The New Orleans Saints don’t need a mystery to explain why they’re 1-2. The problem keeps showing up in the same ugly form: turnovers.
Sunday’s 35-27 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders pushed the Saints deeper into an early-season hole, and the giveaways were impossible to ignore. Tyler Shough’s numbers jump off the page, but the ball security issues are dragging the offense down when it can least afford the damage.
Nate Coolong of Athlon Sports pointed to Shough as a major reason the Saints still have a path forward, starting with the raw production. "Shough has thrown for 917 yards through three games, second in the NFL, with eight touchdown passes. He threw for 410 yards in the 31-30 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions and scored on a 1-yard run late in the comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens.
New Orleans ranks 13th in offensive EPA per play, according to Sumer Sports. That puts the Saints in the top half of the league with a second-year quarterback.
Monday brings another good defense. The Falcons rank eighth in defensive EPA per play, per Sumer Sports."
But the bigger issue is the one that keeps surfacing in the biggest moments. Shough had three giveaways against the Raiders - an interception and two lost fumbles - and it marked the second time in three games that he turned it over three times in a loss. Against Detroit, he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski handed Shough a C-plus for Week 3 and said he “has yet to put together a complete game.” The talent is there, but the mistakes are coming at the worst possible times.
That matters even more with the margin for error so thin. Both Saints losses have come by one score or less, and Monday’s meeting with Atlanta carries the same warning sign. The Falcons have worked their way back into the division race, and another giveaway could swing the game.
The Saints’ path is simple enough to say and hard enough to execute: win the turnover battle. In football, that usually decides everything. Teams that force more turnovers than they lose win about 70% of the time, and when that margin reaches three or more, the win rate climbs into the 90% range.
If New Orleans wants to clean this up, it will also need to start creating more takeaways of its own. That part of the equation still has to be solved over the next few games.
In Other News...
Saints May Have Found The Offensive Answer Tyler Shough Needed
In a Week 3 loss to the Raiders, the Saints still found something that could matter a lot for the offense going forward: a productive tandem at tight end. Juwan Johnson was a steady target with eight catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns, while Noah Fant added four receptions for 33 yards and two more scores, giving Kellen Moore a pair of matchup problems the Raiders struggled to solve.
The bigger takeaway for New Orleans is how that kind of involvement can help Tyler Shough settle into the offense. If Johnson and Fant keep stressing defenses in the red zone and forcing uncomfortable coverage decisions, it gives the Saints a cleaner path to efficiency and a more reliable structure around a young quarterback still looking for answers. [Read more 🡒]
Saints-Falcons Carries A Superdome Emotion New Orleans Fans Know Well
The Saints head into Week 4 at 1-2, but Monday night at the Superdome carries a lot more weight than the standings alone. Atlanta is coming in for a prime-time matchup, and for New Orleans fans, the setting immediately brings back a touchstone moment in franchise history: the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Domecoming game, when the reopened Louisiana Superdome helped restore a sense of normalcy and possibility around the team.
Sean Payton, Drew Brees and Steve Gleason were all part of that night, and the memory of it still hangs over any big home game in the building. This one may be framed as just another NFC South meeting on the schedule, but for a fan base that remembers what the Superdome once symbolized, Falcons-Saints on Monday Night Football feels like more than a divisional matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Suddenly Face A Backfield Problem Before Falcons Showdown
New Orleans made a flurry of roster moves ahead of its Monday night meeting with Atlanta, and the biggest one for the offense came in the backfield. The Saints signed wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. to the active roster, then added running back Ulysses Bentley IV and edge rusher David Ojabo to the practice squad as they continued shuffling the bottom of the roster before a key NFC South game.
The move that stands out most is Travis Etienne Jr. going on injured reserve because of a hamstring injury, a development that leaves the Saints thinner at running back at an awkward time. With the Falcons up next, the timing only adds to the uncertainty around how New Orleans will piece together its ground game and who will be available to help carry it. [Read more 🡒]