Tyler Shough had already shown he could bring the Saints back. Just last week, he erased a 21-point deficit against Detroit, only for New Orleans to come up short on a two-point conversion in overtime.

This time, he got the chance to finish the job.

The Saints came into the fourth quarter trailing the Baltimore Ravens 17-9, with another tough comeback waiting against a team that expected to contend for a Super Bowl. Shough didn’t blink. He completed 11 of 13 passes for 113 yards, led two 68-yard touchdown drives, and scored the winning touchdown himself on fourth-and-goal.

New Orleans beat Baltimore 24-17, and Shough turned another promising comeback into one of the biggest upsets of this young season.

The Difference Was The Finish

Shough’s Week 1 against Detroit was a mixed bag.

He threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns. But he also threw two interceptions, lost a fumble, and couldn’t complete the two-point conversion that would’ve won the game after his overtime touchdown pass to Noah Fant.

Even with the mistakes, it was an impressive performance. Shough didn't lose any confidence after the turnovers and found Chris Olave for 42 yards in the game-tying drive. Then he answered Detroit’s overtime touchdown with one of his own. The Saints just couldn’t come up with the final play they needed.

Baltimore gave him another chance seven days later.

They spent most of Sunday hanging around without finding the end zone. Daniel Carlson made three field goals, including kicks from 47 and 51 yards, but the Ravens still took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. Shough had completed 16 of 21 passes through three quarters, but the Saints needed more than another respectable stat line.

They needed him to take over.

Shough opened the fourth quarter by completing five straight passes during a nine-play drive. He moved the Saints across midfield with throws to Bryce Lance and Oronde Gadsden II, then turned to Olave once Baltimore’s defense started to give those guys more attention.

Olave caught three passes on the drive, including a 12-yard conversion on third-and-5 and a 21-yard touchdown over the middle. Travis Etienne Jr. got to the edge on the two-point conversion, and a game New Orleans had trailed since the first quarter was suddenly tied.

That would’ve been enough to make another loss feel encouraging. But Shough had already done that once. He wanted more.

Their Slow Starts Have Been Costly

The Saints couldn’t run the ball to save their lives. Alvin Kamara and Etienne combined for 40 yards on 17 carries, and New Orleans finished with just 65 rushing yards at a measly 2.4 yards per attempt.

Baltimore knew who had to carry the offense. They still couldn’t get Shough off the field.

Before the final possession, the Saints had faced eight third downs with at least five yards to go. They converted five of them. Shough found Devaughn Vele for 11 yards on third-and-7, then went right back to him for 29 on third-and-13. He also trusted Olave for another two of those conversions.

Those weren’t empty completions while the Saints were trying to dig out of some massive deficit. Every one of them kept a drive alive in a game New Orleans still had a real chance to win.

You Can't Ever Count Them Out

The final drive asked him to do even more.

Shough got it started with a 15-yard completion to Olave after Etienne was stopped for no gain. When a third-and-6 pass to Vele came up a yard short, Shough rushed the offense to the line and picked up fourth-and-1 himself.

He found Olave for three yards on another third down, but a four-yard loss by Kamara ended up leaving New Orleans facing third-and-8 from Baltimore’s 36. A field goal could’ve put the Saints ahead. Shough wanted more.

Johnson released into the middle of the field, and Shough stood in the pocket long enough to fire a 25-yard rocket. Trey Hendrickson was flagged for roughing the passer, moving the Saints all the way up to the 2-yard line.

Even then, New Orleans made it harder than it needed to be.

A false start backed them up. Shough’s next pass fell incomplete, and Johnson was ruled down inches short of the goal line on second down. Baltimore stopped Shough’s first sneak on third-and-goal.

Kellen Moore kept the offense on the field.

Shough took another snap, lowered his head and kept churning until the pile carried him across — barely. Replay upheld the touchdown though, and the Saints had their first lead of the game with 1:28 left.

They Poked The Bear

Before the game, Baltimore defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver gave New Orleans some picture-perfect bulletin board material:

He reminds me a little bit of like a poor-man's Josh Allen.

He meant it as a compliment, but that didn't stop the Saints from using it. Their coaches apparently spent the week calling him “Poor Man,” and Shough admitted afterward that it got him fired up.

Then he beat Baltimore by forcing his way into the end zone on a fourth-down quarterback sneak.

Football has a funny way of setting these things up perfectly.

This Is Starting To Look Real

One road win doesn’t suddenly make New Orleans a contender. The Saints needed their defense to hold Baltimore to three second-half points, and some miscommunication between Lamar and Rahsod Bateman was the only reason Julian Blackmon ended up with the interception that finally ended the Ravens' chances.

Still, Shough's building something that can last well beyond this one afternoon.

He finished his rookie season with three straight games of 272, 308 and 333 passing yards, winning all three. Then he opened his second season with 410 yards against Detroit. Now he’s backed that up by going into Baltimore and shocking them by leading two fourth-quarter and overtime touchdown drives without turning the ball over. He put up a 90% adjusted completion percentage on the day — which just takes into account drops and throwaways.

The Saints don’t need every game to become another debate over whether Shough's their quarterback. We’re getting past that pretty quickly. The bigger question now is how far he can take them.

All stats courtesy of Fantasy Points Data.

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