MEQB: Saints make right decision to go for 2pt conversion, wrong playcall
Where are the answers on this play if Devaughn Vele doesn't come open?
The motion and route from Chris Olave, combined with the shoulder fake from Shough, are designed to draw attention away from the middle and get Vele open for an easy throw. However, the Lions kept a linebacker underneath Vele's route, and the only other available option beyond that was Bryce Lance.
With Olave being used as a decoy, this was effectively a two-man route on a "gotta-have-it" play.,
Loading three receivers on one side of the formation cuts the field in half for the quarterback, so you better have good answers when the initial read doesn't come open and unfortunately the Saints had none.
Louis Riddick had the best take.
The Sack fumble that wasn't
I'm a Saints fan first, analyst second.
The reversal was the right call, and I'm not going to spend much time on this simply because leaving the game up to the refs is never a good thing. It should never come down to a missed call by a referee determining whether you won or lost a game.
So here goes...
Caleb Williams' hand was already detached from the ball before his wrist begins to move forward. The hit from the rusher dislodged the ball almost immediately.
Jared Goff's hand was still attached to the ball by the time his arm started its forward motion. The hit from Chase Young did not immediately dislodge the ball.
Just look at the grip and where each quarterback's hand was when the ball disconnected.
That's it. That's all.
Tell Nick Underhill to stop whining.
The Saints were never going to stop Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs finished with 29 carries for 156 yards and 2 TDs, averaging 5.4 yards per carry with a long of 21. For me, this was expected. If you've been reading our articles, listening to our podcast, or both, you're probably up to speed on our assessment of the Saints' run defense and how it would regress sans Demario Davis. If you haven't, don't worry I'll learn you something really quickly. The core of a defenses ability to stop the run relies on the triangle between the inside linebackers and the defensive tackles and the talent at those positions.
In a 4-3 that triangle is created by the two defensive tackles and the middle linebacker. In a 3-4 it's created by the nose tackle and the inside linebackers, as seen in the image below
Last year, the Saints had Demario Davis, Pete Werner, and Davon Godchaux in that triangle. One of those guys is an elite run defender; the other two, we'll say, were average.
That combined talent resulted in the Saints giving up only 4.0 yards per carry in 2025, ranking them fourth-best in the league.
In 2026, that triangle is Kaden Elliss, Pete Werner/Danny Stutsman, and Davon Godchaux. None of them would be considered elite run stoppers, and thus the overall ability of that group to stop the run was inherently going to regress.
And it did.
The Saints gave up 5.0 yards per carry to the Lions, which was 7th-worst among teams this week.
This defense isn't built to be as stingy against the run as it was last year, and this theme isn't going away unless the offense makes good on all of its offseason additions, provides some leads, and forces the opposing team to abandon the run.
That's the ONLY way they'll have a chance this year.
Complimentary football, with the offense doing the heavy lifting.
Next Sunday the Saints face the Baltimore Ravens and Derrick Henry, who just made history on Sunday.
Kellen Moore and his offense better figure out it's early game woes, and quickly, or next week will look the same.
PFF Grades Player Grades
Quick thoughts on these.
PFF isn't gospel, and they don't have all the answers, but I respect the work they put in.
Olave's 82.6 was easily the best grade on offense, and he deserves the game ball for the offense.
Vernon Broughton's 91.7 grade, if I'm not mistaken, was the highest among all defensive linemen graded so far.
Everyone on the offensive line outside of Kelvin Banks didn't grade well. At some point you have to start asking the question, it is the individual talent or is it the scheme and responsibilities.
Saints paid Travis Etienne 48 Million across 4 years for 9 carries in Week 1
Absolutely mind-boggling how poorly the Saints allocated their resources this offseason.
Signing Etienne wasn't the problem. Nor was paying him.
I wouldn't have done it, primarily because running backs are depreciating assets. They're leased by their drafting team for four or five years, piled with mileage, and then allowed to test free agency, where typically a needy team will overpay for a used vehicle.
Facts.
But the real reason they shouldn't have done it is because there were too many question marks surrounding the level of play they'd get from the offensive line.
