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Three takeaways from Rams’ win over Saints

Ron Clements

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/saints-rams-coliseum-nfc-novsla-drew-brees-jared-goff-alvin-kamara-three-takeaways/ayf9khydz6b1dhqqdt34ixj5

The Rams want to prove to the rest of the NFL they are for real.

After failing their first test against one of the NFC elite last week in Minnesota, the Rams responded Sunday with a 26-20 win over the Saints at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

The Rams’ defense kept the Saints’ high-powered offense in check with 346 yards. Saints quarterback Drew Brees had a hard time getting in rhythm against an aggressive Rams front. Brees was sacked three times and threw for 246 yards on 22-of-32 passing. He was also held without a touchdown pass for the third time this season, but unlike the previous two times that happened, the Saints were unable to rely on their ground game.

Outside of a 74-yard touchdown run by rookie running back Alvin Kamara, the Saints (8-3) could not establish much else. The Rams (8-3) held the Saints to 49 yards on the 16 other New Orleans rush attempts.

In snapping New Orleans’ eight-game win streak, the Rams proved they are a force with which to be reckoned in the NFC.

Here are three takeaways from the Rams’ win over the Saints
1. Rams are the best team in the NFC West — After knocking off the Saints, the Rams have arrived as NFC contenders and emerged as the favorites to win the NFC West. The Rams will face the Cardinals (5-6), who knocked off the Jaguars (7-4), next week before two more huge tests against the Eagles (10-1) and Seahawks (7-4). The Eagles have won nine straight after dominating the Bears Sunday, but will have to visit the L.A. Coliseum.

The Seahawks, who have won the NFC West three of the last four seasons, beat the 49ers (1-10) on Sunday. The Dec. 17 game against the Rams could decide the division. The Seahawks beat the Rams in L.A. earlier this season and a season sweep would give Seattle an all-important tiebreaker in the division. But the Seahawks have lost two straight at home and the air of invincibility is gone from CenturyLink Field. While the Seahawks are beaten up on defense and have been relying on Russell Wilson to carry the offense, the Rams are a complete and healthy team and the best in the NFC West.

2. Saints are still the team to beat in the NFC South — As Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt continues to struggle, Kamara might now be the favorite to be the NFL’s Rookie of the Year. The running back from Tennessee carried the load for the Saints offense on Sunday. Kamara ran for 87 yards and had six catches for 101 yards while making incredible play after incredible play.

The Saints and Panthers are even with an 8-3 record, but the Saints won earlier in Charlotte and can complete a season sweep next week in New Orleans. The Saints dominated the earlier game and will be favored to win next week.

3. Sean McVay is a lock for Coach of the Year — Even if the Rams don’t win another game this season, McVay will be the NFL’s Coach of the Year and deservingly so. The Rams will not have a losing season for the first time since 2004 and, with just one more victory, they will clinch their first winning season since 2003.

The Rams have had a remarkable turnaround since last year’s disastrous 4-12 campaign. The 31-year-old McVay has energized the team and changed the culture of negativity that existed under previous coaches. McVay was touted as a quarterback guru and he’s done wonders with second-year quarterback Jared Goff, who looked lost as a rookie.

Goff has been superb this season and turned in his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season. He threw two touchdown passes to give him 18 for the year to just four interceptions. The Rams have been hitting big plays all year and a 53-yard strike to rookie Cooper Kupp set up a 7-yard touchdown pass to rookie Josh Reynolds.

from Rams vs. Saints Postgame Notes (11/26/17)

