Saints' Tyler Shough is Not the Problem, NFL Analyst Says

The New Orleans Saints have a consistency problem. It's well documented. The Saints' struggles to be an "all three phases" team, one that does well on offense, defense and special teams, continued on Sunday. New Orleans couldn't get average offense, much less good offense in the game.

Despite only mustering 10 offensive points in a 16-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, not all contributors failed poorly. Starting quarterback Tyler Shough performed better than the final score would indicate. It didn't matter all that much.

ESPN NFL insider Katherine Terrell contends that Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is not the problem for the team. It's the running game. Here's some of what she had to say on the Saints' offensive woes continuing against the Steelers.

"The Saints' run game wasn't just bad Sunday -- it struggled on levels unseen in several decades. It was just the third time in team history, and the first since the 1993 season, that a Saints player had not rushed for at least 10 yards in a game. Their 1.06 yards per rush was the fewest for a team with at least 15 attempts since the Carolina Panthers averaged 1.0 yard per rush in a Week 5 game in 2017 (28 rushes).

Shough has admitted this season that he has tried to play too perfect, but with the way the Saints were failing to run the ball, the team would have needed a perfect game from him to win Sunday. They didn't get that, as Shough threw an interception in the red zone in the third quarter, his sixth interception and ninth turnover of the season.

But Shough's play overall was a bright spot amid the struggles in the run game. He completed 30-of-38 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown. The score, a 1-yard pass to Devaughn Vele, capped a 52-yard drive in which 49 yards came through the air."

Shough already stands at a disadvantage given the receiver corps surrounding him. 30 completions, a 79% completion rate and 278 yards are about as good a performance as one could reasonably expect. Not everyone is reasonable.

If you were to knit pick, you would probably argue that Shough didn't get the Saints in the end zone with all the statistics. Then again, if 278 yards is close to the total yards gained in the game, you're probably going to struggle to get within striking distance of the end zone, much less score a touchdown.

Shough isn't the problem, but the Saints will need to find solutions to start winning consistently. They will hope to start finding the answers this week.