Film Breakdown: Shough’s read option game opens Saints’ offense

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

By Ross Jackson

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough put together a strong performance in the team’s win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14. While he again completed more that 65% of his passes and made some clutch in-the-pocket plays late, it was his two rushing touchdowns that have the NFL world talking.

The first of which came on a 34-yard scamper down the left side of the field in the third quarter. It stemmed from the success of the earlier play and the offense’s quick adjustment, turning a big gain into the team’s longest run of the season and a touchdown.

First-and-10: Shough runs left for 11 yards

After motion carried tight end Juwan Johnson from the left side of the formation to the right, this was the snapshot of the play before the snap. It’s an 11-personnel set with two receivers to the right and one to the left. But everything that makes this play work begins between the hashes.

After the snap, Shough will have the option to either hand the ball off to running back Evan Hull or pull it and run himself with Johnson as the lead blocker around the left edge.

At the mesh point (the point at which Shough and Hull meet for the handoff) it’s clear that both of the defenders coming off of the left edge are playing the run aggressively. With this play being in the first quarter, the previous games’ tape tells the defense that this is a handoff. A great tendency breaker from head coach Kellen Moore and Shough here as Shough keeps and tries to win the edge.

You can see both defenders now trying to karate kick their way back into play as they change direction. However, wide receiver Chris Olave is going to execute a perfect crack block on safety Antoine Winfield Jr., helping to spring Shough and keep Johnson free to block downfield.

Success. Olave stymies Winfield and it’s off to the races for Shough.

Shough takes the outside angle as Johnson locks horns with the last line of defense for Tampa. If he breaks inside, it might have been a touchdown. You can see that the play is likely designed for him to cut inside based on Johnson’s body orientation. His numbers are facing inside, which is typically an indication that the ball should follow. However, with defenders closing in from the middle of the field, Shough bounces outside and sets up what would quickly result in rookie running back Devin Neal’s first career touchdown.

Were this play called further from the line of scrimmage, the safety’s depth over the top might have taken him out of the play, making it easier for Shough to cut inside. That’s something we’ll see in just a couple of quarters.

Saints’ opening drive 11-yard pickup by Tyler Shough and their third quarter touchdown, again with the ball in Shough’s hands for a 34-yard touchdown. pic.twitter.com/v8zf9BbYD4

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 7, 2025

First-and-10: Shough runs left for a 34-yard touchdown

The setup here is very similar. However, instead of having the tight end run in motion across the back of the formation pre-snap, big-bodied wideout Devaughn Vele is already lined up on the backside of the play. Though he’ll quickly become the lead blocker as he crosses the formation behind the line.

Running back Audric Estime runs in motion from outside the numbers into the backfield. After the motion, the Saints’ 12-personnel set includes two inline tight ends on the right side of the screen, Vele offset on the left, Estime on Shough’s left hip and Olave split outside, left and out of frame.

The play’s basics are the same. Zone read to the running back, which Shough will pull and run to get the left edge behind the lead blocker Vele, who is running a split zone action in which he crosses behind the line of scrimmage to become a lead blocker, just as Johnson did in the previous breakdown.

Instead of the crack block we saw in the previous play by Olave, it’s quarterback Taysom Hill who releases outside from his tight end position, only to angle back in and disrupt Winfield’s path to the play.

Meanwhile, it’s tight end Foster Moreau’s job to slow linebacker Lavonte David, which he does well. Additionally, the offensive line does a stellar job with its assignments, particularly right tackle Asim Richards who deploys a textbook block to cut off the backside rusher.

This time, as Vele seals the defender on the outside corner, Shough cuts inside of the block and sees nothing but green grass ahead of him as he outruns David. Hill has done a good job taking Winfield out of the play and now all that Shough has to do is outpace the closing safety downfield.

But, because of where the snap was taken, the depth of the safety from 34 yards out of the end zone is further than that of the previous play, which was a red zone snap. That allows Shough to use his speed to keep from the safety, Christian Izien from closing the gap.

The first rushing TD of Tyler Shough’s career and his longest run of the season. https://t.co/lb02qkAzle

— New Orleans Saints PR (@SaintsPR) December 7, 2025

Expect more of this from Shough and the Saints, who even showed off his rushing ability during training camp and the preseason. Against the Denver Broncos in the team’s final preseason matchup, Shough scored on a zone read run that wasn’t too dissimilar (no crack block and no split flow action) from the two above.