The New Orleans Saints fell to the Detroit Lions, and a large part of that was the abysmal start by the Tyler Shough and the offense got off to in the first half and beginning of the third quarter. It was the type of rusty performance that revitalized the criticism of the Saints choosing to sit their starters the entire offseason. Kellen Moore wasn't hearing any of it postgame.
This isn't in hindsight either. There were questions about the strategy during the preseason, especially with how many young players the Saints have, but the idea was that joint practices against each preseason opponent provided enough simulated reps. So when the slow start happens, naturally fingers get pointed at the preseason strategy because this was the fear all along.
Moore isn't buying a connection though. He makes a fair point that the defense didn't play, and no one is saying they were rusty. It's a strong counter point by the coach, and it makes you wonder if no preseason was a factor, why was only one side of the ball affected.
If the second half Saints show up, it's going to be a problem
The one concern about Moore saying it wasn't the lack of reps that caused the first half slump is that it takes the easy explanation away. That easy explanation also presents hope that it won't happen again now that the offense has reps. Instead, it puts question on the repeated trend of slow starts under Moore.
If they can find a way to play how they did in the second half to start the game, the Saints are going to be tough to deal with. Once Shough got rolling, he just kept picking up steam. The throws he made late in the game were just incredible.
Shough had a couple of passes to Juwan Johnson that were just perfect. Ironically, Johnson didn't have a catch until the 1:07 left in the fourth quarter, but he finished with three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. Each last two catches featured pinpoint throws by Shough and a good catches by Johnson.
Those throws were some of the best depictions of the difference between the two halves. Shough put the ball over the shoulder on the sideline in a place that only Johnson could get it in overtime. The game doesn't even get to overtime without a diving effort from Johnson on a pass that just got past the defender's arms.
The offense fired on all cylinders in the last 35 minutes, including overtime. If they pair that with what the defense did all game long, the team could be exactly who we thought they'd be. It just has to do it for 60 minutes.
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