Week 2 GDT: Saints (1-0) @ Rams (1-0)

[Canadian Saint]

Take the win. Last week the Saints won a game I think most would have expected us to lose after Kenny Stills' last minute TD. However, due to some classic Brees game winning drive, here we are going to LA with 1 win in our back pockets. We face a team who went to the superbowl last season. They are lead by Sean McVay at HC. A gifted and creative HC, he's developed their talented young QB in Goff to be a franchise QB. On defense, they are anchored in the D-line by a future HOF and perennial DPOY candidate in Aaron Donald. This game should have a little more meaning to the Saints, as its likely to bring up old wounds on how last season ended.

Week 1 standout:

There are a few players we could point towards. MT with 100+ yards and being Mr. Reliable. Kamara at being a freak or Lutz for having massive....guts. Even Brees for manufacturing a a magical game winning drive. However, I am going to point out the play of the O-line. When your RT makes JJ Watt not register a sack or a QB hit in 100+ games, you know your O-line had a special game. However, it wasn't Ram alone. Every member of that O-line stood out. They gave Brees time, opened up holes for Kamara and even blocked proficiently on the second level.

Week 1 lowlight:

This is less 'blame it on player X' and more 'player Y can improve in areas such as A, B and C'. Some may disagree with my pick, but I'm going to say Marcus Williams. There are a few players who could've been here, but MW is my pick. On the Texans last drive, Williams was in cover two, and drifted towards Bell's side which allowed Hopkins to have his completion. On Still's TD, Payton mentioned PJ Williams should have had safety help over the top. I love MW, but he really needs to keep his assignments. I don't expect us to be the legion of boom, however we have to be better than this. How much of this is DA and his scheme? Who knows. Last season if you remember, players in the secondary complained DA's scheme was to complicated to start, and once he simplified, we improved. Maybe that's the case again? We will see.

Coaches corner:

On defense, stopping the run is really going to set the tone on how our day goes in LA. Gurley/Brown eating up the clock and getting yards on the ground to set up Goff is our worst case scenario. Luckily we'll be getting Onyemata back, so our ability at DT should be improved this week. If we stop the run, I think we'll have much better chance at stopping Goff. Rams also have Cooper Kupp back this season, and he played really well last year before his injury. We also need to get to the QB this season. Unlike Watson, Goff can't evade pressure with his legs as well. Now don't get me wrong, he's no a statue, but I think we can handle him better.

On offense, it's going to be controlling the play clock and drowning out the noise. Rams lost Suh in the offseason, and while their D-line is no joke, I think it'll be imperative we establish the run early. I also suspect we'll see a heavy dose of Kamara in the screen game. Rookie C McCoy has possibly the hardest assignment game of his life. On the road, in a short week against the best player in the NFL. Jared Cook too should play a big factor. His ability to be a safety valve if MT and Kamara are covered is going to really take pressure off Brees. Especially if he's under pressure.

Prediction:

I think we sneak one out here. Rams are a great team, and likely superbowl contender, but I think losing Suh was a bigger loss than anything we lost in the offseason. A short week and being on the road are factors against us, but I believe in our quality.

34-31 Saints

 

[Raves]

In regards to Ramzy's play vs Watt, there would've been a hit/sack had he not held on that one play, but overall yeah Ramzy did great vs Watt and something we should look to be a stablizing factor for years to come.  Definitely worth giving up Cooks and saving 10+ mil on his contract compared to Ramzy

[tyler735]

Should be a fun one. Goff has been very inconsistent as of late. It seems if teams can get pressure on him he tends to struggle. Still not sure what to make of Gurley and his health, but he hasn't had much impact the last couple times we have played the Rams. Obviously that doesn't mean Gurley can't go off on us this weekend if our defense doesn't bring it. It was concerning seeing Houston's RB's produce like they did, but hopefully that is just due to our defense starting a bit slow, which for us is par for the course each year. I have a feeling Kamara goes off this week. The Rams allowed McCaffrey to run wild last week, and I expect Kamara to do the same. Here's how Kamara has fared against the Rams the past couple years:

I think we win this one. I'd be shocked if there wasn't a little extra edge to the team coming into this game given that it's a rematch of the NFCCG, and we likely are looking for some redemption against the Rams.

[nolaexpat]

I came into the season thinking we could easily start 0-4 again given our schedule so I'm glad we stole W1 back from Houston. I've had this one as an L all week, too... until last night. Something's broken in Carolina, they're not right. LAR was underwhelming against them. Now I wonder if LAR aren't actually hung over from the dreadful SB game they had... And so, my opinion of this game has changed, too. With some discipline and resolve that we don't usually show in the early weeks of a season, we can win this game.

I think you still have to favor LAR here. They're playing at home. We have PJ on defense and they don't. They also don't have BOB on the sidelines so giving up 8.3ypc and 2-play 75yard touchdown drives absolutely won't win us this game. We got pretty lucky last week. If you'd asked me earlier, I'd have told you they win this game 80% of the time. Now? I'm more at 60-65%. I still think they should win most of these matchups but I sense a weakness in them that I didn't before. Let's go steal another W. 45-42 Saints, on a come-from-behind road win.

