New Orleans Saints WR DeVAUGHN VELE (14) (photo courtesy of Michael C. Hebert/New Orleans Saints)
The Saints lost their season opener 31-30 versus the Detroit Lions in Overtime. After a scoreless first half and two turnovers to start the second half, New Orleans fought back from a 21-0 deficit with five straight scoring drives to force overtime. Quarterback Tyler Shough finished with 410 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, but says he needs to be better for four quarters.
“I was proud of how we fought as a team and how, regardless of the adversity and circumstances, we kept going. We’ve just got to play better in the first half. We’ve got to play better as an offense, get a rhythm going; we were just kind of too inconsistent,” Shough said.
Detroit scored a touchdown on the first drive of overtime, but New Orleans responded with its own 80-yard touchdown dive. Head coach Kellen Moore chose to go for two to win the game, but Shough’s pass to rookie receiver Bryce Lance fell incomplete. Shough says the team will stay aggressive.
“That’s our mindset; I’m going to be aggressive. I throw two picks in the first half, we’re down, I don’t care. We’re going to keep going, we’ll keep responding. He’s the same person every single call; credit to Kellen, he did a really good job,” Shough noted.
Wide receiver Chris Olave had a career-high 182 yards on 10 catches, but he says he didn’t get the most important stat.
“I feel like winning’s the most important thing to me. I don’t really care about that. If we got the win, that’s the most important thing to me. (Devaughn) Vele had a great game, Juwan (Johnson) came up clutch at the end. Like I said, we got the right pieces around, and I’m super-excited, moving forward,” Olave said.
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