New Orleans Saints: Breaking down all areas vs. Los Angeles Rams
By Jason Reed
The New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams were the two best teams in the NFC last year and will square off in the game of the week in Week 2.
For the last eight months, the New Orleans Saints have had a bitter taste in their mouth about the NFC Championship, a game they should have won if it were not for a blown no-call pass interference by the referees.
It was a bit refreshing to see the Los Angeles Rams end up losing in the Super Bowl, but nobody still likes seeing the New England Patriots win. It doesn’t change the fact that for the second year in a row, the Saints were handed a devastating loss in the playoffs in years where they definitely were good enough to win the Super Bowl.
A win in Week 2 this season will not be enough to completely wash away the negative feelings, but it would be nice to hold onto for the rest of the year.
Just as we did for Week 1 against the Houston Texans, here is out complete roster breakdown against the Los Angeles Rams, starting with…
Special Teams: Advantage, Rams
I know, I know, Wil Lutz just banged home the game-winning field goal for the New Orleans Saints and Thomas Morstead has always been solid and even pinned the Texans on the three-yard line in the game.
However, while there is no denying how good Lutz and Morstead are, there are few kicker/punter combos that have them beat. Greg Zuerlein and Johnny Hekker are one of them.
Zuerlein did miss one of his field goals last week but he still has a combined 90.3 field goal percentage in the three previous years combined with only three missed extra points on 105 attempts.
Hekker has also led the league in total punt yards twice in his career and averages 47 yards on his punts. If you watch any Rams games, you know he can have finesse like Morstead as well as bang it completely down the field.
And in terms of the return units, the Rams have the advantage. Deonte Harris did not look that great last week, although it is just one week.