The unit has underperformed for two to three years now despite the amount of talent and draft capital invested in it, and nothing determines a running back's success more than the offensive line and the scheme.
Neither was good last year.
So expecting David Edwards and Travis Etienne Jr. to suddenly catapult this run game to relevance was a miscalculation.
Add Kellen Moore's reluctance to establish a running game, and you have an expensive and underutilized asset in Week 1.
The Saints should have gone cheap at running back, drafted one, and waited to see if their offensive line would gel in Year 2 of Kellen Moore's regime.
Once you knew the offensive line was good, then you pay for a high-end runner if necessary.
Alvin Kamara was a victim of last year, not the reason the run game couldn't get going.
Tyler Shough's career game wasn't enough to overcome the gameplan
Tyler is that guy.
His only problem is he's having to overcome poor coaching decisions and game planning.
I get it. The Saints are a 3x1 or 11-personnel team, but for Christ's sake, having your second-year quarterback shoulder the entire load of the offense by throwing 56 passes is absurd.
And for those waiting to use the excuse that they were down 21 points so they had to be pass-heavy, I'm going to call bullshit before you get started.
Of Tyler Shough's 56 pass attempts, 44 came while the Saints were either tied or down seven. Only 12 came when the Saints were down 10 or more.
That means 79% of Shough's pass attempts came before the Saints were in a two-score game.
This wasn't a quarterback being forced to throw 56 times because his team spent the afternoon playing catch-up.
The Saints were asking him to carry the offense long before they needed him to.
The play-by-play makes that even more obvious.
The Saints were down just seven for the entire first half, yet they threw the ball 24 times and ran it 11 times—a 68/32 pass-run split.
And even after Detroit went up 21-0, the Saints didn't suddenly abandon the run. On the possession immediately following the 21-0 score, the Saints ran the ball five times on nine plays, including multiple runs from shotgun, before scoring a touchdown.
So this isn't simply a case of, "Well, they were down three scores, what did you expect them to do?"
They were already putting an enormous amount of the offense on Shough's shoulders when the game was still within reach.
And that's where my problem with the game plan starts.
Shough finished with 35 completions on 56 attempts for 410 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, while taking five sacks for 32 yards.
That's a hell of a game from a second-year quarterback.
He made mistakes. He looked rattled early. He took too many sacks. But he also threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns and brought the Saints all the way back from a 21-0 deficit.
He proved he could carry the offense.
That doesn't mean you should ask him to carry it.
There's a difference.
I'm sure there's a direct correlation between the number of sacks Tyler Shough took and the amount of pressure the offensive line gave up, but here's the part nobody seems to want to acknowledge:
You can help your quarterback and your offensive line by running the damn football.
A running game doesn't just produce rushing yards. It changes the pass rush. It changes the defensive front. It forces linebackers to hesitate. It creates play-action opportunities. It slows down the defense's ability to tee off on a young quarterback.
And the Saints had Travis Etienne Jr.
They gave him nine carries.
That's the part I can't get past.
You don't pay a running back $48 million, then ask your second-year quarterback to throw 56 times while your expensive running back spent more time running routes (27) and pass blocking (15) than he did running (10)
Run the damn ball.
Shough will take fewer hits, the offensive line will face fewer obvious passing situations, and your quarterback won't have to be perfect for 60 minutes.
Simple.
Random Thoughts
Barion Brown seems to be further along as a receiver than a returner.
I was suprised to see Kaden Ellis not used as a pressure player as much, he could have a big impact in that regard as the season progresses.
Last year the Saints defense played with light boxes at the 10th highest clip 44.1%. Against the Lions they only presented a light box on 30.3%. This likely had more to do with the Lions playing in more heavy personnel than a change to how they operate.
Joey Porter Jr. is potentially on the market, and a lot of people feel the Saints should be interested. Moves for players like that are done by winning teams, Saints need to be in that number before they consider the cost.
Chris Olave had a huge game and he looks good in that guardian cap, but man I cringe every time he lands on the ground awkwardly, and if the Saints are going to pass the ball that much, there will be more opportunities for him to do that through the season.
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