Welcome everyone to the latest Saints preview where I break down every game on their schedule! This week, it’s the New Orleans Saints taking on the Los Angeles Rams.
Last Week: The Saints last played on Thursday night football against Carolina and tried to rally back late, but fell short 23-20. The Rams on the other hand had a tough loss blowing a 10-0 lead in the fourth quarter to the Miami Dolphins.
Last Meeting: The last time these two met up was in 2013 in a loss to the Rams by the score of 27-16. The Rams have won three of the last five matchups and lead the overall series 40-32.
What to Watch For:
Searching for a Bounce Back Win: After the last couple of games the Saints are looking for a win. Perhaps that will come against a less than stellar Los Angeles team that has an inexperienced QB in the Superdome. All this being said the Saints need to show up against a team that they should win if they still want to somewhat still be in contention as we get closer towards the end of the season.
Get Running Game Back In Order: It was a scary sight to see Mark Ingram go down last Thursday the way he did against Carolina. He left the game with a concussion, but has returned to practice as of Wednesday and that is a very good sign. If Ingram isn’t allowed to play on Sunday, this run game takes a major hit with a lot of the game being on the shoulders of Tim Hightower. The Saints need to hit the reset button on the run game after an underwhelming performance against Carolina.
Unknown QB Could Help Build Confidence In D: The Saints defense has been the laughing stock of the NFL and this season has seen some improvements. However, what they’ve done hasn’t been enough to keep the Saints competitive. This week could be good for the Saints as they’re facing off against a relative unknown on Sunday in Jared Goff who had a less than stellar debut with 134 yards and a QBR of 65.8. The Saints will need to have that front seven shut down whatever the rookie can do and cause pressure.
Saints Will Win If:
The Saints can get back to the winning ways if the special teams can bounce back from a poor performance. It’s a less than stellar group that has had some big mistakes (blocked FGs, muffed kickoffs deep in own territory, etc.) and if they can overcome their issues it will be more competitive and the offense can perform at its level instead of trying to play catch up.
Rams Will Win If:
The Los Angeles Rams will win if the front seven can get pressure on Drew Brees. Last week, the Rams sacked Ryan Tannehill four times and picked him off. The Saints offensive line still has question marks and the Rams defense could take advantage of this.
-Clint Domingue