The Saints enter their bye week on a high note, as they earned their second win of the season by beating the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, 17-7. It’s the Saints’ first road win of the season. Head Coach Kellen Moore says this season has been one of growth for the team, and the team has persevered amid adversity.
“I give a ton of credit to our guys, the way they’ve battled the last few weeks. They’ve come up short a number of games in a row. And they come back, recharged, ready to go each Wednesday, ready to put in a new plan. And just go about the week every single week for the same way. And so I think that’s credit to our guys. We have the right kind of guys in the building to keep growing and keep developing and keep getting better as a team,” Moore said.
Rookie Tyler Shough completed 19-of-27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns in earning his first NFL win as a starting quarterback in just his second career start. After the game, Shough said it felt great to get his first career win.
“Just a great feeling. I think my favorite moment is just seeing everybody in the locker room, dabbing everybody up, and just kind of the work that everyone’s put in, to this point, and just a great team win. I think the defense, special teams, everybody had an impact on the game, and it was just a great feeling,” Shough said.
Speaking of the defense, the Saints’ defense forced two turnovers, including an interception by Alontae Taylor that led to the Saints’ second touchdown of the day that for all intents and purposes sealed the win. Taylor credits the coaching staff for putting him in a position to make the impact play.
“We knew the call all week. Coach kind of tweaked a few ways that I could disguise the play and think I kind of made a little bold move myself going super close to the line of the scrimmage. But I knew what my job was, and I just trust everybody around me. And I just knew my assignment, knew my alignment and just made sure my technique was good,” Taylor said.
The Saints improve to 2-8 on the season as they head into their bye week. Their next game is in two weeks against Atlanta in the Superdome.
