Rams offensive firepower too much for the Saints, whose playoff hopes are fading

INGLEWOOD, California:In a sense, the New Orleans Saints succeeded in their mission to make a statement in front of a nationwide television audience on Thursday night when they flew to the West Coast: they are not on par with the other NFC’s best teams.

In a game that was not as close as the score indicated, the Los Angeles Rams crushed the Saints 30-22 in prime time, severely hurting New Orleans’ waning postseason aspirations in the process. With back-to-back victories, the Saints’ positive momentum swiftly disintegrated, and with two games left in the regular season, New Orleans now faces the prospect of missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Against a Saints defense that hadn’t given up a score since a Dec. 3 loss to the Lions, the Rams moved the ball freely. The Saints attempted a fourth down three different times, failing each time and failing to stay up with what appeared to be a sense that this kind of game was coming.

As lopsided as things felt in the opening minutes at SoFi Stadium, the Saints had an opportunity to turn the tide and lead at the half. Instead, they appeared outmatched and outclassed.

The Saints capitalized on a missed Los Angeles field goal when Derek Carr found a streaking Rashid Shaheed for a 45-yard touchdown, cutting the Rams’ lead to three. The defense followed suit when Carl Granderson sacked Matthew Stafford on third down to end the ensuing possession.

With less than two minutes to go in the half, New Orleans had its opportunity. And then it lost its grip.

Chris Olave was wide open for a third-down ball, but it ricocheted off the receiver’s hands and was incomplete. A bold fourth-down ball was intercepted and dropped to the ground far from the intended receiver. On downs, the Rams took control of the game and went on to win it.

With 25 seconds remaining in the half, Stafford threaded a gorgeous throw to Demarcus Robinson for a 4-yard touchdown, bringing the lead back to 10 points (17–7). The Rams then received the first kickoff of the second half and went on another scoring drive to take a 20-7 lead.

The Saints never sniffed the lead again.

They had no answer for the Rams array of offensive weapons, particularly in the passing game. With the New Orleans pass rush a non-factor, Stafford operated in clean pockets and picked the Saints’ secondary apart.

Excellent youngster Puka Nacua reached over 100 yards of receptions halfway through the third quarter and concluded with 180 yards overall at the line of scrimmage. In the first half, Robinson, who had not yet amassed more than 55 receiving yards for the season, caught all six of his targets for 82 yards. Kyren Williams, a second-year running back, reached 100 yards for the sixth time this season and scored a touchdown.

After more than three years, the Saints had not allowed more than 300 net yards passing in a single game. Stafford ended the game with 328 yards passing.

Los Angeles marched 95 yards on its opening drive, a 14-play romp through the Saints defense that ended with a Stafford touchdown to Nacua. It was a sign of things to come: Seven of the Rams’ first eight drives made it at least inside the Saints’ 30-yard line, and six of those drives ended in points.

On the flip side, New Orleans had moments in which it appeared to find some rhythm against the Rams defense. The Saints never went three-and-out, but they also could not extend drives once they got into Los Angeles territory.

Three times on downs, New Orleans turned the ball over, and only two of its first eight third down attempts were converted. All seven aborted fourth down attempts took place in the vicinity of the Rams’ 34 and 42-yard lines.

New Orleans added some intrigue with a late surge, as it has done often times this season.

At one point in the fourth quarter, trailing 30-7, Carr found receivers Juwan Johnson for five yards and A.T. Perry for thirty yards for touchdown throws. With 3:59 left, Olave’s 2-point convert trimmed the lead to eight points.

Los Angeles, though, reclaimed control immediately. The Rams used a five-play drive to run out the remaining time after Nacua recovered an attempt at an onside kick.

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk