Sean Payton: Aqib Talib's presence is "significant" difference from regular season https://t.co/2uqOLSfUSq

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 17, 2019

wv wrote:

I predict the winner of this game goes to the Super Bowl.

Not so sure it’s that simplistic or black-n-white.

I think your view lacks nuance.

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
#Saints coach Sean Peyton on #Rams run game vs. Dallas last week: “What they did against a really good run front was unbelievable.”

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Sean McVay says “Ndamukong Suh had his best game of the year” against Dallas

McVay downplays the idea that the Rams’ O-line got “tells” from the Cowboys’ defensive line. “I think our guys probably thought they knew more than they did.”

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Ndamukong Suh on McVay calling Saturday’s performance against Dallas his best of the season: “Sean may have seen it as one of my best games, but I’ve got a lot more in the tank.”

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Andrew Whitworth said he won 3 high school state championships in the Superdome, as well as a national championship at LSU.

Marcus Peters tried to accuse media of making too much out of his “gumbo” comments toward Saints coach Sean Payton.

Moments later, Sean McVay walked by the interview room and yelled, “Let me get some of that soup!”

Payton said he is “a big fan of Marcus Peters” and wanted to draft him.

Brandin Cooks walked to the podium immediately after 6-foot-7 Andrew Whitworth and grabbed the microphone. “Can we lower this a little?” he joked.

hawkschronicle@HawksChronicle
The Rams ability to stay healthy under McVay the last two seasons is some real outlier shit. This is their second year with strength & conditioning coach Ted Rath, who won Strength Coach of the Year (voted on by other S&C coaches) in his first season running a program.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
It’s basically Week 20. Rams injury report looks like July.

Jared Goff on Sean McVay’s best attribute as a playcaller: “Communication and sending the play in with confidence.”

Rams head coach Sean McVay scans the room ahead of his first press conference of NFC Championship week and comments, “Must be a big game”

Sarina@sarina
“I’ve talked about it, dreamed about it, but New Orleans is in our way so we need to win there first.” Ndamukong Suh

Around The NFL@AroundTheNFL
Sean Payton: Aaron Donald is NFL’s ‘best defensive player today’

Greg Beacham@gregbeacham
Andrew Whitworth thinks the Rams are peaking: “I feel like right now, we’re the best version of ourselves.”

Dante Fowler was blown away by how well Ndamukong Suh played vs Dallas: “He was a man amongst boys in that game.”

Let’s talk about FINISH in the NFL. Finishing your block doesn’t have to be a 🥞! It’s moving your man further than he wants to go. Watch the @Chiefs OL on their first rushing TD of the game. They score because they all worked to finish. 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/xPpjoHeKBF

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 15, 2019

==

.@chiefs @PatrickMahomes5 had these 2nd half numbers v @patriots 9-13-188-4 TD’s-0 int’s. #Chiefs are never out of a game with the MVP. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/sd51FIHa9h

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 16, 2019

Dick Vermeil, Eric Dickerson among ex-Rams calling Patriots cheaters https://t.co/ISkZgoB6bw

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 16, 2019

Jared Goff is 0-2 at the Superdome, but his numbers are good, all things considered: 67% comp., 6 TDs, 2 INTs, 109.1 rating https://t.co/p4fcLJDiLQ

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) January 16, 2019

.@RamsNFL @TG3II runs for 18/273 yards on this “windback play”. But it started with 2 perfectly executed “combo blocks” up front from a dominant OL performance. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/ytSIdcPHo9

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 16, 2019

Andrew Whitworth (@awhitworth77) is special in every way, man. This was the 63-yard FG attempt before half. He's 37-years old and he's the first and fastest one down field in case the kick is short and the offense needs to make a tackle…. Unreal. You can't replicate this. pic.twitter.com/JjqJDjDGHs

— Sosa K (@QBsMVP) January 14, 2019

Whitworth wins first-career playoff game, headed to home state for NFC title game

Clarence Dennis

https://www.therams.com/news/whitworth-wins-first-career-playoff-game-headed-to-home-state-for-nfc-title-game

Veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth is going home.
He’s headed to the NFC Championship game against the Saints in his home state of Louisiana by way of a win.
It sounds simple. No team has a bye to the conference title game. You must win — prove you deserve to play for a chance to move on to football’s greatest spectacle.
And for the first time in 13 professional seasons, Whitworth won.