– Goff’s 354 yards is the second-highest single game output of his career and the fourth time that he has posted 300-plus yards.
– RB Todd Gurley rushed 17 times for 74 yards and had four receptions for 54 yards. Gurley totaled 21 touches for 128 yards from scrimmage.
– Gurley had one reception for a 31-yard gain. Entering Week 12, Gurley led all running backs in the NFL with six 25-plus yard receptions. He now has seven 25-plus yard receptions on the season which leads the NFL at his position. He is followed by Washington RB Chris Thompson with five and Cleveland RB Duke Johnson with four.
– The last Rams RB to post seven 25-plus yard receptions in a single season was Marshall Faulk in 1999.
– WR Sammy Watkins notched a 5-yard touchdown reception from Goff. Marked his fifth touchdown as a Ram.
– WR Cooper Kupp had a career day with eight receptions for 116 yards, a 14.5-yard average and a 53-yard long. Marked ths first 100-plus yard game of Kupp’s career.
– WR Josh Reynolds made his first NFL start and registered his first touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Goff.
– DT Aaron Donald sacked Saints QB Drew Brees for a loss of six yards. Donald now has 6.0 sacks this season.
– OLB Robert Quinn sacked Brees on the following play and caused him to fumble. Quinn has 3.5 sacks this season and 57.5 career sacks. The last time the Rams had sacks on back-to-back plays was on 10/26/14 against the Chiefs. Robert Quinn sacked Alex Smith on back-to-back plays for losses of one and seven yards.
– The last time that Brees was sacked on back-to-back plays was on 11/24/14 vs. Baltimore. Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil both sacked Brees for six yard losses on back-to-back plays. The Ravens won that game 34-27. That game was also in Week 12 of that respective season.
– Quinn recorded his fifth career sack against New Orleans. That is the most sacks Quinn has against a team outside of the NFC West.
o Seattle: 12.0 sacks
o Arizona: 9.5 sacks
o San Francisco: 5.5 sacks
o New Orleans: 5.0 sacks
– According to press box statistics, LB Alec Ogletree led the team in tackles with seven (five solo).
– The Rams defense was the first team to hold Saints RB Mark Ingram under 50 yards since the Vikings held him to 17 yards in Week 1.
– KR Pharoh Cooper registered two long kickoff return of 40 yards. Marked his fourth 40-plus yard kickoff return this season. The Rams have scored on all three-of-four possessions following a 40-plus yard return from Cooper this season:
o 66 yard kickoff return at DAL ended with a field goal
o 103 yard kickoff return at JAC was for a touchdown
o 40 yard kickoff return vs. NO was ended with a touchdown
– Zuerlein (129) passed former RB Marshall Faulk (128 in 2001) for fifth on the all-time single season point total list. He needs two points to pass David Ray (130 in 1973) for fourth and he needs three points to pass Jeff Wilkins (131 in 2006) for third most.
– P Johnny Hekker punted three times for 138 yards, a 46.0-yard average and 46.0-yard net average. This was the third game of the season that Hekker pinned all of his attempts inside the 20.

Rams show resolve in win over Saints, one week after flinching against Vikings

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/26/rams-show-resolve-in-win-over-saints-one-week-after-flinching-against-vikings/

There was a subtlety to Rams urgency this week. It was obvious without being overbearing. Present but not noisy.

They needed a win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in the worst way after losing last week to the Vikings, a prominent NFC power and a potential future playoff opponent. To restore any lost confidence upon losing to a quality opponent, stay one step ahead of their division foe Seattle Seahawks and maintain pace with the rest of the NFC’s playoff contenders.

And whether they wanted to openly admit it or not, to confirm to themselves and everyone else they’re capabl of not just going toe-to-toe with another playoff caliber team, but beating them.

“To show that we are something to be reckoned with,” is how Rams defensive end Robert Quinn put it.

Sure, the Rams had won seven of their first 10 games, many in convincing fashion behind the second-highest scoring offense in the NFL. But who had they played? Who had they really beaten?

Just as important, look who they lost to: The Vikings, Seahawks and Redskins. To date, the best three teams on their schedule.

It’s complex stuff, confidence and faith and conviction in one’s self. And no matter how much you try to fake it till you make it, eventually a moment of reckoning arrives and your choices are clear.

You either respond or you don’t.

These Rams respond, as we learned on Sunday in their 26-20 win over the red-hot Saints. The victory is another step in what’s shaping up as one of the more remarkable season-to-season turnarounds in recent memory.

The win moves them to 8-3, a game ahead of the Seahawks with five to play. In the span of seven days, they reclaimed whatever momentum they lost last week in Minnesota, and re-established themselves as one of the best teams in the NFC.

