media etc. on the Saints game

from PFF ReFocused: Los Angeles Rams 27, New Orleans Saints 9

https://www.pff.com/news/pro-nfl-week-2-pff-refocused-los-angeles-rams-27-new-orleans-saints-9

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Cooper Kupp had himself an unbelievable game, as he led all receivers on either team. It seemed like he was always open for a first down whenever Goff and the Rams needed one. He capped it off with his massive 66-yard catch and run in which he broke three tackles.

Jared Goff was effective throwing the ball today as he looked good throwing it into tight windows as well as making smart choices with the football. Goff’s early deep pass to Brandin Cooks was one of the better-thrown deep balls that you’ll see all year. He also didn’t put the ball in danger at all in this game.

Aaron Donald came out of the gate firing and looked unstoppable in the first half. He was blowing up plays in the backfield and the Saints had no answer. Donald ended up leaving the game for a brief period due to an injury but did return. After he returned, he was fairly quiet for the rest of the game, which may be attributed to feeling the effects of his injury.

The Rams’ defense did not give up a lot of big plays and were sure-tackling throughout. The Rams’ coverage held up on the back-end, forcing the Saints to funnel passes underneath and to check-downs for a majority of the afternoon.

Rookie Takeaways

Taylor Rapp had one outstanding pass breakup in coverage against Jared Cook and made several strong plays in the run game.

Game Recap: Strong second half pushes Rams past Saints
Stu Jackson
https://www.therams.com/news/game-recap-strong-second-half-pushes-rams-past-saints

6 takeaways from the Rams 27-9 victory over the Saints
Steve Rebeiro
6 takeaways from the Rams 27-9 victory over the Saints

Rams dominate Saints: Instant analysis of 27-9 win
Cameron DaSilva
Rams dominate Saints: Instant analysis of 27-9 win

Officials have another major error in Saints-Rams game
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/officials-have-another-major-error-in-saints-rams-game-twitter-explodes-as-refs-take-td-away-from-new-orleans/

Saints’ Drew Brees suffers right hand injury vs. Rams – NFL.com
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001055154/article/saints-drew-brees-suffers-right-hand-injury-vs-rams

Rams make quick work of Saints after Drew Brees is injured
Gary Klein
https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2019-09-15/rams-saints-drew-brees-exits-injury-cooper-kupp-nfl

More Pain for Saints: Another Officiating Error and an Injury to Drew Brees
A second-quarter touchdown was called back, and New Orleans struggled to score with its quarterback out with a hand injury.
link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/sports/football/saints-rams-referees.html

Five Takeaways: Rams defeat Saints behind second-half offense, special teams, timely defensive plays

Stu Jackson

https://www.therams.com/news/five-takeaways-rams-defeat-saints-behind-second-half-offense

Second-half contributions from a variety of key offensive players, a rebound special teams performance and clutch defensive plays helped the Los Angeles Rams moved to 2-0 on the season with a 27-9 win over the New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Here are five instant takeaways from the matchup.

1) HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS CREATE LATE SEPARATION

Considering these two teams combined for 80 points in their last regular season meeting and 49 in the NFC Championship, it was somewhat surprising to see the halftime score read Rams 6, Saints 3.

Still, credit Los Angeles for adapting in the second half.

L.A. had 207 of its 380 total yards of offense across the third and fourth quarter despite losing starting RG Austin Blythe to an ankle injury before halftime. QB Jared Goff’s poise was a big part of that, as was the steady rushing attack led by RB Todd Gurley II’s 16 carries for 63 yards and one touchdown.

2) BOTH TEAMS LOSE KEY OFFENSIVE CONTRIBUTORS TO INJURY

It was a busy day for the Rams’ and Saints’ training staffs.

For the Rams, there was Blythe’s ankle injury (carted off the field), a temporary back injury scare with DT Aaron Donald (he went back to the locker room but later returned) and TE Tyler Higbee’s chest contusion (did not return).

For the Saints, starting QB Drew Brees injured his right thumb after hitting it against Donald’s with 6:48 left in the first quarter, starting LG Andrus Peat sustained an ankle injury that prevented him from returning, WR Tre’Quan Smith suffered an ankle injury which knocked him out of the game and WR Keith Kirkwood hurt his hamstring before the game.

Neither team got out of this one completely unscathed, but between the two of them, New Orleans was clearly impacted the most by injuries.

3) KUPP HAS ANOTHER STRONG DAY

If last week wasn’t enough assurance that Rams WR Cooper Kupp was back to his usual self, look no further than Sunday’s effort against the Saints for full confirmation.

With nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, Kupp caught the ball at the Rams’ own 40 on a slant route, then took it all the way down Saints 1-yard line. It was initially ruled a 67-yard touchdown, but officials overturned the call upon further review and placed the ball at the Saints 1, crediting Kupp with a 66-yard reception instead.