The 6-foot-7, 335-pound, 37-year-old father of four didn’t earn his first-career playoff victory riding the bench or tagging in and out of the Rams’ 30-22 victory against the Cowboys on Saturday night in the Divisional round.
Whitworth played the same integral role leading the Rams’ No. 2-ranked scoring offense on Saturday as he has all season. ‘Big Whit’ protected his 24-year-old signal caller and swept some of the NFL’s best from the path of his newest running back duo. The father time of the offensive line didn’t ‘get’ his first playoff win, he earned it.
Outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. could tell from the sideline.
“The intensity that Whitworth brought — he set the tone — especially with that touchdown that Gurley had,” Fowler said. “That was really the tone-setter. I think that was the difference in the game.”
If anyone recognizes an effort by an offensive tackle, it’s an edge rusher like Fowler. But it wasn’t just Fowler shouting out the behemoth, left-most member of the Rams’ offensive line, which allowed just one quarterback hit and two tackles for loss against defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and the Cowboys.

“It’s incredible,” quarterback Jared Goff said after the game. “It makes it all worth it seeing his face after the game.”
“That’s what’s so special about football,” head coach Sean McVay. “Talking about a guy like Andrew Whitworth who’s been playing as long as he has, to see him play at the level that he played at tonight and then to be able to get his first playoff win with these guys — his teammates that I know he cares so much about and loves these guys.”
In the play Fowler described as the tone-setter for the Rams’ first playoff victory since what may have felt like the Dark Ages, Whitworth was on a mission, paving a path for Gurley with all 13 years of his NFL experience.
After making his initial block at the line of scrimmage, Whitworth shoved Cowboys safety Jeff Heath to the turf, prompting Fox’s play-by-play announcer Joe Buck to exclaim to America how much room Gurley had to work with in the 35-yard touchdown dash.
It was a lot of room.

“You see Whitworth taking over his blocks and you anticipate nice holes, but you don’t see them until after,” left guard Rodger Saffold told ESPN. “The hole Gurley ran through on the touchdown? I didn’t see that until the replay, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.'”
Whitworth was at it all night, playing 100 percent of the offensive snaps. A first-time fan looking on from the Coliseum’s stands, unknowing of the veteran’s NFL impressive tenure could have easily confused No. 77 for one of his youthful teammates, striving for the chance to play one more game.
After his own first playoff win, Gurley said watching Whitworth get over the hump couldn’t be described. The star running back seemed near guilty, reviewing his own experience — heading to the playoffs relatively early in his career.
“I’ve always appreciated him,” Gurley said. “Most guys in my position — I’ve been winning my whole life. So, when you’re in the NFL, you’re not going to win every game. The chances of that are slim to none, so you just got to be able learn how to take those wins and those losses and just be able to get better each week and just bounce back from that.”
Seven times, Whitworth finished the 16-game season, took the field as one of 12 left tackles with the chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, and played 60 minutes of playoff football only to go home. It happened six times in Cincinnati and once last season in Los Angeles.

But on his eighth chance, Goff was kept clean, the Rams set a season-high in rushing yards with two 100-yard rushers playoffs for the first time in franchise playoff history, and for the very first time, the captain is on to the next.
“It’s great, but you know what, I feel like this team has potential for more than that,” Whitworth said. “So it’s a great feeling and I’m happy to have it, but I didn’t try to get to the playoffs to just win a playoff game. I’m trying to win a Super Bowl. That’s the only focus and now we are one step closer.”

