Armchair Quarterback: Saints vs Rams
The New Orleans Saints had a primetime chance to go and win before Christmas against a resurgent Los Angeles Rams squad after winning two straight games and pulling even with the season. That wasn’t the case, though, as the Saints lost 30-22 despite needing to score 15 points in a row to come within that close.
Let’s talk about where the game went wrong:
In the second quarter, the Saints had a three-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a beautiful ball from Derek Carr to Rashid Shaheed to put the Saints on the scoreboard at 10-7. On the ensuing Rams possession, the Black and Gold defense forced a quick three and out in just 50 seconds to get the ball right back to Carr and the offense. New Orleans then picked up 23 yards in two plays to get into Rams territory. However, the drive stalled, and the Saints turned it over on downs rather than pinning LA deep. Matthew Stafford then orchestrated the two-minute offense and took a 10-point advantage into the locker room.
If the Saints score on that possession or even punt on fourth down and keep the Rams from scoring, I think the second half goes much differently. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but any thought of momentum that New Orleans had from that quick stop went out the window.
Chris Olave’s performance in this defeat was a major plus, considering that he missed the Giants game due to an ankle injury. The Ohio State wide receiver in his second year had an impressive stat line, hauling in nine passes on 13 targets for 123 yards. Even though Olave’s performance was crucial to the Saints’ survival, particularly in the latter stages of the game, trailing 30–7 is never a good recipe for victory.
In order to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs, the Black and Gold now need to win out. Before facing the Atlanta Falcons in the season finale, they will travel to Tampa this Sunday to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their last two games.
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