Tyler Shough is him.
If you didn’t know it before Sunday, you know it now.
The New Orleans Saints have their quarterback. Shough is the guy — for the present, the future and everything in between.
If anyone doubted Shough’s credentials as the team’s franchise quarterback, they were eliminated once and for all after the rookie quarterback authored another dramatic, come-from-behind victory on Sunday.
One week after upsetting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Shough stuck the dagger in another division leader, the Carolina Panthers, who entered their game against the Saints at the Superdome on Sunday with momentum and motivation.
Playing with the confidence and composure of a veteran, Shough led the Saints to two late scoring drives as they stunned the Panthers 20-17 on Charlie Smyth’s game-winning 46-yard field goal before a deliriously happy home crowd.
“Just a phenomenal performance,” Saints head coach Kellen Moore said. “When your best is needed, he showed up.”
If Shough continues to play the way he has the past two weeks, he’s going to win a lot more games for Moore.
Sunday’s victory was extra special because of the way it transpired. The Saints never led until Smyth’s game-winner with two seconds left. They were forced to play catch-up for most of the game, but they refused to go away. Just as they did in a Week 10 victory over Carolina five weeks ago, the defense held the Panthers at bay and set the stage for Shough’s heroics.
In the fourth quarter, Shough completed 13 of 18 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, while adding 24 yards on four timely runs. His passer rating in the final period was a stellar 118.3. On the final two drives, he was 9 of 11 for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Overall, he completed 75% of his passes (24 of 32) for 272 yards and a touchdown as he thoroughly outplayed Carolina’s Bryce Young.
And Shough did all of this while playing without starting running back Devin Neal, starting right guard Cesar Ruiz and No. 2 receiver Devaughn Vele, who has quickly developed into Shough’s favorite target. All left the game at various times because of injuries.
And yet, Shough didn’t bat an eye. He surgically dissected the Panthers defense with completions all over the field, delivering dimes to four different receivers: Chris Olave, Kevin Austin, Juwan Johnson and backup running back Audric Estimé.
“I was prepared, and we were confident,” Shough said. “We were all on the same page, knowing we were going to drive down and score. Everybody was clicking. It was a great finish.”
Shough now has recorded two consecutive game-winning drives to lead the Saints to comeback wins. That’s two more than Spencer Rattler had in his 14 starts and as many as Derek Carr had in his two seasons as the Saints starter.
“Tyler Shough, man,” veteran defensive end Chase Young said. “All power to Shough. Whatever he’s doing, we’ve got to get him to keep doing (it). He’s just starting to look like the guy.”
Young is the second veteran defender to sing Shough’s praises in as many weeks. Last week it was Demario Davis, saying Shough had the “it” factor. This week, it was Young saying he is making believers out of everyone in the locker room, coaches, teammates and support staff included. When veteran defenders like Davis and Young endorse your work, you know you’re doing something right.
“It was a lot of fun,” Shough said. “We had played well on the road, and we wanted to show the fans what we could do here. The Panthers are a really good team. That’s two playoff teams back to back. It feels like we’re just gearing up.”
The win was just the second for the Saints at home. Going back to last season, they’ve only won two of their last 10 games in the Superdome. Thanks to Shough’s performance, the fans who stuck around until the end in the announced crowd of 70,070 went home happy.
“His steadiness is really special,” Moore said of Shough. “He made some big-time plays in this game. As the game went on, we got a little bit of confidence and the crowd got into it and the Dome came to life. It was a good example of what our team is building. I thought it was big-time.”
