After winning their last three game, the New Orleans Saints traveled to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans. Tyler Shough and company led the Black and Gold to another comeback, this time a 34-26 victory over the Titans to improve to 6-10 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Each team’s first possession didn’t result in much, and the Saints went backwards after quarterback Tyler Shough was strip-sacked by Jeffrey Simmons on third down.
Punter Kai Kroeger shanked a punt that went 17 yards to the New Orleans 35-yard line, leading to Tennessee scoring the first points on its second drive. A three-yard pass to Chig Okonkwo was enough for Joey Slye to kick and make a 50-yard field goal.
Shough connected with Kevin Austin Jr for a 36-yard gain to flip the field and set up Charlie Smyth to tie the game early. The Irishman’s 43-yard kick was wide left and set up the Titan offense at the 33-yard line. Cam Ward hit Chimere Dike for 38 yards before Slye put Tennessee ahead by six with a 38-yard kick with 4:31 left in the first quarter.
Things got worse for New Orleans after a three-and-out punt. Okonkwo was wide open underneath and broke a would-be tackle by Kool-Aid McKinstry to rumble into the endzone for a 43-yard touchdown to put Tennessee up 13-0 a couple of minutes into the second quarter.
New Orleans followed that up with its longest drive to that point, going 44 yards in 12 plays. The offense converted multiple third downs and tried to extend the drive on 4th & 1 before Austin Jr was flagged for a false start. That penalty led to Smyth coming back to tie his career-long 56-yard field goal to give the Saints their first points.
Chase Young cut it to a one-score game when he took the football away from Ward and ran 33 yards to the house for the scoop-n-score. That was the second defensive touchdown for New Orleans this season.
The rest of the first half was all Titans, with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took 3:38 off the clock. A 50-yard pass interference call by Justin Reid on 3rd & 14 set up 1st & GOAL for Tennessee. Two plays later, Ward found a wide-open Eic Ayomanor in the back left corner of the endzone for a five-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the quarter. At halftime, New Orleans was down 20-10.
New Orleans’ offense looked more in sync coming out of the break. Shough went for Chris Olave for seven yards on a 3rd & 4 and then found Juwan Johnson for another 30-yard pick up. On 3rd & 9, Olave went into the endzone untouched for the 19-yard score, cutting it to a three-point game two and a half minutes into the second half.
On Tennessee’s first possession of the third, running back Tony Pollard had a 25-yard run, and Mason Kinsey had a 34-yard catch on the next play to set up 1st & GOAL from the six-yard line. The Saints’ defense stood tall with an Alontae Taylor pass breakup in the endzone and a Jonah Williams sack on Ward on third down. Slye’s 28-yard kick was good, but it was still a one-score game midway through the quarter.
Smyth responded to Slye’s field goal with one of his own, this time converting from a career distance of 57 yards to make it 23-20 in favor of Tennessee with 1:51 remaining before the fourth quarter. Slye on the following drive matched Smyth and drilled a 58-yarder to put the Titans ahead by six.
New Orleans threatened to score after Shough found Johnson for a 39-yard catch and run to the Tennessee 35-yard line. Shough then dumped the ball off to Dante Pettis, who broke multiple tackles on his way to the endzone. The epic play was neutralized after Keman Hall forced the fumble inside the five-yard line. The football rolled into the endzone, and Kaiir Elam recovered after Austin Jr and Johnson failed to secure the ball first, resulting in a touchback and possession for the Titans.
That didn’t stop the Saints’ offense from making big plays as Shough connected with Olave on a double move for a 60-yard pitch and catch. That catch was Olave’s 100th of the season. Two plays later, Shough found Austin Jr near the pylon for a 10-yard touchdown. The point after gave New Orleans its first lead of the game with 6:22 left.
Young recorded his second sack of the day on third down, forcing Tennessee to go three-and-out and punt the ball back to a hot Black and Gold offense. Shough delivered a 23-yard pass to Johnson on 3rd & 1, then Audric Estime looked to be bottled up in the backfield but bounced outside and rushed 32 yards to the house for his first touchdown as a member of the Saints.
Ward tried to keep Tennessee’s chances of a comeback alive with a crazy, near parallel to the ground type throw that was called complete to move the chains on fourth down. Replay assist, however, ruled Ward’s knee was down before the ball left his hand, and Cam Jordan was credited with the sack as New Orleans took over on downs.
The Titans had one more chance to tie the game with 97 seconds remaining. Tennessee barely crossed midfield before Jordan forced the ball loose on the final play of the game. New Orleans secured the 34-26 win, their sixth of the year.
BIG NUMBER: 4
The Black and Gold have won four consecutive games after a 2-10 start. The last time New Orleans won that many games in a row was in 2020, when Drew Brees was still suiting up. This game also featured the first time all season that the Saints scored 30 or more points in a game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tyler Shough
Shough continued to show growth on Sunday and had an excellent day, completing 22 out of 27 pass attempts for 333 yards and two touchdowns. The rookie also recorded eight completions of 18 yards or more as the Saints defeated the Titans 34-26 to improve to 6-10 on the season.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will close out the regular season on the road when they face the Atlanta Falcons. The date and time for next week’s matchup are still TBD.