A Rams’ step-by-step guide for getting revenge vs. Saints in NFC championship game

link: https://www.dailynews.com/2019/01/14/a-rams-step-by-step-guide-for-getting-revenge-vs-saints-in-nfc-championship-game/

Rams vs. Saints: 6 key matchups to watch in NFC championship

Rams vs. Saints: 6 key matchups to watch in NFC championship
https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/15/nfl-rams-saints-nfc-championship-playoffs-matchups/

C.J. Anderson adds new element to Saints rematch – NFL.com

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001010843/article/cj-anderson-adds-new-element-to-saints-rematch

Saints have been super at their home in playoffs, and it started against the Rams

http://www.ocregister.com/saints-have-been-super-at-their-home-in-playoffs-and-it-started-against-the-rams

Coach Sean Payton stays aggressive as Saints seek Super Bowl bid: ‘Expect nothing less’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/01/15/coach-sean-payton-stays-aggressive-saints-seek-super-bowl-bid-expect-nothing-less/

Keys to Victory against the Rams

https://www.allsaintsconsidered.com/single-post/2019/01/15/Keys-to-Victory-against-the-Rams

J.B. Long@JB_Long
Per @NFLOfficiating, Bill Vinovich and crew — who also officiated the Week 9 game in New Orleans — have been assigned to the NFC Championship Game.

FWIW — very little, if anything — Rams are 0-8 since 9/10/06 with this crew.

Among the “greatest” hits: MNF at SF 2016, Week 9 at NO, Week 15 vs PHI.

Suffice it to say, they’re due. (And this is a very well-respected crew that will allow the players to decide the outcome.)

Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
Saints’ left guard Andrus Peat struggled Sunday, but there’s a reason for it. Peat broke his hand during the Saints’ final regular-season game, underwent surgery during the bye week, then played Sunday vs. Eagles through serious pain, per source.

Lindsay Jones@bylindsayhjones
We spent so much of the year thinking there were only four teams with a shot at the Super Bowl. By December, we believed the field had completely opened up. Yet here we are in January back with those four teams in the championship games.

Alden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
The Cowboys gained 50 yards on the ground. Ndamukong Suh: “Fifty yards is too much, in my opinion.” If that’s the case, can’t imagine what he thinks of 273.

Evan Silva@evansilva
Especially with Sheldon Rankins out, this big fella set to play a huge role as #Saints face #Rams offense that’s piled up 40+ rushing attempts in 3 straight games.

==

The @RamsNFL have rushed for nearly 700 yards the past three weeks and Jared Goff has been sacked just twice. In other words, the O-line is handling thangs. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/0d6jr9k0JS

— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) January 15, 2019

Saints receiver Michael Thomas is primed for another big performance against Rams https://t.co/pQ1KZRDh1E

— Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) January 16, 2019

Rams Q&A: Vinny Bonsignore

Do you believe being down to Philly 14-0 ‘exposed’ the Saints and gives the Rams more confidence or was the 1st quarter just a fluke that the Saints easily recovered from?

I’m sure the Rams noticed. But trust me when I say: They are confident, regardless, they can go to New Orleans and win if they play their game

I got Rams winning

I think this Rams team is as complete a team right now in the NFL. I think they’ve been tested all year in various situations and, for the most part, passed. I like where they are right now health wise and mindset wise. And I think the way they play travels well and can go to New Orleans and win a big game

Having Talib back for this game is really big, specifically for this. Wade has plenty of options on the back end. But anytime you’re dealing with a great player it takes a collective effort. And it starts up from getting pressure on Drew. Anytime you have No. 99 on your side, you are confident you can make life miserable for a QB. And I think they have confidence in some other guys being a factor as well. I think you’ll see some blitzing too. Key is to force Drew into throwing even just a little bit out of rhythm. Pushing him off his spot. Getting bigger bodies in his face

