Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is trying to show that he can be the team’s long-term answer at the position and Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers was a good showing on that front.
Shough was 13-of-20 for 144 yards and an interception on a rainy afternoon in Tampa, but he ran seven times for 55 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-20 upset win. Shough had a 34-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Saints a lead and his 13-yard scramble in the fourth quarter put the Saints ahead for good.
The win was the second in Shough’s five starts and he said after the game that those touchdown runs were a sign of his growing confidence in what he can do on the field.
“One hundred percent,” Shough said, via a transcript from the team. “Every single practice, every single week, I feel my confidence growing more and more – just the ability to go out there [and] put points on the board in any way we can, so there’s a lot of plays that we can look at, and I can look at, and continue to continue to grow with, but we’re just really proud of everybody, especially against a defense like that in those conditions to kind of turn out a win.”
The Saints have a home date with the Panthers — who they beat 17-7 on the road in Shough’s second start —next Sunday and playing spoiler to their NFC South rivals would be another entry in the plus column for Shough’s bid for a long run in the starting lineup.