The Rams flinched a bit against the Vikings. That much is certain. But it’s going to take more than one punch to hurt them so much it creates a carry over effect.

“This team is battle tested,” declared defensive tackle Michael Brockers. “I think we showed that today.”

They’ve shown it all year, which is why the periodic loss hasn’t yet snowballed into a losing streak and mistakes don’t linger and issues don’t go unaddressed.

“We refuse to let a team beat us twice,” said Brockers.

Point being, the Vikings got them once. And hats off to them for that. But the Rams were darn sure not going to let that loss be their demise against the Saints.

Use it as motivation? Yes.

“The standard is so different and high around here, even when things are going well we keep challenging ourselves to do better,” said Quinn.

Adjust off it?

Absolutely.

“To fix what we didn’t execute last game,” Brockers said.

But let it linger and do anymore damage, as so many Rams teams have done in the past?

Absolutely not.

“We’ve changed a bunch of stuff, but I think ultimately what we have now is a lot of confidence,” quarterback Jared Goff said.

A week after Case Keenum torched them by sidestepping or escaping pressure with his legs to make one frustrating big play after another downfield, they shook up future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees by getting in his face and getting him to the ground.

And when Brees did complete a pass, they minimized the damage with sure, disciplined tackling.

Meanwhile, aside from a 74-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamara, they bottled up a powerful Saints running game by allowing just 49 yards on 16 carries.

They did it with a three-pronged effort that included the pass rush pressure of Aaron Donald and his defensive line mates, tight coverage in the back end and sound tackling.

In other words, much of what they failed to do against the Vikings.

“Less mistakes,” Donald said. “Play better.”

And not just against anyone, mind you.

The Saints came in averaging a league-leading 415 yards per game. They were in the top three in scoring per game, stood atop the NFC South and were riding an eight-game winning streak.

And all due respect to Keenum, but he isn’t Brees, one of the best to ever play quarterback in the NFL and still going strong at 38.

By the end of a rough Sunday, Brees had just 223 yards, was sacked three times and the Saints had converted just 3 of 14 third down attempts.

Yes, they scored 20 points, but seven of them came with 42 seconds remaining and the Rams in prevent mode.

“Brees is a Hall of Famer, no doubt,” Quinn said. “If you let him get going early, you know they type of chaos he can cause for a defense.”

The Rams never let that happen.

“Flying around and swarming to the ball,” is how Donald explained it. “We fixed things and did what we needed to do.”

The defensive response allowed Jared Goff and the offense to gradually pull away.

Goff finished with 354 yards and two touchdowns. It’s his second highest passing total of his young career. Rookie wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who has a regrettable day against the Vikings with a critical fumble and a key dropped pass, responded with a career high eight catches for 118 yards.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, the Rams were in firm control.

Faith resorted.

“Everybody trusts the process that we’ve been doing all year,” said Alec Ogletree. “And everyone is continuing to work and believe that we can win games.”

from The Race Is On to Catch the Patriots
Ranking the teams with the best chance to dethrone New England in the postseason, including the Eagles, Steelers, Vikings, Rams, Saints and more

Peter King

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/27/nfl-week-12-patriots-steelers-greg-schiano-tennessee-peter-king-mmqb

4. Los Angeles Rams (8-3). Speaking of pressure teams, this is one that could really give the Patriots issues. Aaron Donald is an equal-opportunity destroyer. I watched most of the Rams-Saints game Sunday, and this Jared Goff gets better every week—seriously. You’ve heard of “throwing receivers open?” It’s a quarterback throwing to an open area, leading a receiver more than he normally would. It’s a sign the quarterback is mastering the offense and has the confidence to make a throw a little out of the box.

Goff did that on his second-quarter TD throw to rookie Josh Reynolds, motioning for him to go further across the edge of the end zone—which Reynolds did—and Goff lasered a strike to him. The Rams buried a bad loss at Minnesota last week pretty quickly, which you’ve got to do when games matter so much now.

“We weren’t going to let Minnesota beat us twice,” defensive leader Alec Ogletree told me from Los Angeles on Sunday night. Huh? “They beat us last week, and we weren’t going to let it hang with us—it was over. Gotta move on.” They did. The Rams put up 415 yards on a good defense, and knocked Drew Brees around most of the day.

