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The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints 26-23 to win the NFC Championship on Sunday, January 20. Los Angeles will represent the NFC against the AFC Champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
Here are five thoughts on the Rams’ victory over the Saints:
The Saints blew their opportunities
New Orleans fans have plenty of reason to be upset at the missed pass interference call late in the fourth quarter. The penalty likely would have sealed the game for the Saints, who led almost the entire way. Having a penalty take away almost certain victory would upset anyone.
However, the Saints had their opportunities to put this game away. They dominated the Rams throughout the first quarter with three trips to the red zone.
Los Angeles held them to a field goal on the first possession, but a Todd Gurley dropped landed in Saints linebacker Demario Davis’s hands moments later. The Saints were gifted the ball again deep inside Rams’ territory, but the Rams defense held once more. What could have been a 14-point lead was only six points.
New Orleans finally broke through for a touchdown late in the first quarter, but there is a huge difference between a 13-point margin and a three-touchdown deficit. The Rams eventually figured it out and dominated much of the last three quarters.
Amidst all of the complaints about the missed penalty, no one is talking about Los Angeles holding the Saints to 290 total yards. Few experts are praising the Rams efforts to hold Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas to four receptions for 36 yards. The reality is this: the Rams won this game. New Orleans failed to capitalize on their opportunities, and the rest is history.
About the officiating
I’ve been all over the officiating all season. Nary a postgame podcast goes by without me noting how poor it’s been. I haven’t seen officiating this horrible since the 2001 season, and that’s saying something. Several experts poked at Rams fans for spreading a petition last week requesting the NFL remove Bill Vinovich’s crew from the Rams – Saints game. Now we know why.
It’s not that Vinovich is biased against the Rams or the Saints. The truth is his crew is simply bad at its job. That’s what we saw back in Week 9, and that’s how it went down yesterday in New Orleans.
Vinovich’s crew missed at least two facemask calls, a delay of game, and a Saints player actually doing the Earthquake Splash on a downed Ram. The crew also failed to call two pass interference penalties on Rams CB Nickell Robey-Coleman and roughing the passer on a push by DL Aaron Donald.
All of these missed calls changed the outcome of the game. To focus solely on the last Robey-Coleman penalty ignores how the game would have changed if the officials threw a flag on the Saints for grabbing Goff’s facemask inside their five-yard line. That call would have given the Rams a first down on close to the one-yard line. We could have been looking at a 24-20 game on the Saints’ fateful drive instead 20-20.
Hold these officials and the NFL accountable for their failure to maintain the integrity of one of the most critical games of the year. Don’t blame the Saints or the Rams for it.
Homefield advantage was real
Give the Saints fans credit. They took crowd noise to a whole new level on Sunday – a level that I’ve never heard before. The Superdome crowd made so much noise that the Rams offense could barely communicate in the huddle. Rams LT Andrew Whitworth had to get calls on the line from C John Sullivan as they were getting ready to snap the ball.
Saints fans deserve all the credit in the world for providing a real homefield advantage. It took the Rams an hour to adjust to the crowd noise, and by then, it was almost too late.
Adjustments
The Rams made several adjustments to what the Saints were doing in the game. However, I only want to focus in on two of them. First, I don’t know what the real story is with RB Todd Gurley. Is he hurting or did McVay stick with the more effective player in a single situation? We don’t know, but the decision insert C.J. Anderson as the feature back worked.
Yes, he rushed for only 44 yards on 16 carries. Those numbers are rarely acceptable. Still, it was just enough to keep the Saints defense honest. They had to respect what Anderson could do after watching his last three games. Thanks to the threat of a running game, the Saints chose to force Goff to beat them. And he did.
The second adjustment adjustment is what the Rams did with Alvin Kamara. He torched them on the Saints’ touchdown drive in the third quarter. Los Angeles answered by jamming Kamara at the line, which forced Brees to look elsewhere. New Orleans struggled to get Kamara back in the game from that point forward. It was a simple adjustment that may have saved the game for the Rams.
Jared Goff is clutch
Goff faced plenty of questions following the Rams’ horrid 15-6 loss at the Chicago Bears in December. The questions got even worse a week later when the Eagles shut down the Rams 30-23. Both games took place in front of a national television audience. The entire country saw Goff running for his life and struggling to find his way.
A month later, Goff outdueled one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time on his home field. Goff completed 25 of 40 passes for 297 yards with a touchdown and an interception. However, it was his leadership in a game where his helmet malfunctioned and the opposing crowd was so loud that he could barely call plays. Goff took this team on his shoulders when it needed him, and now he and the Rams on their way to the Super Bowl.
