The story coming out of the first game of the season for the New Orleans Saints was the second-half performance of the team’s offense, led by quarterback Tyler Shough.
In the process of throwing for over 300 passing yards in the second half and overtime, one element in particular was game-changing for the quarterback: his adjustment when facing the Detroit Lions’ aggressive blitz.
After throwing an interception and losing a fumble on a sack against the blitz early in the game, Shough made a 180-degree turn once he solved the Lions’ aggressive approach.
Per Pro Football Focus, Shough went 18 was 29 for 202 passing yards and two passing touchdowns against the blitz, with the majority of that production coming after the third-quarter sack-fumble.
Per Next Gen Stats, he completed eight of his 11 passes for 79 passing yards and all three passing touchdowns in the second half.
Every analytics site that tracks such variables as blitzes, and pressure with slight nuances and differences, despite a pretty universal understanding of both being widely in place.
Despite those disparities, what’s clear is that the Shough’s production leap, and adjustment while facing the blitz, are directly correlated with one another. One Shough settled in, he started dealing and brought the Saints back from a 21-0 deficit to force overtime.
Much like the Lions’ usage of defensive backs in their pressure packages, Shough may face a similar challenge at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
The Ravens sent pressure with defensive backs on 38.2% of their dropbacks against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, per Next Gen Stats.
If the Ravens continue that trend, it will be a testament to Shough’s growth if he can execute against it. As a rookie, blitzing defensive backs led to a low success rate for the quarterback, hence the Lions leaning so heavily on the approach to begin the season.
Baltimore may look to do the same.