Saints sound a familiar lament after running into Rams

MARK WHICKER

link: http://www.dailynews.com/2017/11/26/whicker-saints-sound-a-familiar-lament-after-running-into-rams/

LOS ANGELES — With few exceptions, NFL teams are having bad games in the presence of the Rams.

At this point it might not be coincidence.

The Saints had not lost since mid-September. They were leading the league in yards per rush and yards per pass. They had the fewest three-and-outs, and were seventh in touchdown percentage within the red zone.

They came to the Coliseum on Sunday with the Rams in attendance.

“I just thought we were pretty sloppy offensively,” coach Sean Payton said.

“We never seemed to get into a rhythm,” quarterback Drew Brees said.

“I take this loss personal,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “We gave up too many big plays.”

Meanwhile, the Rams did their thing and wound up winning, 26-20, to raise their record to 8-3.

They had hit their first real roadblock last week in a no-doubt 24-7 loss at Minnesota. Their first response to that backward step was right out of the Barney Fife playbook: Nip it in the bud. It certainly was their best performance against a quality team.

The Saints gave the Rams full tribute. There were 112 penalty yards for New Orleans, some unforced, some not. There was bad field position, with no Saints possession beginning outside their own 25, but that wasn’t a coincidence either. The Rams’ punt team allowed zero return yards.

“I thought they hurt us with some returns,” Payton said, referring to Pharoh Cooper’s brazen game-opening dash that set the Rams up on the 41 and led to a breezy touchdown drive that ended in Sammy Watkins’ hands.

“Their pass rush was a factor, too. We’ll have to watch tape to see if we got the ball out quick enough, or if it was a problem with the protection. I didn’t see us affecting their passer as much as I’d like. And when we look at the tape we’ll see some hidden yardage. But I thought they were better in every area today. There are a lot of areas we can look at.”

Like these, for instance:
— The Saints were averaging 25 first downs. They made 14.
— They were converting 40 percent of third downs. They were 3 for 13 Sunday, for 23 percent (although their defense held L.A. to 3 for 14).
— They were averaging 418.7 yards. They gained 346 and had 197 after three quarters.
— They were averaging 31:40 of possession. Here they had 24:34.

And still New Orleans cut the margin to six with just less than two minutes left. Its onside kick could have led to an even more creative comeback than the one that beat Washington last week, but Watkins grabbed it instead.

In no way did it feel like a six-point game and it would have been a demolition derby if third-round rookie Alvin Kamara hadn’t made the bus. Of those 346 yards, Kamara ran for 87, with 74 on one memorable touchdown run, and caught for 101.

“He’s exciting every time we get the ball to him,” Brees said.

Wade Phillips’ defense brought everyone else to a standstill. Brees kept throwing underneath on third downs, primarily because he was hoofing his way out of the pocket, and the Rams were not missing tackles.

“Our ability to just make them play another snap was a key component,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.

Payton, the coach who began the second half of a Super Bowl with an onside kick, made an odd call in the fourth quarter that reeked of tap-out. Down 23-10 with fourth and goal on the three, he called a field goal. There was only 10:09 left and the Saints had only two timeouts left.

“Percentages,” Payton said dismissively.

Both he and Brees offered a laurel and hearty handshake to Phillips.

“I’ve coached against him so many times,’ Payton said. “The nuances come on second and third down with what kind of personnel you’ll get, and then they rush the passer well.”

“Everywhere he goes he does a great job,” Brees said, “and now he has really good personnel here, some Pro Bowlers on that front.”

Defensively, the Saints were missing both starting corners but held off the Rams as best they could. Jordan, a Cal alumnus like Jared Goff, had two of New Orleans’ four sacks.

“I was joking with him that I was surprised he got up from the second one,” Jordan said, “but I expect nothing less from a Cal Bear. What has he improved on? Everything. He’s a totally different quarterback from last year.”

That’s documented. Now the Rams’ next stop is Arizona. Data indicates the Cardinals probably won’t play well