As glaringly inefficient as the New Orleans Saints were in the first half of Sunday's game against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., is as spectacularly resilient as they were in a stirring second-half comeback that nearly resulted in a victory.
Nearly.
But their 16-0 halftime deficit was just enough to help Miami squeeze out a 21-17 victory over New Orleans, dropping the Saints to 2-10 entering a road game next Sunday against Tampa Bay.
New Orleans' first half included two turnovers (a fumble and an interception by rookie quarterback Tyler Shough in his fourth start) and a gashed run defense (112 of Miami's 164 rushing yards) against the Dolphins (5-7), who held the Saints to 63 total yards and one third-down conversion in five attempts in the first 30 minutes.
But the Saints produced one of their best patch jobs of the season in the second half. Shough, who completed seven of 12 passes for 43 yards and was sacked twice in the first half, connected on 19 of 26 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, while the defense didn't allow a touchdown after surrendering one on the opening drive of the game, and limited Miami's offense to 105 yards and a field goal in the final two quarters.
"Love the way our guys battled," Saints coach Kellen Moore said. "It was an unfortunate ending, but there's stuff to learn from and grow from during that game, so we'll continue to grow."
New Orleans pulled to within 19-17 on an acrobatic, 15-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Devaughn Vele (eight catches, 93 yards) with 1:17 left, with the 6-foot-5 receiver leaping high and tapping down each foot before falling out of the back of the end zone.
On the two-point attempt to tie, Shough was intercepted and Miami safety Minkah Fitzpatrick who returned it untouched for a Dolphins two-point conversion and 21-17 lead.
Saints kicker Charlie Smyth, in his first NFL game, then executed a perfect onside kick that Vele recovered at the Saints' 45-yard line, and in two plays New Orleans gained 19 yards to the Miami 36-yard line.
From there, on second-and-1 with 44 seconds left, Shough lofted a pass down the right sideline intended for receiver Chris Olave. Olave, escorted by two defenders, made a leaping attempt at the goal line and had the best chance of the trio to make the catch, but saw the ball go through his hands for an incompletion.
Shough threw incomplete again on third down to avoid a sack and on fourth-and-1, Shough's sneak attempt up the middle was stuffed by the Dolphins. Miami took possession and kneeled twice to end it.
New Orleans sped up its offensive tempo in the second half, with great benefit.
"I think once we were able to finally get some first downs and get some efficient runs on first and second down and play in some positive yardage situations, the tempo is a byproduct of that and you're able to play with more tempo," Moore said.
It noticeably benefited Shough, whose two turnovers came in the second quarter (Vele said he was to blame for the fumble, for missing a block on the blind side which allowed an undetected Fitzpatrick a strip-sack that was recovered by Miami and returned to the Saints' 37-yard line).
New Orleans held when cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry intercepted Tua Tagovailoa in the end zone on the next play.
Miami added a field goal to take a 13-0 lead on its next possession before the Saints drove from their 28 to Miami's 24 where, on second-and-10 with 1:14 left, Shough was intercepted by cornerback Rasul Douglas, who returned it 38 yards to the Saints' 42. The Dolphins added a field goal as time expired in the half to take the 16-point lead.
New Orleans opened the second half with a 10-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that ended on a 17-yard pass to Olave (four catches for 47 yards), and Shough's two-point conversion run halved the deficit to 16-8.
"Just really proud of our resiliency throughout," Shough said. "We started off too slow, just kind of proud how we battled the whole way. It just sucks, losing. We've got to find the little ways to keep getting better. I think we're progressing well, we've got to shore it up."
Defensively, New Orleans posted four sacks including two by edge rusher Cameron Jordan, raising his season total to a team-leading 6.5 and his career total to 128, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer and Saints legend Rickey Jackson for 17th all-time in NFL history.
