No need to overdramatize the New Orleans Saints' 17-7 victory over Carolina on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. In the grand scheme it was the second win in New Orleans' 10 games and in a business measured by wins and losses, everything is based on that reality.
But the tingly feeling that tickled fans, and the music inside Club Dub that Saints players blared inside the visitors' locker room in Carolina, probably felt and sounded like a mixture of relief and hope.
The relief came in the form of a much-needed victory in New Orleans' most complete game of the season, where offense, defense and special teams each ponied up and shared the winnings.
The hope came in the form of a rookie quarterback, Tyler Shough, who made his second career start.
New Orleans' defense came up with two turnovers, held Carolina to 175 yards and produced stops on six of nine third-down attempts; the special teams blocked a field goal and added a field goal; and the offense produced 388 yards and chewed up 33:21 in time of possession on 67 plays.
But Shough, the Saints' second-round draft pick this year, likely left the biggest imprint. He completed 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He had touchdown passes of 62 yards to receiver Chris Olave and 30 yards to tight end Juwan Johnson, and added another 52-yard completion to Johnson, as New Orleans (2-8) evened its record to 1-1 in his starts.
"Just a great feeling," Shough said. "I think my favorite moment was just seeing everybody in the locker room, dapping everybody up and just kind of the work that everyone has put in to this point. Just a great team win. The defense, special teams, everybody had an impact on the game."
"I just thought it was a really good example of our team playing together," Saints coach Kellen Moore said. "Had a ton of joy as they went through it. I thought the physicality was a positive. We knew that was going to be a physical game with the way those guys play. We knew it was going to be a battle."
For the first time since their 26-14 victory over the Giants on Oct. 5, the Saints battled best. And they digested a couple scoops of adversity, too.
On the opening drive of the game, Saints linebacker Demario Davis intercepted a pass on third-and-9 from the Saints' 31-yard line, but safety Justin Reid's roughing the passer penalty erased the possession change and the Panthers (5-5) went on to score a touchdown.
Johnson's 52-yard catch-and-run, on third-and-12 from the Saints' 18-yard line in the first quarter, helped New Orleans reach Carolina's 2-yard line. But the drive stalled there, and Blake Grupe added a red-zone field goal from 21 yards, to pull the Saints to within 7-3.
And after Nathan Shepherd blocked a field goal attempt in the third quarter with New Orleans leading 10-7, the Saints didn't gain possession because edge rusher Cameron Jordan touched the ball past the line of scrimmage, the Panthers recovered the ball in the scrum and gained a first down as a result of the recovery.
The counter was, on the Saints' second drive following Grupe's field goal, Shough found Olave – who sprang free after cornerback Jaycee Horn fell during a bout of hand fighting — in stride down the right sideline. Once Olave crossed the goal line, the 62-yard score gave the Saints a 10-7 lead that never was relinquished.
Following the Shepherd block and Panther recovery, linebacker Pete Werner recovered a Carolina fumble at the Saints' 17-yard line four plays later to thwart a scoring threat. And cornerback Alontae Taylor's fourth-quarter interception set the stage for Shough's 30-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, who caught four passes for 92 yards.
Olave had his most productive game this season (five catches for 104 yards) in his first game at Bank of America since suffering a season-ending concussion — the fourth of his NFL career — at BOA last season.
But Johnson's, Olave's and Shough's showings simply were three of several for the Saints in the victory. Shepherd had a sack, tackle for loss and quarterback hit in addition to the blocked field goal; Jordan had the 125th sack of his career; and Taylor had a tackle for loss, a pass defensed and five tackles to go along with his interception.
"I think we were just putting our eyes in the right place, doing our job and just making sure our technique was right," Taylor said. "I think Demario did a really good job with just bringing everybody in after almost every series and just making sure that we just did our assignments. And I think we did that, and I think it showed up."