While the touchdown got overturned, Los Angeles still took advantage of the big play, as Goff punched it in on a QB keeper for the score. Kupp finished the game with five receptions on nine targets for 120 yards, all team highs.

4) SPECIAL TEAMS BOUNCES BACK FROM TOUGH SEASON-OPENER

A blocked punt and a missed field goal are miscues you don’t see often from punter Johnny Hekker and kicker Greg Zuerlein respectively, let alone a unit led by special teams coordinator John Fassel.

One week after it cost the Rams 10 points in their season opener, Fassel’s squad returned to its expected form against the Saints.

Zuerlein made both of his field goal attempts, making him responsible for six of the Rams’ 27 points. Hekker averaged 49.8 yards per punt and didn’t get any of his attempts blocked. Punt returner JoJo Natson’s long of 32 set up L.A.’s offense at the New Orleans 26, and with a very short field to work with, it was able to capitalize with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Goff to WR Brandin Cooks.

Overall, Week 2 showed the usual positive impact Fassel’s crew makes.

5) DEFENSE DESERVES CREDIT, TOO

Natson’s punt return was made possible by back-to-back sacks from LB Clay Matthews and DL Michael Brockers. Both forced the Saints to punt from deep in their own territory.

New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas had 10 catches for 89 yards but was kept out of the endzone. The bigger development, though, was limiting the dual-threat Kamara. After registering 11 catches for 96 yards in the NFC Championship, Kamara had just one catch for 15 yards – only the third time in his career he’s been held to one reception in a regular season game.

Furthermore, the Saints offense got inside the Rams’ 20-yard line just once across 11 drives.

from Assessing Goff and Gurley, and encouraging injury news after the Rams grab early power in NFC

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/1217021/2019/09/16/assessing-goff-and-gurley-and-encouraging-injury-news-after-the-rams-grab-early-power-in-nfc/

Much more than a football game was won when the Rams beat the Saints 27-9 on Sunday at the Coliseum in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game. The entire power balance of the conference shifted when Drew Brees completed his follow-through on a pass attempt and his right hand crashed into the arm of Aaron Donald, who came barreling in on the rush.

Brees left the game with what turned out to be a torn ligament in his throwing hand, and he will undergo surgery and be sidelined approximately six weeks. That means Teddy Bridgewater, who replaced Brees early in the first quarter Sunday, will be the Saints’ quarterback for a while, and that changes the top of the conference hierarchy.

Bridgewater is a capable quarterback and one of the most liked and appreciated players in the NFL. But to be perfectly frank, he is nowhere near the player Brees is. Few quarterbacks are, which is why Brees one day will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has the ability to throw the ball as accurately as any quarterback in NFL history and decisively control and manage the Saints’ high-octane offense.

In a near-perfect world, Bridgewater helps the Saints to a .500 record in relief of Brees. If Brees missed the next six games that would give the Saints a 4-4 record upon his return. That leaves them plenty of time to make a playoff run, but it likely would leave them almost no margin for error when it comes to a division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Play that out a little bit further, and it greatly reduces by one the number of teams the Rams figure to be battling at the end of the season, in terms of what city the NFC runs through on the way to the Super Bowl.

With 14 games remaining, it might seem a bit early to begin thinking along those lines. And maybe it is. But life moves fast in the NFL, and given the Rams’ lofty aspirations, the big picture is always in focus.

That’s another reason to underscore the importance of the Rams’ win Sunday. Remember, last year the Saints got the upper hand on the Rams in the race for home-field advantage in the playoffs by beating them in early November. The teams finished with identical 13-3 records but the tiebreaker went to the Saints based on that win.

The Rams gaining that advantage — for now, anyway — is just one of the many takeaways from Sunday’s game.

Here are my top five others.

Goff gets on track, but must be better

At first glance, Jared Goff played perfectly fine on Sunday while completing 19 of 28 attempts for 283 yards and one touchdown for a quarterback rating of 112.6. And while he might have been guilty of hanging onto the ball a little too long on what turned out to be a red-zone fumble in the second quarter, that’s probably splitting hairs a bit considering the protection in front of him certainly wasn’t pristine.

That said, given the expectations after his last two seasons and the record-breaking contract extension he recently signed, it certainly appears Goff is capable of much more.

The same can be said for the Rams’ offense as a whole. But Goff is the face of that operation and its success is tied directly into his play.

Goff and the offense have struggled to get on track in the first two games. That’s partially the result of unexpected defensive looks they’ve faced, and also a general lack of sharpness. The slow starts haven’t cost them (yet), and as they showed Sunday and last week against Carolina, they’ve been able to rebound enough to total 57 points in two games.

