In a stirring battle between two rookie quarterbacks, Pick No. 40 came out on top of Pick No. 1 as the New Orleans Saints rallied to beat the Tennessee Titans 34-26 on Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, the 40th overall pick, was 22 of 27 for 333 yards with two touchdowns as he outdueled Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft by the Titans. Ward had a nice outing, 21 of 38 for 251 yards and two touchdowns but it wasn't enough vs. Shough and the Saints.
The Saints pushed their winning streak to four games while improving to 6-10 while the Titans dropped to 3-13.
The Saints missed a great opportunity to score when receiver Dante Pettis fumbled into the end zone and the Titans were able to recover for a touchback with 11:06 to play and the Saints trailing 26-20. It was a 32-yard catch-and-run before the fumble.
But on the next possession Shough led the team on an 80-yard touchdown drive to take a 27-26 lead. Running back Audric Estimé, who had an excellent second half, scored on a 32-yard run to make the score 34-26 with 3:44 to play. He finished with 14 carries for 94 yards, a career-high.
Receiver Chris Olave had eight receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown to move over 100 catches on the season. One more touchdown will give him 10 touchdowns, 100+ receptions and more than 1,000 yards, which has never happened in Saints history.
Tight end Juwan Johnson had another big game with four catches for 95 yards, a career high.
Defensive end Chase Young kept the Saints in the game in the first half with a sack, strip, touchdown run for 33 yards. He shared a sack in the fourth quarter with linebacker Demario Davis. Cameron Jordan recorded his 131st career sack (9.5 this season) in the fourth quarter — stripping the football from Ward in the Titan's final play of the game. This is Jordan's seventh season with at least nine sacks, making him the 29th player in NFL history with seven seasons of at least nine sacks.
Kicker Charlie Smyth made 56- and 57-yard field goals (a career best) although he did miss a 43-yard attempt in the first half.
New Orleans lost tight end Jack Stoll and defensive back Michael Davis to injuries in the first half.
The Saints will play their final game of the 2025 season at Atlanta. The day, time and broadcast network should be announced later Sunday.
