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Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough didn’t just shock the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. He walked out of Tampa with a muddy statement win, a bold endorsement from a teammate and a wave of national praise that’s starting to sound a lot like “this guy is a real NFL starter.”

In a 24-20 upset on the road, Shough outplayed Baker Mayfield in brutal conditions, throwing for 144 yards and rushing for 55 with two rushing touchdowns as the New Orleans Saints improved to 3-10.

Tyler Shough Turns Mud Game Into Breakout Moment

On a chewed-up field in a driving rain, this was never going to be a fantasy-football box score game. It was about who could survive it. Shough did more than that.

After the Buccaneers took a 17-10 lead, Alontae Taylor’s interception set the Saints up in plus territory. Shough immediately cashed it in, pulling on a read-option and ripping off a 34-yard touchdown run that flipped the game and the sideline.

Later, after another Tampa Bay surge, Shough did it again. With the Saints trailing 17-16 in the fourth quarter, he found space and scrambled for a second rushing score that put New Orleans ahead for good.

He finished just 13-of-24 passing, but in a game where Mayfield went 14-of-30 for 122 yards and a pick, Shough’s ability to create with his legs and avoid the back-breaking mistake stood out.

‘He Deserves to Be a Starter’

Inside the Saints’ locker room, the reaction went beyond a “nice game, rook.” Running back Devin Neal — who scored his first NFL touchdown in the win — went out of his way to push Shough’s status up a level.

Neal talked about how people “count out” Shough’s wheels, then made his point crystal clear: the rookie deserves to be in this league, deserves to be a starter and deserves the recognition that comes with it. He praised Shough’s versatility, his command of the huddle and how his confidence keeps growing with every week and every tough situation.

Neal also pointed to their connection on a crucial check-down that turned into a first down, saying Shough’s feel for bailing out of a collapsing pocket and trusting his back to make a play is exactly what you want from your quarterback when the game is tight. That’s not backup talk — that’s “this is our guy” talk from a fellow rookie who just had his own breakout.

National & Local Praise Piles On

The praise didn’t stop in-house.

Reuters led its game recap with Shough “leading the New Orleans Saints to a 24-20 victory” and contributing two of the team’s three rushing touchdowns in the upset of the NFC South leaders. Bucs blogs and local Tampa coverage described the loss as the Buccaneers getting beaten by “a bad Saints team,” but still emphasized how Shough’s legs and timely plays kept extending drives and bleeding the clock.

NOLA.com went even further with a piece explicitly framed around how Shough was “praised after [his] breakout game vs. Bucs,” highlighting how voices outside New Orleans are starting to take notice of what he’s doing in a rough season. While the full article sits behind a paywall, the framing alone tells you the tone: this wasn’t treated as a random December blip, it was painted as his coming-out performance.

What It Means for Shough’s Future

Big picture, nothing about Sunday changes the depth chart for this week. Shough is already the starter. What it does change is how he’s talked about.

Instead of being just the rookie thrown into a lost season, he’s now the quarterback who:

• Went on the road and beat a division leader.
• Outplayed a former No. 1 pick in miserable conditions.
• Earned a teammate’s public claim that he “deserves to be a starter.”
• Got a dedicated “praised after breakout game” piece back home and national headlines calling out his performance.

For a second-round pick who already brought a loaded college resume and solid early numbers, this is the kind of game that sticks in people’s minds when the conversation turns to “which young QBs really belong as long-term starters?”

The Saints still have work to do everywhere else, but after Tampa, it’s a lot harder to argue they don’t at least have something real in Tyler Shough.

Erik Anderson is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Anderson is also the host of The Rip City Pod on The I-5 Corridor, where he dives into the stories and personalities shaping the Portland Trail Blazers. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson

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