That is a bottom line they will gladly take. Who wouldn’t, right?

But again, we are talking about the two-time defending NFC West champions and the defending NFC champions. So while bottom-line results might be acceptable at times, by no means do they represent what is possible. The Rams’ offense, and Goff in particular, is capable of more.

“It sometimes takes time,” Goff said. And he is right, of course. It’s two games into the season. There is plenty of time to get things straightened out.

“Again, we scored six (points) in the first half and were able to come away with a 27-9 win, and you’re happy about it no matter what,” he continued. “I think every game is different and this game, (it) took us a little while to find it. Frankly, I don’t think it really matters. We win, we win. If we find it early, you’d obviously love that, but any way it happens, we are happy with it.”

Perhaps.

But on a different day against a different opponent, another slow start certainly might cost them. It’s imperative, then, that the Rams figure out a way to get on track earlier.

That eluded them again on Sunday, especially in relation to crossing the goal line after moving into the red zone. The Rams were turned away from the end zone three times in the first half after driving into scoring position, as they settled for two field goals and squandered another chance with the Goff fumble. For a team accustomed to precision and efficiency and maximizing red-zone opportunities, that was cause for some annoyance.

“We have to be better and more efficient down in the red zone,” said left tackle Andrew Whitworth. “We were getting a little frustrated because we were moving the ball. We just weren’t figuring out ways to get in the end zone.”

Said coach Sean McVay: “(We) had some good drives towards the end of the first half, but to only come away with three points on those two drives, we have to be better there.”

That changed in the second half when the Rams scored three touchdowns to blow the game open.

“Really we didn’t do anything different. We were just more efficient,” Whitworth said.

It was a positive step forward, and one the Rams hope to build on.

…

‘New normal’ for Gurley?

Per the Rams’ unofficial/official plan to help preserve Todd Gurley’s health, Gurley once again split series with backup Malcolm Brown on Sunday. Gurley finished with 63 yards on 16 carries and caught three passes for four yards. His longest run was for 20 yards and he scored a touchdown.

And while Gurley has not publicly stated any dissatisfaction with his new usage pattern, he hasn’t fully endorsed it either. Gurley has been a bit of an enigma this year when dealing with the media, especially as it relates to his health, as he typically responds with very short answers with little depth or perspective.

And after his short postgame media session Sunday, it seems warranted to wonder just how happy he is with the way he’s being used.

Asked about his understanding of the new way he’s being used and whether his role has changed much, Gurley said, “Ask Sean. I’m not the head coach. I’m good.”

When asked if it was difficult getting into a flow with the number of carries he’s getting, Gurley only said, “No. I’m good.”

McVay wasn’t all that clear either when asked if Gurley’s usage through two games is the blueprint for what is to come.

“It’s hard to say right now,” McVay said. “Through two games, I think (Gurley and Brown) both have done a nice job. As the season continues to progress, I think we’ll really find out. Like we’ve said, each game kind of represents a different approach, but I thought both those guys did a nice job making some timely runs in times we had to have it.”

Maybe Gurley is completely fine. Maybe he’s just sick and tired of talking about his knee, which is understandable.

But it’s worth keeping an eye on moving forward, in terms of how happy and content he really is.

Secondary doesn’t disappoint

It’s early, but the Rams’ defense ranks fifth in the NFL in yards allowed per game (293.5), and the average of 18 points per game allowed ranks 10th overall. They rank ninth against the run (92 yards per game) and sixth in pass defense (202 yards per game).

Those stats represents a positive trend for a defense that, during the offseason, believed fixing its issues against the run would help propel it into being an upper-echelon unit.

Aaron Donald and fellow linemen, and Cory Littleton and fellow linebackers, have been critical in suppressing opponents, and the Rams’ secondary, a perceived strength throughout the offseason and training camp, has lived up to its billing.

Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib have gone all but unnoticed at cornerback thus far — that’s usually a good sign for players operating on high-leverage islands — and reserves Nickell Robey-Coleman and Troy Hill have been solid.

Meanwhile, safeties Eric Weddle, John Johnson, Taylor Rapp and Marqui Christian have cleaned things up in pass coverage and run defense. Their play on the back end — and sometimes at the first and second levels — combined with their communication skills have helped lift the Rams’ defense.

“When you have versatile safeties that have the ability to play coverage,” McVay said, “to be able to play in the box and be able to activate them as blitzes, they’re really those joker type players for the defense. And really when you’re looking at our guys that are playing safety, with Eric, John Johnson and Taylor Rapp, all three of those guys have a very similar skill set, they’re all very smart, cerebral players, and those are things that enable us to be a little more multiple than what you would otherwise. So it’s a huge deal to have those guys,”