The New Orleans Saints were looking for a spark during their eventual, 23-3 Week 8 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the third quarter, first-year coach Kellen Moore made the decision to bench quarterback Spencer Rattler for rookie Tyler Shough.
Rattler completed 15 of 21 passes for 136 yards and one interception before being pulled. Shough came in and completed 17 of 30 passes for 128 yards and one interception in his first extended NFL action.
“We just needed to find a way to create something on offense,” Moore said about Rattler’s benching after the game. “It has more to do with the offense collectively. We’re just not executing and playing at a high enough standard and we gotta find a way to move the football consistently, protect the football and score points. This is a pure full offensive evaluation point. We’re just not there.”
So, is Moore ready to make a full-time QB switch?
“I think we just gotta evaluate this whole thing in the next 48 hours on offense, find the solutions that give us the best chance to win,” Moore said. “Tyler went in there and looked the part, he made some plays, the one interception was unfortunate, gave us a chance to convert there, and so we’ll obviously make that evaluation here quickly and make some decisions moving forward. But this had more to do with the whole offense just not playing well enough and hopefully trying to generate some form of a spark there.”
Shough, who lost the preseason quarterback battle with Rattler, was selected by the Saints with the No. 40 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Louisville product completed 62.7% of his passes for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions last season, and left college with a 21-11 career record as starter in games played for Louisville, Texas Tech and Oregon.
Despite being a rookie, Shough turned 26 last month. He was one of the more polarizing prospects in this past draft class, with one current NFL head coach reportedly believing Shough was the best quarterback in the entire draft.
The Saints offense ranks No. 27 in the NFL with 295 yards of total offense averaged per game, and the 16 points per game New Orleans averages ranks No. 29. It’s clear that the Saints have a problem on offense, but it remains to be seen if Moore believes a quarterback swap will be enough to get this team back on track.
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