Saints game: the big articles

Redemption and late heroics link young difference-makers in Rams’ win at Saints

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5961912/2024/12/01/rams-beat-saints-kyren-williams-jared-verse-analysis/

NEW ORLEANS — It wasn’t veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford with the late-game heroics this time in a 21-14 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.

The Los Angeles Rams’ young defensive line, much maligned by last Sunday’s butt-kicking courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles’ run game, stood up to the Saints’ inside runs on second and third down within their 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter and up by only 7 points. Quarterback Derek Carr dropped back to pass on fourth-and-3, and rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse bulled back his blocker to hit Carr and end the game. Verse finished with a team-high seven pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.

No, at a certain point Stafford — who chuckled after the game in acknowledgment that he’s seen just about every type of football game possible over his 16-year NFL career — knew the best thing for the Rams’ painfully stagnant offense would be to get out of the way. Literally.

“The way the game started, the way we were playing in the first half, definitely frustrating,” Stafford said. “You’re sitting there going, ‘Man, there are plays out there — we gotta go get ’em!’

“And knowing, at the same time, every time I’m handing it off I feel like I’m getting good yards. So it’s like, ‘got to try to find a way to get some points for these drives, these guys up front are playing well enough to get these points!’”

The offense started Sunday’s game as it has too many times this season: without points. For the ninth time this season, the Rams were held without a touchdown in the first quarter despite having their key starters and role players back from early-season injuries.

Further, for just the second time in Sean McVay’s tenure as head coach, the Rams were shut out of the first half (previously the New England Patriots had a first-half shutout in Super Bowl LIII). Their passing game, and Stafford’s protection, looked disjointed and slow. Yet once they got into successful runs, they went away from the run to favor the pass. A game-opening three-and-out featured three pass plays that were ultimately the only plays the Rams ran in the first quarter as the Saints successfully salted away the clock with their possessions on either side of the Rams’ failed drive.

Even the connections that so often click — like Stafford to receiver Cooper Kupp on “must-have” plays — did not. Stafford went to Kupp on fourth-and-4 from the Saints’ 25-yard line, but it fell incomplete. Stafford threw to a spot on the field Kupp is supposed to get to on the route (in the end zone), and had Kupp made it there he would have been open for the touchdown. But, Kupp explained after the game, a defensive back who was supposed to be covering Tutu Atwell made a mistake — which redirected Kupp on his route and messed up the timing of the play.

Of the Rams’ 23 first-half plays, 11 were runs that averaged more than 6 yards per carry between two running backs. On their third possession in that half (they only had three), the Rams ran the ball five times for 39 yards and got to the New Orleans 49-yard line. Then Stafford dropped back for his first pass of the possession and was sacked for an 8-yard loss. McVay called a short outlet catch-and-run (pass play) on second-and-18 to get back to at least a “neutral” third down (in this case third-and-9). Stafford’s third-down pass fell incomplete.

McVay said there was a concerted emphasis between coaches and players as they met in the locker room at halftime to stick with what was working. That meant the run game. Players said he told them directly he was going to call run after run in the third and fourth quarters, and they wanted to execute that plan.

“I thought our coaches, I thought (offensive coordinator) Mike LaFleur and (offensive line coach) Ryan Wendell, really all of our offensive coaching staff did an excellent job of being able to recognize it and communicate,” McVay said, “and be able to get us to some of the right things that we wanted to be able to do.

“Then ultimately, it’s all about the players being able to bring it to life, and they did that in a big way.”

Running back Kyren Williams finished with his second game of 100-plus rushing yards this year. He averaged 6.9 yards per carry on his 15 carries, for 104 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Blake Corum added eight carries for 42 yards (5.3 per carry).

Williams, who has struggled with fumbles this season including a fourth in last week’s loss, said after a week of bringing energy and personal accountability in practices he felt “like me, myself and I” again out on the field Sunday. He could also tell the Saints’ defenders “felt him” as a runner.

“I think we was wearin’ on ’em,” Williams said, “and that’s the O-line. They were movin’ them boys, and I’m just pressing and hitting my holes. If you get in my way and I got nowhere else to go, I’m gonna run you over. I think they did a good job of really setting (their) pads, getting (the defenders) to move. I was just able to run off them.”

New Orleans surged right with the Rams in the second half, tying the score 14-all with a 28-yard toss and catch from Carr to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who got behind veteran cornerback Darious Williams. The Saints converted for 2 points, another pass play to practice squad call-up Dante Pettis.

The Rams looked to be in danger of stalling out on another drive in response and faced a third-and-10 from the New Orleans 25-yard line, but a Saints defender jumped offside and officials called a pass interference penalty on a ball intended for receiver Puka Nacua and the Rams got to the 7. Perhaps the slickest pass play of their day, a quick-strike (a bit of a sidearm throw) from Stafford to Nacua out of a pre-snap motion gave the Rams their final lead with 8:54 left.

The Saints deployed star running back Alvin Kamara on outside runs through much of the game, basically daring the Rams’ defensive backs and inside linebackers to stretch wide and come down from their pre-snap positions to tackle. But inside the 10-yard line they ran inside. Fourth-year defensive tackle Bobby Brown III bottled up Kamara on third-and-4, which helped set up Verse’s rush on the corresponding fourth down.

“You can’t be blocked by a tight end, you just can’t,” Verse said after the game. “So I just walked him back, peeled off (to hit Carr).”

Verse was brutally angry with himself for errors in last week’s 37-20 loss to the Eagles. The week of practice leading up to Sunday was all about personal accountability. He asked coaches and teammates not to let up on him — to be hard on him about details all week.

Teammates even on the other side of the ball took notice — and gleefully watched from the Superdome sideline as Verse sealed their sixth win.

“It’s a huge deal, and it’s hard to do especially for someone like him (who is) playing at such a high level,” Kupp said. “He’s had success in this league at an early point. One of the hardest things to do is to feel like you’re justified in the way you’ve been playing, and it makes it easy to make excuses for yourself when you’ve been doing a lot of things the right way, and people are telling you you’re doing a lot of things the right way.

“For someone like that to come in and say, ‘Hey, even though I have done this and this and this, I can be that much better and I am accountable (for) the mistakes that I have made, that’s a huge thing for a guy like Jared.”