to get it right and keep moving forward,’ ” Fant said. “It speaks to the type of leader that he is, and I have no doubt that among the offense, everybody, the receivers will be where he needs them to be and he’ll put the ball where it needs to be at, and we’ll take off running.”
The rookie receiver group also made an impact. With 2026 first-round pick Jordyn Tyson sidelined on injured reserve because of a hamstring injury, fourth-round pick Bryce Lance stepped into the Saints’ third-receiver role and delivered a key 15-yard catch on fourth-and-12.
Shough said Lance’s early days were rough, describing him as looking like “Bambi” at first.
“You’re seeing him run and he’s got these long strides,” the quarterback said.
But the rookie settled in over time, and his role grew after Tyson went down.
“You see it every day, his continual progression,” Shough said of Lance.
The run rotation also came into focus in a way that may have surprised some outside the building. Even after signing Etienne to a four-year, $48 million contract, the Saints gave him the same number of carries as Kendre Miller, with nine apiece.
Etienne played 53 snaps, which was 59% of the offensive snaps, but he was not used as a full-time workhorse.
“My one year in Philly was probably the only year where a running back just kind of takes everything until he can’t,” Moore said, referring to his time calling plays for Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. “Everywhere else, you’re usually rotating these guys.”
The Saints did get better production in the second half, and Etienne finished at 5.1 yards per carry. But much of that came after Detroit had built a 21-0 lead and shifted into coverages that were more pass-focused.
Moore said the Lions’ pressure packages also played a major role in slowing the ground game by limiting space and keeping New Orleans’ offensive line from getting to the second level.
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