The New Orleans Saints staged a furious comeback attempt at Detroit's Ford Field against the Lions on Sunday but fell short, losing 31-30 in overtime despite a heroic effort from quarterback Tyler Shough. The Saints were without star defensive end Cam Jordan and sacked Lions quarterback Jared Goff just once in the contest while Shough was sacked five times and threw two interceptions.

Afterwards Shough, who also played without veteran running back Alvin Kamara, lamented the Saints' slow start as he dissected how his team fell short in Week 1.

“Wasn't good enough in the end,” Shough said, according to Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football. “Was proud of how we fought as a team…I just gotta play better in the first half, we have to play better as an offense.”

The Saints shredded the Lions' defense for 469 total yards on the afternoon but turned the ball over three times, including one lost fumble. Shough gave credit to Detroit's Kelvin Sheppard-led defense for throwing different looks at him, which contributed to the miscues.

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Shough's favorite target against the Lions was receiver Chris Olave, who caught 10 passes for 182 yards on 13 targets, dominating a Lions secondary that was without starting safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch, the stars of their defensive backfield.

The Shough-to-Olave connection gives coach Kellen Moore's team plenty of optimism for the passing game, and offense as a whole, heading into September 20's road game against the Baltimore Ravens. On the ground, Travis Etienne Jr. and Kendre Miller combined for 76 yards, giving Moore's team hope for a more balanced attack in the future.

Shough and the Saints were shut out in the first half, giving Moore plenty of pointers for the film room this coming week. The Saints will do their best to heed the lessons of Week 1 in hopes of putting it behind them in time to come out with a stronger effort in the first half against the Ravens.