Tyler Shough emerged from the medical blue tent late in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers with his helmet in hand. The quarterback — and the New Orleans Saints — had avoided a disaster. After taking a knee to the hip on fourth down, the quarterback was shaken up and had to be evaluated by the team’s training staff.

But Shough was cleared to return.

He had a ballgame to win.

“It definitely was hurting, but I knew I was good,” Shough said, “as long as I could throw.”

The rookie quarterback led back-to-back scoring drives to pull off a 20-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers, again crushing an NFC South rival’s hopes in a game they needed to create separation in the division.

Shough finished with 272 yards on 24-of-32 passing, but it was his fourth-quarter comeback that propelled the Saints to their second straight win. The Saints (4-10) have won back-to-back games for the first time all year.

How did he do it? Well, there’s his arm. But Charlie Smyth doesn’t make a 47-yard, game-winning field goal without Shough again taking another bone-crushing hit on a slide that got New Orleans into range for the go-ahead kick.

With 12 seconds left, Shough took off on a quarterback draw for 4 yards, but after he got to the ground, Panthers safety Lathan Ransom committed a late hit that instantly drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. The hit even forced Shough to leave the field, leading backup Spencer Rattler to quickly replace him for a time-wasting throwaway that set up Smyth’s kick.

But Shough was fine. He had done his job, getting the Saints into a position to steal the victory. After all, the Saints rallied from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter and trailed for most of the afternoon. And Shough met the moment. He engineered the go-ahead drive with 57 seconds left, and perhaps even more impressive than that, he tied the game by leading a seven-play, 83-yard series that saw Shough find Chris Olave in the end zone for a 12-yard score.

The touchdown to Olave was the kind of big-time throw in a moment when teams typically count on their quarterback.

This was why the Saints drafted Shough with the 40th overall pick. This was what they saw.

“Just a phenomenal performance,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “When your best is needed, he showed up.”

But Shough didn’t do it alone. He had help from nearly everywhere.

There was third-string running back Audric Estimé and the offensive line fooling the Panthers defense on a 19-yard screen pass that gave the final drive life. There was the defense that, as they have practically all season, kept New Orleans in a game that looked like it could have gone off the rails at any moment. And there was defensive end Chase Young, whose huge first-down sack on quarterback Bryce Young effectively set up the punt that gave the Saints the chance to steal the game.

But the difference between Sunday’s win and past Saints games was that, previously, the quarterback did not usually come through in moments when his teammates had played well. Not since Drew Brees retired, anyway. Derek Carr had only two game-winning drives with the Saints. Rattler has none. Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton and Taysom Hill combined for three in their starts as Saints quarterback.

Shough, six starts into his career, now has two game-winning drives — each in the last two games.

The quality of opponent in these games matters. The Panthers, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the week prior, were in sole possession of first place in the NFC South and badly needed a win to shore up their chances. Carolina, too, was playing good football of late, having beaten the Los Angeles Rams before its bye week and won two of three since losing last month to the Saints.

But oddly enough, it’s the Saints who are the lone team that hold a winning record in the division. The Saints are 3-2 in the NFC South, while Tampa Bay (2-2), Carolina (2-2) and Atlanta (2-3) would be below them.

All three of those wins have come with Shough at quarterback.

“He’s growing at a rapid pace,” defensive end Cam Jordan said, later adding, “We’re catching our stride.”

Those two things — the Saints catching their stride amid Shough’s growth — aren’t likely a coincidence. While the defense has made plenty of improvements under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, the Saints’ ability to turn these close games into wins has arguably been driven by Shough becoming more comfortable under center.

It isn’t always pretty, but there are plays and drives that show progress. The 17-play, 95-yard drive that led to New Orleans’ first touchdown? That’s New Orleans showing it can grind a game away, something Shough said the Saints felt they needed to do, given how Carolina can control the ball. Shough getting up from hit after hit? That shows his teammates that he can be counted on.

Quincy Riley has seen what it’s like for Shough to win people over. Last year, before they were drafted by the Saints, the two spent the year at Louisville. The rookie cornerback knows what his quarterback is capable of.

“I was telling someone on the sideline, I think Kool-Aid (McKinstry), ‘I’ve seen Tyler in these moments, so it really don’t surprise me,’” Riley said. “I like him in these moments. I bet bank on it.”

Winning over teammates is why Shough says he plays the game. Since being drafted, he has largely shrugged off the narratives surrounding his entry into the league, such as the concerns about his age or injury history. But the 26-year-old wants to win over those in the locker room, so that they have the same belief in him that he has in himself.

In the fourth quarter, Shough exited the medical tent, knowing he was good as long as he could throw. His teammates now know, too.

“Tyler Shough, man,” Chase Young said. “He’s building, man. … He’s just starting to look like that guy.”