By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — In a game that flipped from a defensive struggle to a bit of an offensive outpouring, the New Orleans Saints just couldn’t hang with the Los Angeles Rams.
After a pair of resilient wins under interim head coach Darren Rizzi before the bye week, resilience was not the story of this one for the Saints. The Rams got out of New Orleans with a 21-14 victory.
After being shut out before halftime in a regular season game for the first time under head coach Sean McVay, the Los Angeles offense came to life scoring three red zone touchdowns in the second half.
The Saints defense again struggled to stop the run, surrendering 156 ground yards. They surrendered 6.9 yards per carry to back Kyren Williams who didn’t really start to get going until the second quarter. Rookie Blake Corum handled the heavier workload early in the game.
A loss by the Atlanta Falcons in the early slate of games created some postseason hope for New Orleans, but Rizzi and his crew were not able to seize that opportunity.
Quarterback Derek Carr, running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling did enough to keep things interesting, but it wasn’t enough. Another high-profile injury marred the loss further. Taysom Hills’ fourth quarter exit on a cart severely hampered the Saints’ short yardage rushing.
New Orleans could not convert a third-and-four nor fourth-and-three in the red zone late as the team tried to get the game tied up at 21 after the 2-minute warning.
From run defense to questionable play calling to some clock management curiosities, the Saints’ limitations continue to be a moving target of concerns. And now their playoff chances are sure to no longer be the major part of the conversation circulating the team. With a head coach search on the way, much focus around the team will now quickly return to their upcoming offseason and the major changes that await.
The Plays:
- Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee came up with a big sack on third and four in the third quarter. The play was originally called an incomplete pass, but replay assist showed that Stafford’s knee was down before he got the ball out.
- Valdes-Scantling caught his fourth touchdown in as many games with the Saints. It was a 28-yard strike from Carr.
- After the touchdown from Carr to Valdes-Scantling, wideout Dante Pettis reeled in an impressive 2-point conversion catch to tie the game at 14 in the fourth quarter.
- The game-sealing play was a sack on Carr by Rams rookie defensive end Jared Verse.
The Stats:
- Bresee is now up to 6.5 sacks on the season, tying him for No. 6 in Saints history for sacks by a defensive tackle in a season.
- Valdes-Scantling’s touchdown catch made him only the second wide receiver in Saints history to notch four touchdown catches in his first four games with the team.
- Kamara topped 100 rushing yards for the third time this season.
The Injuries:
- Safety Tyrann Mathieu went into the injury tent after a tackle on Rams running back Kyren Williams.
- Left guard Nick Saldiveri was carted off the field after the Valdes-Scantling touchdown catch. He was eventually ruled out with a knee injury.
- Hill was carted off the field after a big collision. Before the cart left, a trainer looked to have taken Hill’s left shoe off. He was eventually ruled out with a knee injury.
Lagniappe:
- Kamara is now only 106 rushing yards from his first 1,000 yard rushing season.
- Rizzi was unfortunately not able to extend his win streak to 3-0. He would have become the first Saints coach since Sean Payton and second in the team’s history to have such a start.
