Despite the rain on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints managed to pick up their third win of the season in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. One of their keys to success on the day was Tyler Shough and Devin Neal's contributions to the running game.
Once the final whistle blew, the offense had 139 rushing yards, the second most yards on the ground all season. The Saints also had two rushes that were over 20 yards, something that the team had only done once before heading into this weekend. Both were by rookies, with Neal getting one rush of 21 yards. The other explosive run was Shough turning the corner for a 34 yard rush to the pylon for six points.
Following the win, Kellen Moore said that the offense was a special group. "When you've only won a couple of games during a season, there's a lot of adversity we faced, so for our guys to come out with that energy and physicality was a credit to all of our guys," He said to the media. "They're a group that keeps playing. All three phases I felt contributed to this game, which was really challenging for both teams. It was big for our guys to come away with a win."
The Saints might have something in RB Devin Neal
Running back Devin Neal, whom the Saints drafted in the sixth round back in April, has been on the 53-man roster all season. Becoming the second-string running back after Kendre Miller tore his ACL, an injury to star Alvin Kamara pushed him all the way to the starting spot. Sunday was by far the best game of his young career, with 70 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries.
Neal did more than just run with the ball. Additionally, he had a critical 14-yard catch on third and long that was immediately followed by one of Shough's two rushing touchdowns.
Now that their rookie running back has found himself, the Saints shouldn't feel as rushed as they were before to bring back Kamara and will allow the veteran even more time to rehab his knee sprain. After Neal's performance on Sunday, the Saints may even feel obligated to give him more snaps, because he might be the main guy in a few years' time.