The St. Louis Rams were trying to do the improbable and win a third consecutive game on the road.
The world champion New Orleans Saints were not about to let that happen as they scored a convincing 31-13 win against the Rams at the Superdome.
The Saints dominated the game from the kickoff and never looked back. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was lights-out as he picked apart the Rams’ short-handed defense. The Saints had no problem running the ball or throwing the ball against the Rams.
The Rams did try to stick with the run game on offense, and for the most part they were effective. With that being said, the Rams defense couldn’t get off the field. It appeared that the Rams defense was content in keeping everything in front of them. But, that doesn’t work when you have no pass rush.
Last week, the Rams sacked all three quarterbacks for the Arizona Cardinals. This week, the Rams didn’t get their first sack or real quarterback pressure until there were almost 40 seconds of play before the two minute warning in the fourth quarter.
Now, the defense did make a couple of big plays. Cornerback Bradley Fletcher and safety Chris Dahl each had one interception for the second week in a row. But, after the Dahl interception Rams quarterback Sam Bradford threw a costly red zone interception that was returned 96 yards for a touchdown.
The Rams shortcoming at wideout really reared its ugly head in the game. In the first half, when wideout Brandon Gibson had his man beat by at least seven yards, he couldn’t maintain his speed and it appeared that he was overthrown by Sam Bradford. If you watch the play in slow motion, you see that Gibson got a free release from the line of scrimmage and he was tracked down by the Saints defense. Gibson always gets off the line of scrimmage well, but after that he doesn’t maintain any top speed.
What about Laurent Robinson? I’m trying to understand why he’s looking over his inside shoulder if he’s running an out route. Why were the Rams targeting Robinson so much?
Where was Danario Alexander? If you’ve noticed in the games that he has played in and they actually got him the ball, this team looks a little different. Maybe not like the upper echelon of the NFL, but like a team that should be taken seriously and not as an afterthought because of the division they play in.
But, the good news is that the Seattle Seahawks also lost. And the Rams won two out of three on this difficult road trip. I will gladly take that – with two of the next three at home.