[Fray32]

3 hours ago, Raves said:

In regards to Ramzy's play vs Watt, there would've been a hit/sack had he not held on that one play, but overall yeah Ramzy did great vs Watt and something we should look to be a stablizing factor for years to come.  Definitely worth giving up Cooks and saving 10+ mil on his contract compared to Ramzy

And we (as in, myself and the organization) wanted Reuben Foster too. Hats off to John Lynch on his savvy draft-day maneuvering.

[Raves]

3 hours ago, nolaexpat said:

I came into the season thinking we could easily start 0-4 again given our schedule so I'm glad we stole W1 back from Houston. I've had this one as an L all week, too... until last night. Something's broken in Carolina, they're not right. LAR was underwhelming against them. Now I wonder if LAR aren't actually hung over from the dreadful SB game they had... And so, my opinion of this game has changed, too. With some discipline and resolve that we don't usually show in the early weeks of a season, we can win this game.

I think you still have to favor LAR here. They're playing at home. We have PJ on defense and they don't. They also don't have BOB on the sidelines so giving up 8.3ypc and 2-play 75yard touchdown drives absolutely won't win us this game. We got pretty lucky last week. If you'd asked me earlier, I'd have told you they win this game 80% of the time. Now? I'm more at 60-65%. I still think they should win most of these matchups but I sense a weakness in them that I didn't before. Let's go steal another W. 45-42 Saints, on a come-from-behind road win.

Well the Rams also don't have Watson & Hopkins/Fuller/Stills at WR to make those connections for a 2 play 75 yard TD drive.  We also were missing Onyemata which would definitely play a role in our run defense.  I think we'll be much better this week as we can sell out a little more towards the run than vs Houston.  But I agree, Rams should still be favored here.

[Jlowe22]

We got @Rams, @Seattle, and Cowboys coming up.  I'll be very happy if we go 2-1 through that stretch.  

[Mid Iowa]

My biggest issue with last week's game was not with the pass defense (that's a really good group we faced), it's how we handled the run. Frankly, our defense was in position, most of the time, to make the plays near the line of scrimmage, but they simply failed. Failed to wrap up, failed to do much more than just simply hit the runner, expecting him to fall down. That always opens up the passing game, always. Hyde was at 8.3 YPC, and Duke Johnson at 6.2. That's not how you win games.

We allowed a 54% 3rd down conversion rate, and 100% on 4th. Fortunately, our 3rd down conversion rate was better (64%).

How about some love for Latavius Murray!! We haven't heard boo about his first TD as a Saint, and his 7.2 YPC (I know one was a long one, but who cares).

So, this week we get David Onyemata and Mario Edwards to rotate in at DT, and Craig Robertson at LB (unfortunately still without Rankins). That should help a bit, but it boils down to fundamentals. Keep the YAC down to a low roar, and we might contain Gurley and keep him below 75.

The only negative thing I really saw on offense was our receivers failing to get good separation, and timing seemed to be off with anyone not named Michael Thomas. And finally, our run blocking wasn't great, but I also have unrealistic expectations thanks to video games. The footwork of AK really made the line look better, although they were pretty darn good, and kept Brees clean.

This will be a great game, and I'll bet we see these guys again in the playoffs.

[Riftty]

I honestly don't think this game will tell much about either team. It may effect seeding. But I don't think either team will be clicking on all cylinders yet.

Gonna give you guys this one to make the Seans's 2-2

Saints 33 Rams 27

[Mid Iowa]

And here we go, the Refs screwing the Saints out of points again. Blowing a play dead when ALL turnovers are reviewed. Why? Idiots.

[Dome]

17 minutes ago, Mid Iowa said:

And here we go, the Refs screwing the Saints out of points again. Blowing a play dead when ALL turnovers are reviewed. Why? Idiots.

I can’t post what I’m thinking or I’d get banned and likely put in a government watch list 

[nolaexpat]

I’m beyond words. I have been a football fan for most of my life but man I kind of hate the NFL. I don’t even want to watch the rest of this. It sucks. I don’t believe in conspiracies, I don’t think the league has anything against the saints. But there are holes in the rules and we have fallen into them three times in a row now. It always takes points off of the board for us and there is never anything anyone can do. Worst thing is that I don’t know how to even tell them to fix it. 

So here we are. I’m going to walk away from this one with the hope that nobody else gets hurt. 

[Mid Iowa]

And, our secondary is atrocious!! I can't say anything good about them at this point. 
Our front 7 is playing well, and our D-line is really playing well, I think.

[brooks1957]

We feel your pain - but Walt Anderson has been boning the Browns for YEARS. His latest example was last year in Oakland.

[Mid Iowa]

42 minutes ago, nolaexpat said:

So here we are. I’m going to walk away from this one with the hope that nobody else gets hurt. 

You're not missing anything. The Saints have all but packed it in. The Rams have the obvious momentum, and I don't see that changing without Brees. The receivers are dropping passes that are hitting them in the hands, and our O-line is all of the sudden falling apart.