In a battle of two 7-7 teams, the New Orleans Saints traveled across the country to play the Los Angeles Rams for Thursday Night Football. LA took the early lead and never trailed in the game as the Rams defeated the Black and Gold 30-22 to drop New Orleans to 7-8 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans received the ball to begin the game and picked up a few first downs off a couple of Chris Olave catches and a three-yard run by Taysom Hill. Derek Carr got blitzed and sacked on 3rd & 7 and the Saints would punt from the 37-yard line of the Rams.
Los Angeles started their first drive from their five-yard line and found the endzone after they drained almost eight minutes off the clock in 14 plays. Matthew Stafford completed five out of seven pass attempts to four different receivers, including to rookie Puka Nacua for a two-yard touchdown.
The Saints got inside the Rams’ 40-yard line and couldn’t complete the pass to Olave on 3rd & 5. Carr and the offense went for it on fourth down but Kobie Turner sacked Carr to give LA the ball back near midfield.
Nacua got the Rams into field goal range immediately with a 28-yard catch to the 24-yard line of New Orleans. Cooper Kupp set up 1st & GOAL with an 11-yard catch on an out route but dropped a second potential touchdown on third down. Lucas Havrisik put Los Angeles up by 10 with a 20-yard kick with 10:23 left in the second quarter.
Following a punt by Lou Hedley, Stafford made a couple of nice throws to Demarcus Robinson that resulted in first downs. Kupp couldn’t coral the pass in on 3rd & 2 and Havrisik’s 47-yard kick was wide left.
Carr found Juwan Johnson for a gain of 20 on the first play of the drive, then two plays later, Rashid Shaheed beat Akhello Witherspoon on a post for the 45-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to three with 2:28 left in the first half.
Carl Granderson sacked Stafford on third down to force the three-and-out. New Orleans started their next possession at their own 35 but turned it over on downs from the Los Angeles 42.
Stafford connected with Robinson for a gain of 32, then found Nacua for 11 more to set up 1st & 10 from the 11-yard line with 31 seconds left. Robinson finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown catch. New Orleans headed into halftime down 17-7.
Los Angeles opened the second half with a 41-yard pass completion to Nacua. Kupp caught a quick screen pass for 11 yards to move the chains but the Rams settled for a 22-yard field goal after Stafford’s pass fell incomplete near the goal line.
Carr threw an interception near midfield on third down to Jordan Fuller and the Rams’ cornerback returned it to the New Orleans 41-yard line. Kyren Williams carried the ball on three straight plays, including a 10-yard touchdown run to put the Rams up 27-7 with 5:42 left in the third quarter.
After New Orleans turned the ball over on downs, Los Angeles drove 56 yards in nine plays as Nacua caught two passes for 44 yards. Havrisik converted the 32-yard kick to give the Rams a 23-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Carr and the offense drove 75 yards in 12 plays as the New Orleans starting quarterback completed 10 passes and finished the drive with a five-yard fade to Johnson with 6:33 left in the game.
Saints special teamer J.T. Gray came off the left side and affected Ethan Evans’ punt as New Orleans started their next drive at the LA 35-yard line. Carr only took 40 seconds to make it a one-score game as he went to rookie A.T. Perry for the score on 2nd & 10. Olave’s two-point conversion catch made it an eight-point difference with 3:53 to go.
The Rams recovered the onside kick and drained the remainder of the clock to secure the 30-22 win over New Orleans on Thursday Night Football.
BIG NUMBER: 35
Running the football never became impactful for New Orleans. The team finished with 35 rushing yards on 16 carries (2.2 ypc) as the Rams got the 30-22 win on Thursday Night Football. The longest carry of the night for the Black and Gold was a five-yard carry by Alvin Kamara.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Matthew Stafford
The Rams quarterback was efficient on Thursday night as he completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 328 yards and threw two touchdown passes as Los Angeles dropped the Saints to a 7-8 record.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will get a mini-bye week to rest up and prepare for a big divisional matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The kickoff in Raymond James Stadium is scheduled for New Year’s Eve at noon.