New Orleans Saints: Defeating Rams could be the ticket to Super Bowl

Who can bring down the New Orleans Saints after they conquer the undefeated Los Angeles Rams? It might be their security blanket for the playoffs.

America’s Game of the Week between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams was promoted to be an outstanding game, and it did not disappoint. The game ended up living up to the hype as the performances on both sides found the end zone continuously.

The offense was flaring between Sean McVay’s then-perfect Rams and Sean Payton’s incredible Saints. Having the luxury to watch the two best Seans in professional football direct four quarters against each other was exactly the type of game to enjoy on national television.

McVay and Payton have become meticulous with their bold play calling. Going for it on fourth down, faking field goals and trick plays at every turn are just a few examples of their bravery —  and this game had all of it.

The Saints drew first blood with a drive that utilized Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and a trick play from Taysom Hill on a fourth-down conversion. Kamara reached the end zone with his first touchdown, and the Rams answered back quickly.

Todd Gurley had his most explosive runs in the first quarter, including a 13-yard run for a touchdown. That, however, was the only time that the prolific Gurley reached the end zone for the remainder of the game. New Orleans’ rush defense passed the test for being the best in the league as they only allowed Gurley to amass 68 yards rushing.

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Both teams continued to reciprocate each other’s offensive drives for the entire first quarter. The Saints drove downfield once again for Brees to find Kamara in the end zone for his second touchdown of the day. Goff answered by launching a deep ball to former Saint Brandin Cooks to get into the red zone.

Cooks also scored the tying touchdown to end the first quarter at 14-14.

Despite starting the second quarter off with a fumble from Mark Ingram, the Saints still managed to run away and build a massive lead. Los Angeles answered the turnover with an aggressive fake field goal attempt, but could not secure the first down on a controversial spot call.

New Orleans will punish any costly mistakes, as Brees did in firing touchdown passes to rookie receiver Tre’Quan Smith and tight end Ben Watson on back-to-back drives. With less than two minutes before halftime, Goff threw his only interception of the game to give the Saints great field position.

Momentum stayed in New Orleans’ favor as Brees drove down once more and set up Kamara’s rushing touchdown — his third touchdown in just the first half. The Saints were up, 35-17.

McVay’s brilliance at making adjustments is what makes the Rams so fierce this season. Goff, Gurley and company have the talent to execute exactly what McVay asks of them. The third quarter was evidence of that and was all Los Angeles as they continuously drove down the field to score, tying up the game 35-35.

Wade Phillips’ defense could not find a solution for Kamara or Thomas, however. They have been a problem for every defense over the last seven weeks. Kamara ended the day with 19 carries for 82 yards, and four receptions for 34 yards. A total of 116 yards and three touchdowns gave Kamara a huge game and was a vital threat to the Rams defense. A good argument could be made, though, that Thomas’ career-high 211 receiving yards had a much bigger impact.

With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Saints were ahead, 38-35. The defense forced a three-and-out from Los Angeles, and the ball was back in Brees’ hands to work his magic once again.

Brees saw Thomas was covered solely by Marcus Peters without safety help. Shortly after the snap, Brees launched a deep ball down the sideline for Thomas to run in a 72-yard touchdown reception. Thomas decided to pay homage to Joe Horn’s infamous cell phone touchdown celebration by pulling a flip phone out from under the goal post padding. An imaginary phone call was made to the presses to make a statement: The New Orleans Saints are here to win.

Now that they’ve taken down the undefeated Rams, New Orleans has even more confidence to carry them to the end of the season. After their loss in Week 1, they haven’t tasted defeat nad the Saints currently have the longest active win streak in the NFL. It begs the question: What team can actually take down the dominant New Orleans Saints?

Looking at their schedule ahead, the Saints still have to play the Carolina Panthers twice, the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at home, and the Pittsburgh Steelers away. Those are all very tough games to bring home the end of the season. The only team that can realistically catch New Orleans off guard would be Carolina. They’re a divisional opponent, and they’re a great team whose record has been immensely overshadowed by the Saints.

Having New Orleans end the season with a 14-2 or 13-3 record does not look unreasonable. Shooting for obtaining the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs is ideal. Imagine if every team had to come through the Mercedez-Benz Superdome in order to reach the Super Bowl. The Saints would finally be able to get their chance at getting Brees his second ring.

For now, it’s best to take everything one game at a time. In the meantime, the fanbase will continue chanting “Who Dat” to promptly remind everyone that as of right now no one can defeat the New Orleans Saints.