BALTIMORE -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough wouldn't quit.
Shough and the Saints lined up for a potentially game-sealing touchdown against the Ravens (1-1) on fourth-and-goal in Baltimore. As Shough dove for the plane of the goal line, a defensive player swiped at his face mask and yanked his head back.
Shough gripped the football hard as he was swallowed up in a mass of bodies, but he didn't let go.
The officials signaled touchdown, giving the Saints (1-1) the go-ahead score and eventually a 24-17 win, their first of the season.
"Yeah, that one hurt a little bit," Shough said later with a smile. "Yeah, I got kind of folded a couple times, but I was able to get in there. So we'd like to not make it as close. ... I was going to reach for it, but getting your head pulled off, it's tough."
For Saints coach Kellen Moore, it was a moment that showed Shough is "as though as they come."
"He's a really special player, but his willingness to hang in there and play the really hard downs, I think the rest of the team sees that, recognizes that. There's a lot of respect for what he's doing right now," Moore said.
It took the Saints five tries to get into the end zone after backing up from the Baltimore 2-yard line due to a penalty. But pushing through and getting the job done was a reversal of last week.
In Week 1, the Saints came up just short of beating the Detroit Lions in overtime, 31-30. That result might have been acceptable for last season's Saints, who were already in a 1-7 hole by the time Shough made his first start in Week 9. Getting any momentum from their rookie second-round pick felt like a win.
But the Saints knew they had something special in Shough going into this season, and edge rusher Chase Young said the time for accepting moral victories was over.
But after Sunday's win, the Saints blasted music in the locker room so loudly it could be heard in the adjoining conference room. Going toe-to-toe with the Ravens proved the Saints' confidence in Shough was deserved. So now New Orleans will aim to build on that momentum heading into their first home game of the season against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS).
"We can hang with anybody. Sometimes you have to learn how to win, learn how to finish. And I think we right on time," Young said. "... No more moral victories, man. We want W's, and if it come down to the wire, then we just got to tough it out. We want to win."
It was the Saints' biggest win since Shough was named the starter. He won five games leading the team in 2025, all against teams that finished the season with a losing record.
Since 2022, the Saints have beaten only four teams that finished the season with a winning record (the 2022 Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles and the 2023 Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
Beating a Ravens team that had just put up 41 points in Week 1 seemed different, even to veterans such as wide receiver Chris Olave, who is now in his fifth season.
"I feel like since I've been here, we haven't really beat a good team. I feel like it's been tough for us to be able to battle against good teams or great teams that make the playoffs every year," Olave said. "Baltimore ... is a contender in the AFC. So just to be able to battle, be able to show our resilience, be able to come in here and get a W was huge for us, and we got to carry it over to next week."
The Saints have found a quarterback who not only can close out games but appears to play his best in the fourth quarter and big moments. Shough's play hasn't been without flaws, and at times it has been perplexing.
During the early and mid parts of the two games, he has played some of his worst football, only to turn up the dial when it counted the most. According to ESPN Research, Shough's total quarterback rating has been a dismal 14.3 through three quarters of the two games (ranked 29th of 30 qualified passers), but in the fourth quarter and overtime, his 97.7 rating is second in the league.
He has only 56 passing yards in the first quarter compared to 350 and three touchdowns in fourth quarters and overtime.
But when it has counted, Shough has stepped up.
On key third downs, he's made big plays, such as a pass to Juwan Johnson on third-and-8 that gained 24 yards. With backup tackle Asim Richards handling two blockers on his left, and rookie running back CJ Donaldson picking up a rusher on his right, Shough took a hit while getting the ball to Johnson, who ran to the Baltimore 2-yard line.
"It was a special play. Got a lot of juice and energy," Moore said, "Obviously it very much changed the entire game management moving forward after that. ... That was a huge play. Just great effort by Juwan. Give us a chance to hopefully get that touchdown."
He's also converted all four fourth-down attempts this season via two runs and two passes.
"I love those moments just because in my head it's just another down, it's just another play." Shough said. "We've prepared for a lot of those moments. So on the outside it feels like, man this may be the game, but it generally feels like let's just go play."
Now, with the Raiders up next, the Saints hope Shough and the team can keep that play going through all four quarters, instead of just the final frame.
"He's just going to keep going for it. And I think that's just the way he plays," Moore said. "There's highs and lows in games. There's things that go our way, the things that don't go our way. And he just keeps going. ... I was proud of him."