A division lead and a wild card playoff spot on the line this Thursday night!
Saints-
The saints are coming of a win and cover against in their last 2 games against a division game with the Carolina panthers and a Tommy Dévito over hyped giants team. The Saints have had an easier schedule according to DVOA.
The saints strength is on the defensive end where they rank 12th per DVOA. Their offense is inconsistent at times that dips to 20th per DVOA metrics. I do think the saints can generate pressure against a the passing game. However the Rams like to work off play action so because when the Rams run game is working Sean Mcvays offense looks brilliant. My thing is Derek Carr in the red zone he can move the ball all over the field but for some reason he just doesn’t have that “It” factor to me. He doesn’t get points when the saints really need a touchdown.
Rams:
The Rams have come off a loss in overtime to the Ravens on the road and a win against the commanders 4 days ago. The emergence of Kyren Williams in the backfield has really helped the rams offense. Sean Mcvays offense has really opened up with the run game leaving opportunities for Cooper Kupp and newcomer Puka Nacua. Mathew Stafford does struggle with pressure and that’s something the saints can do.
Defensively the Rams aren’t as good as the saints. They rank 21st overall in defensive DVOA. Offensively though the Rams rank 7th and they keep climbing week by week as it seems the offense just keeps gelling. My question here is will the Rams be able to stop the saints on defense?
We’ll have to find out as the Saints are fighting to win the NFC south and the Rams are fighting for a wild card spot because there’s no way they will catch the Niners in their division. We should get max effort by both teams in this game I’m expecting it to be a good matchup tonight!