NEW ORLEANS — For three quarters Sunday, Tyler Shough and the New Orleans Saints appeared ready to turn their home opener into another statement about the direction of a young football team.
Then the fourth quarter changed everything.
Las Vegas erased an 11-point second-half deficit, capitalizing on a string of late New Orleans mistakes to hand the Saints a 35-27 loss Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. The defeat dropped New Orleans to 1-2, while the Raiders improved to 3-0.
It was a particularly bitter ending for Shough, who had spent much of the afternoon putting together one of the best performances of his young NFL career.
The second-year quarterback completed 29 of 42 passes for 250 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, with all four scoring passes going to tight ends Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant. Johnson caught two touchdowns, Fant caught two more, and Chris Olave finished with nine receptions for 107 yards.
By late in the third quarter, New Orleans had seized control.
Shough capped an 87-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Johnson to give the Saints a 20-16 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Jordan Howden recovered a Las Vegas fumble, and two plays later Shough found Fant for a 16-yard touchdown.
In less than a minute, the Saints had turned a halftime deficit into a 27-16 advantage.
They would not score again.
Las Vegas running back Mike Washington answered with a 36-yard touchdown run, cutting the lead to 27-22 before the game unraveled for New Orleans in the fourth quarter.
The pivotal play came with the Saints driving in Raiders territory. On third down at the Las Vegas 29, defensive end Malcolm Koonce hit Shough as he attempted to throw. The play was ruled a fumble, and Maxx Crosby recovered.
The ruling stood after review.
Shough said afterward he believed the pass had already begun.
“I thought I threw it. Me, personally, I thought my arm was going forward.”
He nevertheless put the responsibility back on himself, saying he needed to get the ball out sooner.
Saints coach Kellen Moore did not dwell on the ruling afterward.
“It was hard to get much communication during the game, so I don’t know,” Moore said when asked whether he received an explanation.
What concerned Moore more was everything that followed.
Las Vegas converted the Shough fumble into a 4-yard Kirk Cousins touchdown pass to Cody White, giving the Raiders a 28-27 lead. On New Orleans’ next possession, Shough was intercepted, giving the Raiders another short field. Cousins then found Brock Bowers for a 4-yard touchdown to push the advantage to 35-27.
The Saints still had opportunities.
A later drive reached Las Vegas territory before Shough was stripped again on fourth down. New Orleans got the football back one final time, only for Johnson to lose a fumble after a reception with roughly a minute remaining.
“Tough battle. Really good game,” Moore said. “Ultimately, turnovers in the fourth quarter got us, and we weren’t able to overcome those. These guys finished better than us.”
For Moore, that was the simplest explanation for a game in which the Saints did plenty well enough to win.
“There’s a lot of good stuff on this film,” he said, “but ultimately we didn’t get it done collectively.”
Las Vegas finished with 340 total yards compared with New Orleans’ 376. Cousins completed 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while Bowers made an immediate impact in his season debut with 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.
The Saints also showed improvement in areas that had been problematic through the opening two weeks.
New Orleans ran the ball more effectively, with Travis Etienne Jr. gaining 57 yards on 13 carries before leaving with a hamstring injury. Alvin Kamara added 36 yards on nine attempts. Defensively, Chase Young recorded two sacks, while the Saints repeatedly forced the Raiders to settle for field goals before the game turned late.
But Moore kept returning to the missed opportunities.
“We were in a position to finish that game,” he said. “We didn’t finish it. We had our opportunities, and we weren’t able to get it done.”
The coach said the challenge now is making sure one painful quarter does not erase what the Saints did well during the first three.
“We can’t let this thing linger too long,” Moore said. “We’ve got to recognize the entire film, not just the ending.”
That ending will be difficult to ignore.
For much of Sunday afternoon, Shough had the Saints positioned for their second consecutive victory and their first home win of the season. Instead, a four-touchdown performance became a footnote to a fourth quarter New Orleans will spend the coming week trying to correct.
The Saints return to the Superdome next week to face the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.