Kellen Moore didn’t hesitate.
The New Orleans Saints had just scored an overtime touchdown to pull within 31-30 of the Detroit Lions with 1:34 left, and the coach immediately called for a 2-point conversion.
If the Saints converted, they would win 32-31. They missed and lost 31-30.
“If we kick the extra point and tie the game, there is still 1:34 to play,” Moore said. “I didn’t want to let them back on the field with a chance to make a play and beat us.”
The Lions started overtime with a touchdown, which meant the Saints had one possession to match them. Tyler Shough drove New Orleans 80 yards in 10 plays, finishing with a 8-yard touchdown pass to Noah Fant. Moore’s decision came next.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said he would have made the same call.
“If I’m him, I’m going for two,” he said.
Moore called for a pass play designed to get Chris Olave open in the front right corner of the end zone, but the Lions defense was able to prevent that from happening.
“We had Chris going to the front pylon, (Devaughn) Vele in the middle of the field and Bryce (Lance) going to the back pylon,” Moore said. “(The Lions) matched up really well, and we were down to the outside corner shot.”
Shough put the ball up for Lance, but the pass went over his head and out of bounds.
“I was trying to give him a chance to make a play, but I didn’t get it there,” Shough said. “That sucks, but I’m also really proud that we got down there and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
That hadn’t seemed likely when Jared Goff threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown to give Detroit a 21-0 lead with 8:54 left in the third quarter.
At that point, Shough was 10 of 24 for 85 yards and three turnovers. He threw an interception on his first attempt of the third quarter, then was sacked on the next two pass plays, fumbling away the ball on the second.
“I have to play better than that to give our team a chance to win,” Shough said. “We were just too inconsistent in the first half, and I was a big part of that. I think they got us playing too fast and I wasn’t getting my feet set to throw the ball.”
After the Lions took the three-touchdown lead, though, Shough went 20 of 26 for 252 yards and two touchdowns without turning the ball over.
“There’s definitely a natural rhythm that comes when you start getting some chunk plays,” Shough said. “It was great for us as a team to face that kind of adversity and come back the way we did.”
The last play wasn’t the first time Moore had put the game directly in Shough’s hands. With two minutes left in regulation and the Saints down 24-17, they faced a 4th-and-12 on their own 23.
The Saints could have punted and tried to get the ball back with the help of their timeouts, but Moore chose to go for it.
“If we punt and stop them, we’re still going to get the ball back in the same place, and if they make a couple plays, we never get it back,” he said. “We had control of the ball and I didn’t want to give that away.”
Shough came through, hitting Lance for a 15-yard gain before throwing a tying touchdown to Juwan Johnson with 1:13 left.
The Saints forced the Lions to punt, and could have won the game on the final play of regulation, but Daniel Carlson couldn’t hit a 62-yard field goal.
“There are a lot of things we need to fix right away,” Moore said. “But I think our guys should have some positive juice coming out of this game. We were down 21 in the third quarter and ended up with two plays to win the game. That’s a battle.”
READ MORE:SAINTS ANALYSIS: No Motor City miracle, Shough is the man, biggest concern moving forward
