Saints' Tyler Shough bests Titans' Cam Ward in rookie QB clash

Talking points

Quite an entertaining afternoon, you’d say, for a relatively meaningless late December game between two of the NFL’s worst teams for most of the season. But the Titans and Saints have been playing better this month, and that showed as rookie quarterbacks Cam Ward and Tyler Shough traded throws. Ward had his moments. He was good enough to finish with 251 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-40 passing (and replay overturned what would’ve been an enormous, desperation fourth-down completion to Tyjae Spears in the game’s final minutes). But the No. 1 overall pick was ultimately outperformed by second-rounder Shough, who finished 22-for-27 for 333 yards and two TDs while leading New Orleans back in the fourth quarter for its fourth victory in a row.

The Titans let this one get away, considering they led for most of the game and had seven of their first eight possessions end on the Saints’ side of the 50. Only two of those drives, however, ended in touchdowns. Four led to Joey Slye field goals, and the Titans ended up needing all of those points they left on field. This has been a season-long problem.

Running back Tony Pollard’s late-season revival continued with the latest in a string of strong performances. His 85-yard afternoon included a 25-yard run in the third quarter and pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

The Titans’ secondary, already depleted by injuries, was thinned even more in the opening quarter of this game. After cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis was carted off the field with an ominous Achilles injury, Kaiir Elam — who signed Nov. 26 with the Titans — came in to play the boundary opposite Darrell Baker. Meanwhile, the Titans started Kendell Brooks at safety, while Kemon Hall was bumped up from the practice squad to be the slot DB. Hardly ideal, I’d say, that the only true starting DB still out there was safety Amani Hooker.

New defensive backs, however, combined on a huge play. Hall forced a fourth-quarter fumble as Saints receiver Dante Pettis neared the end zone on a 32-yard reception. Elam ended up recovering a loose ball in the end zone to (temporarily) preserve a Titans 26-20 lead with 11:06 remaining.

Where the game turned

After falling behind 20-10 just before halftime, the Saints responded with a nine-play, 74-yard drive to open the third quarter. Shough’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave converted a third-and-9 for New Orleans’ first offensive TD of the afternoon, swinging momentum to the visitors after the Titans had gotten the best of the game’s first 30 minutes. The Titans kept scrapping, but were it not for Pettis’ fumble, the Saints would’ve won this going away in the fourth quarter.

What I liked

In what was easily the most entertaining halftime this season at Nissan Stadium, a group of assembled mascots briefly lined up and took on a youth football team. The Nashville Predators (Gnash), Nashville SC (Tempo) and the University of Tennessee (Smokey) were among the mascots participating. And if you’ve never seen a person in a (Savannah) banana costume barrel through tacklers into the end zone — boy, are you missing out.

Highlights from the Mascots vs @BrentwoodBlaze game at halftime of @Titans vs @Saints, won by the Mascots. @Titans_Trac made a great tackle. The @memgrizz mascot was a real menace — trucked a few kids and also got flagged. pic.twitter.com/e9B3LvCrx4

— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) December 28, 2025

What I didn’t like

Though the Titans’ offense has improved, flaws still show. Like when Saints defensive end Chase Young worked around left tackle Dan Moore Jr. to sack a backtracking Ward and simply take the football out of the QB’s hands, returning it 33 yards for a touchdown.

Heck of a play by Young, no doubt, but another teachable moment for Ward on taking better care of the football. Earlier, he had been lucky that a desperation pass while scrambling ended up as an incomplete pass after it deflected off teammate Kevin Zeitler’s helmet.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social