Tyler Shough just played his worst game of the season and the worst game of his professional career. It was only the second time the New Orleans Saints quarterback had more interceptions than touchdowns. However, it's not time to panic, just observant of the things he needs to work on.
Against the Vikings, it felt like nothing could go right for anyone on offense, especially through the air. Shough threw for just 96 yards in the game. There's quarters where Shough has thrown for more than 96 yards.
The Saints finally asked for him to pass less than 30 times, but this isn't how fans wanted to see the Saints perserve his arm. Shough threw just 25 times largely because of the team's inability to stay on the field, and his two interceptions played a part in that.
Saints season is spiraling, but faith in Tyler Shough still feels high
Things look bleak for the Saints, and the offense hasn't been able to get things going over the last two weeks. There's questions about Kellen Moore and his play calling, but there's no real doubts about Tyler Shough and Chris Olave. Those feel like the only real sure things building confidence, and sometimes Devaughn Vele.
Shough was a bright spot in the Falcons game because of how he navigated pressure and made some splash plays along the way. It was enough to say "the team was bad, but at least our quarterback still looked like our franchise leader." Couldn't say that on Sunday, but that doesn't mean Shough isn't still the franchise quarterback.
It was an ugly performance, no doubt, but it wasn't enough to strip away at what he's shown in his career. Bad games happen to everyone. This was worse than most, but it isn't time to ring the alarm on Shough.
What this can't be is the beginning of Shough's own spiral. He has had a fast start, and as long as he looks good, there's still faith in what the team can become moving forward.
Shough is still the poised, athletic, strong thrower he's been since entering the starting lineup. It's been pretty smooth for him through most of his starts, even the losses, so it'll be interesting to see how he responds to the adversity.
There are some things Shough has to work on moving forward. The Saints protection probably isn't getting better, so he needs to be a bit more consistent when navigating through it to not get caught up in the trash or take unnecessary sacks.
The interceptions have become a bit of an issue this year as well. After 6 interceptions a year ago, Shough already has 5 picks this campaign. There were a pair of ugly ones in this game, as was the case in Week 1, and Shough has two games with multiple interceptions after having none last year.
These are things Shough is going to have to clean up, however, needing to improve in areas and losing the faith of the fan base are much different. Shough is nowhere near the latter, and he shouldn't be.
Add us as a preferred source on Google