THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL WEEK 16: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT LOS ANGELES RAMS

BY ADAM GREENE

Playoffs? We’re talking playoffs? Oh yeah, we are as what might be the most important game of the week shows up on the schedule on Thursday Night Football as the New Orleans Saints travel to SoCal to take on the Los Angeles Rams.

After two weeks of garbage matchups, Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels are probably weeping over the pre-game steaks. Though, to be fair, those past two contests (New England Patriots 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 18 and Las Vegas Raiders 63, Los Angles Chargers 21) were very entertaining, if for no other reason than the great comedy they provided.

This is actually a solid rivalry as the Saints were inexplicably in the NFC West from 1970 to 2001. Yeah, that’s right. It was, I kid you not, the Rams, Saints, San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons. And you might say, if you’re in Gen Z or a Millennial that just got into the sport because Taylor Swift is dating “That guy on the Chiefs,” how were the Falcons and Saints in the NFC West? Because someone made the call that the Dallas Cowboys and then St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t mess up their rivalries with the New York Giants and Washington Commanders/You Know What They Were. So, the Falcons and the Saints went West when the conferences split into three divisions. Eventually, the expansion to 32 franchises and four divisions fixed all these problems and while the Cowboys, who geographically should be the NFC South are still in the NFC East, everything else has worked out OK.

This will be the 79^th meeting between the two franchises with the Rams holding a 43-35 lead. And considering the playoff implications in this one, it might be worth pointing out that they’ve met twice in the postseason, with each team taking a victory. New Orleans outlasted the then St. Louis Rams in the 2000 NFC Wild Card Round, 31-28, thanks to an Az-Zahir muffed punt in the final minutes. The Los Angles Rams made up for it in the 2018-19 playoffs, capitalizing on a missed pass interference call and some incredibly dumb play calling from Sean Payton to win the NFC Championship, 26-23, in overtime.

They last squared up last season on Nov. 20, 2022, with the Saints knocking off a depleted Rams team, 27-20, in New Orleans. Andy Dalton (now with the Carolina Panthers) was 21 of 25 passing for 260 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win. Taysom Hill rushed nine times for 52 yards. Chris Olave caught five passes for 102 yards and a score.

In the loss, Matthew Stafford was injured again and for the final time of the 2022 dumpster fire, going 11 of 18 passing for 159 yards, two touchdowns and no picks before hitting the IR. Bryce Perkins (currently out of the league) finished the game 5 of 10 passing for 64 yards. Cam Akers (now with the Minnesota Vikings) rushed 14 times for 61 yards. Allen Robinson (now with the Pittsburgh Steelers) caught four passes for 47 yards and a TD.

A little extra tidbit to this game. The last time the Rams played Derek Carr, New Orleans’ current QB, was also last season, in the game that should have gotten Josh McDaniels fired as head coach a year earlier than it actually happened. Nearly a year ago exactly, Baker Mayfield (now with the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers), after spending all of three days with the team and practicing once, led Los Angeles to a 17-16 last-second victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

In that one, Mayfield was 22 of 35 passing for 239 yards, a TD and no picks. Derek Carr, facing a Rams defense without Aaron Donald, but still fielding Jalen Ramsey (now with the Miami Dolphins) and Bobby Wagner (now back with the Seattle Seahawks) was 11 of 20 passing for 137 yards, no TDs and two interceptions.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT LOS ANGELES RAMS (-4, O/U: 46)

Location: SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif.

Broadcast: Amazon Prime

Kickoff: Dec. 21, 8:15 p.m.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (7-7)

New Orleans got back into the NFC South race and, thanks to some bad losses from the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, find themselves realistically in the NFC Wild Card race after knocking off the New York Giants, 24-6, last Sunday. Derek Carr was 23 of 28 passing for 218 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win. He was sacked once. Alvin Kamara rushed 16 times for 66 yards and caught five passes for 44 yards. Juwan Johnson had two receptions for 38 yards and a TD.

LOS ANGELES RAMS (7-7)

The Rams took over the seventh seed in the NFC thanks to a 28-20 win over the Washington Commanders Sunday and the aforementioned Packers’ loss. Matthew Stafford was 25 of 33 passing for 258 yards, two touchdowns and no picks in the victory. He was sacked three times. Kyren Williams rushed 27 times for 152 yards and a TD. Cooper Kupp caught eight passes for 111 yards and a score. Demarcus Robinson had two grabs for 44 yards and a touchdown. The defense held Washington to just 79 yards on the ground, sacked Sam Howell once, picked him off once and then sent him to the Commanders’ bench, maybe for good.

THE PICK

Los Angeles is getting healthy at the right time, with Stafford and Kupp obviously very mended from midseason injuries to their thumb and ankle respectively. New Orleans finally looked like the team they appeared to be on paper in the preseason and that might still land them an NFC South title or even a Wild Card spot if the Pack and Vikes continue to faceplant, but it likely won’t result in a win Thursday. Rams 31, Saints 19

Last week

Straight up: 10-6

Against the spread: 8-8

Season

Straight up: 112-70

Against the spread: 100-82

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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