Los Angeles Rams: Staff predictions vs. New Orleans Saints

The Los Angeles Rams host the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game, which we all know was filled with controversy.

Both the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints have started the season in the win column and now the two NFC powerhouses are set to square off in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The last time these two met was in the NFC Championship Game, where the Rams prevailed to advance to the Super Bowl with plenty of controversy.

The non-call pass interference late in the fourth quarter gave the Rams life when they probably shouldn’t have had it. Say what you will about the game as a whole, even Ram fans cannot deny that the no-call was horrendous and they got a bit lucky.

But hey, that was last season and now the Rams need to take care of the Saints in Week 2 as they begin another long trek to the Super Bowl. Here is how the LA Sports Hub staff sees the game going down.

Ahmad Akkaoui (2-0): 34-31, New Orleans Saints

This one is the matchup of the season. America’s Game of the week. The Saints are going to come out with a vengeance, especially since the Rams’ players and Sean McVay are acknowledging the no-call from last season’s matchup in the NFC championship game.

I think Sean Payton is going to look to score as much as possible as fast as possible. The Rams defense should be keeping Brees at ease, but I think Alvin Kamara is going to have a big game. It sucks to admit, but I think this is going to be the Rams’ first loss of the season.

Hil Lopez (2-0): 30-24, Los Angeles Rams

The Rams welcome the Saints to LA Coliseum in a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship Game where the Rams defeated the Saints on their home turf. Drew Brees and Co. will be looking to get retribution from last year against Jared Goff and his troops.

Each team won their opener with the Saints squeaking out a 28-27 win on Monday night on a last-minute field goal, and the Rams winning 30-27 in Carolina on Sunday. People expect this game to be a barnburner because of the two explosive offenses, but it may actually be lower scoring than people think.

Each team has defensive stars with Marshon Lattimore and on the Saints and interior tackle Aaron Donald and rising linebacker Cory Middleton. The Saints will try and impose their will early on the Rams, but the one fact is Drew Brees is not as effective on the road as he is at home.

This will allow the Rams to expose the Saints defense with their wide receiver trio and Todd Gurley rushing effectively. They will win a close game 30-24.

Redan Lopez (2-0): 33-27, Los Angeles Rams

I anticipate this game to be one of the most exciting and high-scoring of the week. Nothing gets better than getting to see two exceptional quarterbacks (Rams’ Jared Goff & Saints’ Drew Brees) duel it out.

The amount of offensive weaponry through this game is unbelievable. Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, the list goes on and on. There will not be lots of defense played in this game as it will be an electric, fast-paced game. First to 30 points wins and that will be the Rams.

The Saints are going to be coming off an emotional, last-second win over the Texans courtesy of kicker Wil Lutz’s 58-yard field goal. I think that emotional high will drop off in this game for the Saints.

The Rams also want to show that last year in the playoffs was no fluke, and they were the ones that were deserved to win that NFC Championship, despite the “no-call” that is still debated to this day. The Rams will pull away in the fourth quarter and go 2-0 in this young season.

Jason Reed (2-0): 31-28, New Orleans Saints

It is no secret that the Los Angeles Rams did not look that great last week against the Carolina Panthers, who are not even close to being on the Saints’ level.

Granted, it was just Week 1, but some of those troubles are going to extend to Week 2. When picking a game against two teams as good as this, I often go with the better quarterback, which leads me to Drew Brees.

The Saints will score the go-ahead field goal and give Jared Goff and company about a minute and a half to get downfield, to which they will get the defensive stop.

Jon Soden (1-1): 38-31, New Orleans Saints

Following an extremely controversial NFC Championship game last season, this Sunday’s game featuring the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints will be in the spotlight.

While both teams came out victorious in Week One, things were not all that pretty—Jared Goff struggled and the Saints won off a miraculous field goal after driving down the field with under a minute left.

For these teams, anything short of a Superbowl is a disappointment, and due to their recent history, expect everyone to be locked it.

The difference in this game will be the quarterback play.

Hopefully, Goff will be able to live up to the enormous contract he just received but do not expect it to come this week against an all-time great quarterback in Drew Brees.

In a high scoring affair, the Rams will be defeated by the Saints by a score of 38-31.