It's no surprise that the New Orleans Saints are a heavy favorite to win this game by a large margin. Afterall our RAMS have played downright pitiful on the road this season.
Losing 24-3 at Tampa Bay, 35-7 at Dallas, 22-3 at Baltimore and 33-6 at Seattle. A whopping 114-19 beating on the road "OUTDOORS". Obviously we are all aware of the "Injury Plague" that has hit our O-line all season. Beyond the O-line being decimated by injuries we have played all 4 road games missing other key personnel. At Tampa Bay, Bulger was at about 50% and we lost Bruce early in the game. Not to mention Wilkins missed 2 fg's. We played at Dallas with Bulger still not close to 100% and no
Steven Jackson. Wilkins missed a fg in this game too. At Baltimore we had Frerotte under center with Leonard as the starting runningback and no Issac Bruce. You guessed it, Wilkins missed a fg in this game too. A game that saw Frerotte throw not 1 but 5 interceptions. At Seattle we played without Drew Bennett and yes Wilkins missed another fg. This was a game that saw Bulger sacked 7 times and he threw 3 interceptions. Again, all the embarrassing losses on the road have been played at "OUTDOOR" stadiums.
We have played well enough to win all of our home games in the friendly confines of the "DOME". Regardless of who or whom we've had on the field. With Frerotte the starting QB and Leonard the starting RB we almost beat the Arizona Cardinals.
Our last home game against the Cleveland Browns we were dominating the Browns until
Steven Jackson went down with his back injury. I was predicting all week prior to the Browns game a RAMS win by a score of 41-27. We were well on our way with a lead of 14-3 when Jackson went out for the game at the 1:44 mark of the 1st quarter.
In the first 10 minutes of the game Jackson had compiled a total of 50 yards. 41 yards on 8 rushing attempts with a TD and 9 receiving yards with 2 receptions. We managed just 2 fg's the rest of the game. So, yes I'm using the "injury card" as an excuse for our loss to the Browns.
What am I getting at with the "OUTDOORS" and "DOME" references? Our game Sunday at New Orleans is in the Super "DOME". I am very curious to see how we play. Is there a pattern here? Do we just play terrible on the road "OUTDOORS"? Or is it we just play terrible on the road period? On the road or not this is a "DOME" game. If we play another competitive game this Sunday, which seems to be the case in our "DOME" than I would say yes we have a pattern here. Of course we won't know until the game is played. I am truly very anxious for the outcome of this game.
Ahhh, the Saints. Who are the Saints? For the 2006 season they were the Cinderella Saints. 2007 has been a different story. They were blown out in their first 3 games of this 2007 season to the tune of 103-38. Week 4 brought their bye week. Since the bye week they have played like the 2006 Cinderella Saints going 4-1. Actually they have won 4 games in a row out-scoring their opponents 122-67. So here's a team that was 0-4 and given up for dead that has worked through their issues and ripped off 4 wins in a row to get back to .500. Thus putting themselves back in the playoff picture. Kudos to the Saints. I wish we could say the same about our RAMS.
As I always do here's a look at the Saints from a stats perspective.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Offensive Rankings:
#6--Overall (360.2 ypg)
#12-Pts Scored (21.6 ppg)
#4--Passing (267.1 ypg)
#24-Rushing (93.1 ypg)
#25-Turnover ratio (-7)
Drew Brees has been the least sacked QB in the NFL. (5)
Defensive Rankings:
#21-Overall (345 ypg)
#25-pts Allowed (23.2)
#27-Pass D (248.1 ypg)
#10-Rush D (96.9 ypg)
#22-Sacks (13)
The Saints pass defense has allowed an NFL worst 38 plays of 20+ yards.
Last week at the Super"DOME" the Saints saw Jacksonville's QB Quinn Gray (who?) go 20/33 for 354 yards passing. Bulger has to be licking his chops?
So, again this is a very interesting game we have coming up against the Saints. I'm expecting a high scoring game with an impressive aerial attack by both teams.
Our O-line has to come out with an attitude. Clawing, fighting and holding (just don't get caught). If and it's a huge if,
Marc Bulger is given some time he and our receivers will have huge stats. I'm not predicting a win or anything like that but anything is possible. What I am saying with the "DOME" in mind is that we should be able to keep this game interesting. Oh yeah and Wilkins has no excuses this Sunday!