The New Orleans Saints lost badly to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday morning, going down 16-10 in what was supposed to be another celebration of the team in Paris. With offensive issues galore, it's their sole reliance on quarterback Tyler Shough that's doing them in at the moment. Going forward, that has to change because New Orleans can't expect their QB to be Superman every week.
Shough did all he could, completing 78.9% of his passes for 278 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Finishing with a rating of 95.0, his performance itself wasn't necessarily the problem on the day. The problem the team had against the Steelers, and frankly one they've had all season, was the complete lack of a run game.
The run offense had their worst game of the Kellen Moore era, with opposing quarterback Aaron Rodgers having a longer run than anyone on the Saints. They only gained 18 yards on 17 attempts (1.06 a carry.) Their best path to success going into the game, they were never able to get it started and maybe even left the run game back in the States.
Saints' over-reliance on QB Tyler Shough bit them in the butt on Sunday
Such a heavy reliance on Shough and the passing game worked well enough at the beginning of the season; however, it has led to more hair-pulling moments if anything else. Shut out in the first quarter for the 24th time in the Kellen Moore era, they were only able to score points in the second quarter and no other time. This week, instead of being shut out of one quarter, they were shut out of three.
There were several scoring chances for the Saints outside of quarter two; however, outside of the one touchdown drive the team had, all the drives for the team died when they got close to the red zone. There was one moment when the team drove over 60 yards down the field into scoring position, but then Shough would throw an interception on a pass that should've been more to the outside. To make the loss worse, Daniel Carlson missed another field goal, bringing his season total to 66%.
On Sunday in Paris, the Saints' offense was also the definition of one-dimensional. With 15 of their 19 first downs coming via the air and the fact that 70% of their offensive plays were pass plays, the game plan for the Steelers defense must've been full-proof.
An offense like the one the Saints are currently running with won't be sustainable. As they head into the bye week and prepare for the next half of the regular season, they have to identify a solution to the run game. If they don't, they'll be looking at tankathon.com sooner rather than later.
Shough is human, and he can make mistakes, and he needs more support than he's getting right now. Over these next few weeks, hopefully some help is on the way for the young Saints QB.
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