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The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints 26-23 to win the NFC Championship on Sunday, January 20. Los Angeles will represent the NFC against the AFC Champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
Here are five thoughts on the Rams’ victory over the Saints:
The Saints blew their opportunities
New Orleans fans have plenty of reason to be upset at the missed pass interference call late in the fourth quarter. The penalty likely would have sealed the game for the Saints, who led almost the entire way. Having a penalty take away almost certain victory would upset anyone.
However, the Saints had their opportunities to put this game away. They dominated the Rams throughout the first quarter with three trips to the red zone.
Los Angeles held them to a field goal on the first possession, but a Todd Gurley dropped landed in Saints linebacker Demario Davis’s hands moments later. The Saints were gifted the ball again deep inside Rams’ territory, but the Rams defense held once more. What could have been a 14-point lead was only six points.
New Orleans finally broke through for a touchdown late in the first quarter, but there is a huge difference between a 13-point margin and a three-touchdown deficit. The Rams eventually figured it out and dominated much of the last three quarters.
Amidst all of the complaints about the missed penalty, no one is talking about Los Angeles holding the Saints to 290 total yards. Few experts are praising the Rams efforts to hold Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas to four receptions for 36 yards. The reality is this: the Rams won this game. New Orleans failed to capitalize on their opportunities, and the rest is history.
About the officiating
I’ve been all over the officiating all season. Nary a postgame podcast goes by without me noting how poor it’s been. I haven’t seen officiating this horrible since the 2001 season, and that’s saying something. Several experts poked at Rams fans for spreading a petition last week requesting the NFL remove Bill Vinovich’s crew from the Rams – Saints game. Now we know why.
It’s not that Vinovich is biased against the Rams or the Saints. The truth is his crew is simply bad at its job. That’s what we saw back in Week 9, and that’s how it went down yesterday in New Orleans.
Vinovich’s crew missed at least two facemask calls, a delay of game, and a Saints player actually doing the Earthquake Splash on a downed Ram. The crew also failed to call two pass interference penalties on Rams CB Nickell Robey-Coleman and roughing the passer on a push by DL Aaron Donald.
All of these missed calls changed the outcome of the game. To focus solely on the last Robey-Coleman penalty ignores how the game would have changed if the officials threw a flag on the Saints for grabbing Goff’s facemask inside their five-yard line. That call would have given the Rams a first down on close to the one-yard line. We could have been looking at a 24-20 game on the Saints’ fateful drive instead 20-20.
Hold these officials and the NFL accountable for their failure to maintain the integrity of one of the most critical games of the year. Don’t blame the Saints or the Rams for it.
Homefield advantage was real
Give the Saints fans credit. They took crowd noise to a whole new level on Sunday – a level that I’ve never heard before. The Superdome crowd made so much noise that the Rams offense could barely communicate in the huddle. Rams LT Andrew Whitworth had to get calls on the line from C John Sullivan as they were getting ready to snap the ball.
Saints fans deserve all the credit in the world for providing a real homefield advantage. It took the Rams an hour to adjust to the crowd noise, and by then, it was almost too late.
Adjustments
The Rams made several adjustments to what the Saints were doing in the game. However, I only want to focus in on two of them. First, I don’t know what the real story is with RB Todd Gurley. Is he hurting or did McVay stick with the more effective player in a single situation? We don’t know, but the decision insert C.J. Anderson as the feature back worked.
Yes, he rushed for only 44 yards on 16 carries. Those numbers are rarely acceptable. Still, it was just enough to keep the Saints defense honest. They had to respect what Anderson could do after watching his last three games. Thanks to the threat of a running game, the Saints chose to force Goff to beat them. And he did.
The second adjustment adjustment is what the Rams did with Alvin Kamara. He torched them on the Saints’ touchdown drive in the third quarter. Los Angeles answered by jamming Kamara at the line, which forced Brees to look elsewhere. New Orleans struggled to get Kamara back in the game from that point forward. It was a simple adjustment that may have saved the game for the Rams.
Jared Goff is clutch
Goff faced plenty of questions following the Rams’ horrid 15-6 loss at the Chicago Bears in December. The questions got even worse a week later when the Eagles shut down the Rams 30-23. Both games took place in front of a national television audience. The entire country saw Goff running for his life and struggling to find his way.
A month later, Goff outdueled one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time on his home field. Goff completed 25 of 40 passes for 297 yards with a touchdown and an interception. However, it was his leadership in a game where his helmet malfunctioned and the opposing crowd was so loud that he could barely call plays. Goff took this team on his shoulders when it needed him, and now he and the Rams on their way to the Super Bowl.
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