Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints To Rematch In NFC Championship Game

The NFL’s Super Bowl aspirants are now down to four and the matchup for the ‘big game’ will be decided on Sunday, January 20th. In the NFC, the Los Angeles Rams will play on the road against the New Orleans Saints for the right to face the winner of the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. The Rams and Saints played previously in New Orleans on November 4, 2018 with the home team taking a 45-35 win as +2.5 underdogs.

Los Angeles used their punishing ground attack to take out the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round by a 30-22 score. C.J. Anderson rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns while Todd Gurley ran for 115 yards and another touchdown as the Rams advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the first time in nearly two decades. All told, Los Angeles compiled a franchise record 273 yards rushing which also happened to be the most ever allowed by a Dallas Cowboys team in the postseason. With the Cowboys’ postseason resume comprised of 63 games (a NFL record) and five Super Bowl victories this mark covers a lot of ground.

The Rams had last reached the NFC Championship Game in 2002, when the team advanced to the Super Bowl. The Los Angeles rushing attack established another superlative during the game as Anderson and Gurley became the fourth set of teammates to put up 100+ yards in a NFL playoff game. The rushing tandem came about somewhat by surprise. With Gurley dealing with a knee injury last month Anderson was signed as a capable backup. This was only his third game with the Rams but his presence has made one of the league’s best offenses that much more dangerous.

New Orleans was expected to make short work of the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles but instead were forced to survive a much tougher test than anticipated. The Eagles got out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and managed to keep the vaunted Saints’ attack off the scoreboard until midway through the second quarter. By halftime, New Orleans had cut the deficit to 14-10 and went on to outscore Philadelphia 10-0 in the second half to secure the victory.

The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated but the plucky Eagles managed to stay in the game throughout. For the game, the Saints’ statistical edge is obvious gaining 420 yards to 250 for the Eagles. New Orleans led in first downs (25-15), passing yards (283-201) and rushing yardage (137-49). They had a huge edge in total plays run, getting off 71 snaps to just 457 for the Eagles. Afterwards, quarterback Drew Brees said that his team maintained their confidence throughout despite the rocky start:

“We were real calm and poised and we knew we were going to get things done.”

The Saints’ last trip to the NFC Championship game came in 2009 when they would ultimately win the first Super Bowl in franchise history. With Philadelphia’s loss, the NFL has not had back to back Super Bowl champions since the New England Patriots did it in 2003 and 2004. The NFL playoffs betting line for the Saints-Rams game has New Orleans installed as a -3.5 point home favorite with the total set at 57.