As the New Orleans Saints prepare to meet the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5, the biggest matchup of the game will be quarterback Tyler Shough vs. the blitz of Vikings’ defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Shough navigated pressure well in his last game against the Atlanta Falcons, but the rest will be quite different while facing the league’s highest blitz rate on Sunday.
Keeping the pressure to a minimum will be a challenge.
It has been for every team the Vikings have faced thus far, racking up the league’s No. 2 pressure rate. But keeping Shough untouched as much as possible will undoubtedly be the offense’s top priority this week.
Shough has been sacked 12 times through the first four games. Nine of those sacks have come against the blitz. The defensive pressure has been at its most costly for New Orleans when teams send five or more pass rushers.
That is, effectively, the base pressure package of Flores’ defensive system.
But it’s not all been bad when an extra pressure player is employed by opposing defenses.
When Shough has been able to get the ball out against blitzing defenses, he’s found a lot of success. He holds a 105.1 passer rating (No. 10 among quarterbacks facing blitzes on at least 20 dropbacks) while completing 71.9% of his passes (No. 8) and throwing for 442 passing yards, four touchdown passes and just one interception.
When the blitz is called but doesn’t get home, Shough has been solid under pressure.
New Orleans (1-2) will need to rely on a game plan that will continue that trend under dire straits. Shough is already tied with Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (who faced the Vikings’ blitz-heavy system to open the season) for most dropbacks against the blitz with 74, so facing it again won’t be new to him.
But the Saints must have clear answers built into their attack in order to maximize what Shough does well in this environment, as opposed to exasperating issues like a 31% pressure-to-sack ratio when blitzed.
Without the support of a rushing attack, New Orleans will need to produce through the air to pull out its first home win. But the Vikings are uniquely constructed to complicate exactly that.
