The New Orleans Saints pulled off a wild 24-17 upset victory on the road against the Baltimore Ravens this past week, moving their record to 1-1. It wasn’t always pretty, though. Just like their Week 1 loss in Detroit, the Saints started slow. But this time, they dug deep, avoided falling into a huge hole, and absolutely took over in the second half. They scored on five of their final six drives, including two fourth quarter touchdowns and a two-point conversion, while holding Baltimore to just a field goal on their four second-half possessions. Pete Werner was a beast with 11 tackles, Chase Young got 7 pressures and 1.5 of the Saints’ 3 sacks on Lamar Jackson, and linebackers Kaden Elliss and the secondary duo of Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley had some clutch pass breakups. That’s how you snatch a win from a tough road game.
Shough and the Wideouts Are Cooking
Seriously, you gotta talk about Tyler Shough and his pass catchers. This dude was ON FIRE. He completed 27 of 34 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown, and get this: ZERO turnovers. In the second half alone, he went 15 of 19 for 150 yards, picking apart the Ravens’ coverage. The chemistry with Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele, and tight end Juwan Johnson is legit. Those three combined for 17 receptions and 216 of those yards. They were converting third and long situations like it was nothing, including two massive 25-yard catch and runs by Johnson that led directly to scores. Shough kept escaping pressure all day, and with Olave, Vele, and Johnson giving him that kind of confidence, he’s just slinging it wherever it needs to go. That’s a huge problem for opposing defenses.
Special Teams Played Out of Their Minds
If you wanna talk about a game-changer, look at the special teams. Daniel Carlson saved their bacon more than once, nailing field goals from 23, 47, and 51 yards when drives stalled out. His kickoffs were perfectly placed, keeping the Ravens pinned back. Punter Ryan Wright did the same with some killer distance and placement, even pinning Baltimore deep in their own territory. The coverage unit was bringing the thunder, led by Danny Stutsman and Jonas Sanker, laying out some brutal hits. Scott Daly stepped in seamlessly for the injured long snapper Zach Wood. And Carl Granderson came up with a massive blocked field goal in the second quarter that would have made it a 10-point Baltimore lead. But the biggest play might have been rookie Barion Brown’s 53-yard kickoff return after the Ravens took a 14-3 lead. That return set up Carlson’s 47-yard field goal to end the half and gave the Saints huge momentum heading into the locker room. That’s how you win big games, man.
Run Defense Is a Real Head-Scratcher
Alright, so the good stuff was great, but we gotta talk about the run defense. Baltimore racked up 108 rushing yards on them, and that’s after Detroit piled up 165 yards in Week 1. They got lucky the Ravens got away from the run game in the second half. Derrick Henry had 51 yards on 11 carries in the first two quarters, but then only saw 5 rushes for 17 yards in the second half. Baltimore did them a favor, frankly. This run defense has to tighten up, like, NOW. They can’t keep letting teams march all over them on the ground.
It’s a huge win, though, and getting to 1-1 after a slow start is exactly what they needed. With Shough and the passing game clicking and special teams playing lights out, there’s a lot to be excited about. But that run defense? That’s the one thing they absolutely gotta clean up to keep this momentum going. You gotta fix that pronto to make some real noise this season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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