Welcome everyone to another edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, it’s the Saints win over the Los Angeles Rams.
1st Down: Ingram Returns With a Vengeance
Following the Saints loss to Carolina, it seemed like the Saints would be without Mark Ingram due to concussion protocol. Thankfully, he returned to practice earlier in the week and showed no signs of it affecting him. It may have woken Ingram up in a big way with 146 yards off of 14 carries and a touchdown and a receiving touchdown on top of that. After what seemed like an underperforming run game for much of the season, it is refreshing to see Ingram perform at this level, especially against a Los Angeles Rams defense that has performed well
2nd Down: Defense Shines In Second Half
The Saints defense looked outstanding on Sunday afternoon in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome allowing only 247 total yards. The scoreboard may not have shown how good this defense was, but the second half really shows the potential they have. In the final two quarters, they allowed only 60 total yards of offense. With an early interception highlighting the Saints defense in the second half, it’s a good sign going forward if they can keep the momentum going.
3rd Down: Thomas Returns to Form
Michael Thomas had one of the worst games of his young career against Carolina where he would fumble the ball twice. After some time to get over his poor performance, the rookie out of Ohio State woke up and dominated with over 100 yards receiving and catching nine out of 10 targets. The Saints made the right choice to pick up a future Pro Bowler to fill the void of Marques Colston and he looks to be back into the form he was in earlier in the season.
4th Down: Overjoyed Payton Refreshing Sight
Most of the time when Sean Payton is on the sideline during Saints games, he looks frustrated and occasionally cracks a smile towards the end of a win. However, this Payton was excited and every time his offense put points on the board he would pump his fist like he was Tiger Woods in his prime. The reason why makes it that much sweeter: it was because the Saints were sticking it to former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was an integral part in Bountygate. The Saints offense outplayed the defense and scored the most points ever against a defense led by Williams. Really liked to see some excitement from the longtime Saints coach
-Clint Domingue