I really liked how the Rams LB’s played on Saturday. They looked active, fresh and prepared. And yes they will play a huge role in dealing with the Saints RB both in run support and in pass coverage.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they took some big-time shots downfield, especially early, playing off the heavy run look they showed last week. But I don’t think they’ll stray too far from what they did last week and really what they’ve been doing the last three games. But with Sean, you never know

rest assured, establishing a run game is huge for this offense. I expect more of the same from Cowboys games with some new wrinkles to it. Talib back is huge. And Fowler is much more in tune now with Rams after being here for eight games or so

C.J. told me some of what happened Saturday was he and Todd communicating with each other. Like” “I’m in a rhythm, let me stay on the field for right now.” or “I need a breather” But other times it was mandated by Sean because he wanted a specific guy to run a specific play

I expect the Saints to try to create heat on Jared in all sorts of ways. They have to. [He will have to] take care of the ball. Be accurate and decisive. Operate the Rams offense efficiently, especially at the line of scrimmage given the noise in that stadium. And I think there will be a handful of times where he’s gonna have to make big-time throws.

he’s one of the best in clean pockets. That’s why getting the run game going is so important, because it sets up play action which helps get Jared a little more time to see the field and throw accurately

PFF: Refocused, NFL Divisional Round: Los Angeles Rams 30, Dallas Cowboys 22

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-refocused-nfl-divisional-round-los-angeles-rams-30-dallas-cowboys-22

FINAL SCORE
Los Angeles Rams 30, Dallas Cowboys 22

RAMS

The men up front absolutely dominated this game. The Rams’ offensive line kept Jared Goff clean all night, as the QB was rarely pressured throughout. In the run game, they parted lanes wider than Moses parting the Red Sea, as Todd Gurley and generational talent CJ Anderson ran up and down the field.

It wasn’t a perfect game by Goff, as he missed on a number of open throws downfield and was fortunate not to be intercepted at the end of the first half, but he made enough throws to keep the game out of reach. Goff will need to be much better next week in order to advance to the Super Bowl, as the Eagles and Saints both will apply pressure at much higher rates than Dallas.

The Rams struggled to rush the quarterback, getting just one hit and one sack in the game, with the sack being a poor call on whether the QB was wrapped up or not. Ndamukong Suh had the most impact, with the one hit and a few other hurries.

Los Angeles bottled up the run very well, holding Zeke Elliott to just 47 yards and 2.3 yards per carry. They allowed just one run longer than six yards all game, and were sure tacklers pretty well throughout.

DALLAS

The linebacker duo of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch were going to be vital in order to stop the rushing attack, and they struggled all night long. Smith and Vander Esch were often blocked at the second level and couldn’t make up for their struggles in the run game by covering well, as neither made an impact in the passing game.

There weren’t any positives to takeaway from the Cowboys’ defense, as they were thoroughly outplayed in all facets of the game. The unit had been a strength all season for Dallas but failed to make key stops to get off the field.

The Dallas offensive line did an excellent job in pass protection to keep Dak Prescott clean and rarely pressured. It’s even more of a feat with Aaron Donald on the other side of the ball. While he did make a couple splash plays, they kept him from being anywhere near as dominant has he has been most of the season.

Overall, Prescott just didn’t play well enough for the Cowboys to win. His misread on a short hitch in the left flat was one of the worst throws in the league this season. However, instead of the possibility of a pick-six to extend a Rams’ lead, Prescott lucked out that Samson Ebukam dropped the easy interception. He played better late in the game, particularly when he was given a chance to use his legs more, but still had some inaccurate passes that were impactful.

Keys to the Game

Los Angeles

Andrew Whitworth and company controlled this game from beginning to end, and Dallas had no answer for their dominance.

Dallas

Dallas’ defense couldn’t keep the Rams off the scoreboard enough to allow their lackluster offense to get ahead and win the game.