The best moments for the New Orleans Saints came before the game started. The pageantry and reflection that came with the 20th anniversary of the Domecoming were special, but once play started, there weren’t many highlights in the Saints favor. The fans quickly let the team know it, and Tyler Shough can’t blame them.
The fans were booing the team off the field after the first half, and that tells you just how bad it was. The pregame environment shouldn’t have deteriorated that fast to the point where the team was hearing boos within 30 minutes. Part of that has to do with the moment.
It was supposed to be a celebration for the city and a moment of triumph, then the Saints turned around and gave their most uninspiring performance in years to the Falcons of all teams. The mixture of moment and opponent makes it an even more damning sign that they sucked the air out of the building in just the first half.
Tyler Shough thinks Saints fans were right to boo
"Fans understandably are upset. We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. You're playing the Falcons, and you lose like that? I mean, I'd boo too. That sucks," Shough told the media after the game."
There’s no credit for this response, but there is at least a small amount of appreciation for it. This isn’t the moment for blind optimism. We all saw what happened, and while fans don’t need approval of their displeasure, we have seen the opposite happen.
Mickey Loomis once called out fans’ finances as the reason for a lack of support. Nice change of pace to see accountability being taken for the team’s part in fan reaction.
Shough didn’t sulk in it either. He acknowledged the struggles and that the Saints deserved to be boo’d, then once again tried to rally the troops.
After telling the media he understood why fans were booing, Shough turned his attention to next week. "We want to get everybody going. It's part of it. You have to have the energy of the crowd, and we're going to need them next week too against a really good team," he said.
Shough didn’t insult the fans or their intelligence. He also didn’t engage in a back and forth with them on social media. Shough's response is the type of accountability you want to see out of your quarterback and one of your leaders.
Add us as a preferred source on Google