Will The Saints Be The First Defense This Month To Stop The Rams?
Our Saints vs Rams Analysis Has All The Info You Need For This Week 16 Showdown
Typically, Thursday Night Football doesn’t have the most appealing matchups. However, this Thursday, we’ve got a major NFC battle between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams.
Both teams are currently 7-7 and fighting for a playoff spot in the NFC. The Saints are on a two-game winning streak and have held their last two opponents to 12 points in the previous eight quarters.
Meanwhile, the Rams have won four of their last five games and have scored at least 28 points in each of their previous four games.
Will the Saints defense step up or will the Rams offense continue their hot stretch?
Oddsmakers like the Rams at home. Los Angeles is -4, with the total at 44.5.
Take a look at our Saints vs Rams analysis for this Thursday Night Football matchup.
New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Rams 
Location: SoFi Stadium
Day/Time: Streaming: Prime Video
Saints vs Rams Analysis
The Saints are just 4-9-1 against the spread this season. However, they’ve won their last two games as favorites of at least 5.5 points.
They’ll be underdogs on the road this week, where they’ve only covered two games this season. Meanwhile, the Under has hit in ten of 14 games this season, including the last two NFL matchups where the Saints won.
On the other hand, the Rams have gone 8-5-1 against the spread, with the Under hitting in eight of 14 games.
The year started slow for the Rams. However, they’ve covered in four straight games and will look for their fifth straight on Thursday.
The Saints and Rams last played on November 22, 2022. The Saints earned a 27-20 win as 2.5-point favorites.
Bryan Breese’s Break Out
The Saints haven’t had consistent offense. However, the defense has stepped up this season. The secondary has been getting much of the talk this season, which is fair.
But defensive lineman Bryan Breese has really broken out for the Saints this season. The former Clemson star added two sacks, which was more than he had all season. He’s now up to 3.5 sacks on the season and has 21 tackles.
His dominance through double teams helped the Saints earn seven sacks on the night.
Rams Struggling In Red Zone
The Los Angeles Rams don’t typically struggle around the red zone with head coach Sean McVay in charge.
Except over the last two weeks, the Rams have been poor around that area. Sean McVay has taken full responsibility and said he will revisit things to improve.
This season, the Rams have a 60.47% success rate in the red zone, which ranks 10th in the NFL. That’s not bad, but in the last two games, they’ve reached the end zone in just four of eight red zone trips.
McVay is one of the few coaches who will take accountability quickly towards the media. It often takes a few stories to go viral before a coach will own up to something.
Maybe it’s McVay’s Super Bowl Championship that keeps him loose. But we all must respect McVay’s accountability towards himself and the team.
Still, the Rams won’t have it any easier around the red zone against a dominant defense like the Saints.
Are The Saints Underrated?
The Saints and Rams have almost the same differential this season. The Saints have a differential of 1.84 points per game, while the Rams have a differential of .69 points per game.
These teams are used to playing close games with little margin for error. Lately, the Rams have been more stout offensively. But the Saints have been incredible on the defensive end.
New Orleans has one of the best secondaries in football. That will make it challenging for Matthew Stafford, who still has 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Throughout his career, Stafford has always been turnover prone. He’ll likely make another mistake in this game. However, he’s also fantastic at putting together big drives and rebounding from his mistakes.
On the other hand, Derek Carr has thrown 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. He hasn’t lived up to expectations. However, he’s thrown five touchdowns and only one interception in his last two games. The former Raiders quarterback is also coming off a game with an 82.1% completion percentage against the Giants.
While Carr only threw for 218 yards, he arguably had his best game with the Saints after adding three touchdowns, no interceptions, and completing over 80% of passes.
Carr didn’t have Chris Olave or Michael Thomas in that game. His best receivers were Alvin Kamara and Juwan Johnson. However, neither of those two is a wide receiver. It’s more likely Olave will be back for this game. That could only help this offense against one of the worst secondaries in football.
With New Orleans’ offense improving and the defense playing at a very high level, even on the road, the Saints are the more well-rounded team.
We won’t see either team draft in the top ten of the NFL Draft this season. But the NFL results today should at least help one team make a larger case for the playoffs moving forward.
Therefore, after looking at the NFL betting lines, we’ll take the Saints at +4 using our Saints vs Rams analysis.
For NFL picks, NFL standings, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
