The first time the New Orleans Saints played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tyler Shough entered halfway through the game in a losing effort. What a difference a few weeks can make. This time as the starter, Shough led the offense to a road win in Tampa, not allowing the Saints to be swept by the Buccaneers in 2025.
In his second win of the season, the Saints' second-round pick from this year completed 13 of his 20 passes for 144 yards and one interception. On Sunday afternoon Shough also managed to stand out using his legs, gathering 55 rushing yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, which puts him as the team's second leading rusher on the day as well.
Following the win, Shough said that his mindset is to get it done anyway he can. "That's why you play football. I'll continue to look back to see how we can continue to grow as a team and an offense, but I think we all played well together," he said to the media. "It was a lot of fun."
Tyler Shough's perseverance might've have been the Saints' key to victory on Sunday
Initially on Sunday afternoon in Tampa, the game didn't look too good for the Saints. Falling flat after finally scoring on the opening drive, Tyler Shough also threw a bad interception in the second quarter, one that looks to be a miscommunication between him and Chris Olave, the intended receiver. Shough let it go, expecting Olave to continue running down the field, but his top wide receiver pulled up short, leaving no Saints player with a shot of pulling down the pass.
Thankfully though, that is not how the rest of the game went. Instead, it seemed to wake up Shough and the offense, with the rookie playing his best football after the turnover occurred, throwing for nearly 100 yards on top of his two rushing touchdowns.
That perseverance, something that Shough has proven capable of multiple times now, is something that truly saved the Saints against the division leader. It's also a sign that he might be more than your average quarterback, which makes the likelihood of the black and gold drafting another quarterback early unlikely.
But his rookie season isn't done yet, and there is still a lot of football yet to play for Tyler Shough. If he can keep this performance up, fans might look back on this game as the start of something special.