The main thing the New Orleans Saints needed to happen outside the Caesars Superdome on Sunday happened exactly as they would have scripted: The NFC South Division-leading Falcons lost to the Chargers.
The main thing the Saints needed to happen inside the Superdome needed a rewrite: New Orleans dropped a 21-14 decision to the Rams, on a day when the Saints (4-8) could’ve pulled to within a game of the division lead.
The Saints had their winning streak under interim head coach Darren Rizzi snapped at two, and knew a plethora of costly hiccups was as much a culprit as the Rams (6-6).
OFFENSE: It was a day of tough sledding for the unit especially in the red zone, where it failed to score touchdowns on its two trips. Some of the credit should be attributed to the Rams defense, which held New Orleans to 4.8 yards per play, 327 yards and 5 for 15 on third down. But a first-quarter touchdown (12-yard pass from Derek Carr to Alvin Kamara) was wiped off the board due to a penalty for an ineligible downfield (left tackle Taliese Fuaga), the drive went backward more when right tackle Trevor Penning was penalized for a low block, and kicker Blake Grupe missed the 36-yard field goal attempt that at least would have salvaged something. The run game was solid (143 yards on 31 carries), Carr wasn’t sacked and the offense didn’t commit a turnover, but the red zone inefficiency glared in the end.
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