The margins for error that lead to wins or losses in the NFL are razor-thin. Such a notion was on full display last week as the New Orleans Saints watched their 11-point lead sink to an eight-point loss late in the game.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive front pressured the Saints’ offense in crucial moments of the fourth quarter.
On the Saints’ four third-and fourth-down passing plays in the fourth quarter, the Raiders generated pressure on three snaps. This comes after creating pressure on just 17.8% of Saints quarterback Tyler Shough’s drop backs throughout the entire game.
Shough and the offensive line kept trouble at bay for the vast majority of the game, but late, the Raiders dialed up their pass rush, including a couple of blitzes, and won the line of scrimmage late.
What was vital about the trio of pressures is that all three resulted in a turnover. Two fumbles lost and an interception.
Many people view pressure solely as a result of the offensive line. In this game, there are indeed examples of that being the case. Asim Richards made his first start at left tackle while filling in for the injured Kelvin Banks Jr. Raiders pass rushers simply beat Richards on two of the pressures.
On the first sack-fumble, Las Vegas edge rusher Malcolm Koonce won with a quick move to the outside shoulder of Richards. He then ran the arc and made contact with Shough as he was rearing back to throw the football. The ball popped loose and the Raiders forced the first of four turnovers in the quarter.
On the following drive, Koonce drove Richards backward into Shough, contributing to the interception. The collision altered Shough’s pass, allowing star rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses to intercept it.
Shough, though, believes he could have avoided this one.
“Really just got to eat that one,” he said. ”Either take the sack or run. I think they did a good job in that coverage and it wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but I think I need to just kind of find a way to get it out of my hands to the checkdown there or just run.”
Good quarterbacks are accountable for mistakes on the field, whether the mistake belongs to them or not. It was a rough end to the game for New Orleans, but the silver lining was the response.
That acceptance of responsibility didn’t stop at Shough, either. Head coach Kellen Moore and a number of players on offense and defense, including offensive linemen, argued that the fault was theirs and not Shough’s.
Fans may find one encouraging takeaway: The Saints pointed fingers only at themselves after the loss. Unfortunately, they still had more missed opportunities on the field.
On the next drive, Shough tried to scramble out of a collapsing pocket and ended up face-to-face with Raiders’ safety Jeremy Chinn. Shough tried to escape the pressure, but a defender swung him to the ground. Maxx Crosby then knocked the ball free, forcing the Saints’ third turnover of the fourth quarter.
“At the end there, they made a couple more plays and we have to do a better job of ball security because that was kind of the story of it,” said Shough. “We’ll clean that up and put a huge emphasis on it as far as just doing our job that way.”
Ball security was indeed another big part of the Saints’ tough fourth quarter. On the next drive, a defender knocked the ball loose from tight end Juwan Johnson when he went to the ground. He expressed his learning lesson from the moment the day after the matchup.
However, pressure and sacks are what began to force blemishes in the Saints’ late-game resilience that was on full display early in the season.
Defenses have sacked Shough 10 times through three games. That total ties Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud for second most in the NFL, behind only Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield with 13.
This continues a trend from last year’s starts, where the Saints quarterback was sacked 3.22 times per game over his nine contests as a starting quarterback. The Saints must quickly diagnose and address the issue, regardless of who bears responsibility. Otherwise, they risk more losses and more hits on their promising quarterback.
