New Orleans Saints: Three steps to defeat the Los Angeles Rams

3. Make the running game the primary offensive focus

There was a trend with the Los Angeles Rams last season. If you successfully ran the ball against the Rams then you had a chance of winning the game. If you ran the ball poorly, then there was virtually no chance of you winning the game.

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All four losses for the Rams last season, including the Super Bowl, came in games in which they allowed 111 rushing yards or more. In those games, the Rams had a 4-4 record, so they still won some of them, but that is still much worse than the 11-0 they were when they allowed less than 110 rushing yards.

This was illustrated in the NFC Championship Game, although the Rams also got a little bit of help in that one as well. The Saints rushed for just 48 yards that game, the fewest the Rams allowed all season. Whereas in the first game, the Saints racked up 141 rushing yards.

There are two things to keep in mind here. One — rushing the ball more, especially to the outside, limits how much damage Aaron Donald can do to you, which goes hand-in-hand with what we said earlier.

But second — it also keeps the Rams off the field for longer and keeps them from getting into a rhythm. That is especially huge as we all know that the Rams’ bread and butter, after all, is on the offensive side of the ball.

The last thing the New Orleans Saints should try doing is beat the Rams in a shootout. Can they beat them in a high-scoring shootout? Absolutely.

But that is the kind of game the Rams want to play and it plays into their hand a bit, whereas a slow, methodical pace could disrupt their entire gameplan.