Los Angeles Rams

Saints vs. Rams: This shouldn't be a close one

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Everything on paper says that the Saints should take care of business with no problem. That’s exactly why Who Dat Nation should be concerned. The Saints have a bad habit of playing down to weaker opponents. Hopefully, this game will resemble the 49ers game.

Somehow the Los Angeles Rams find themselves at 4-6 and right in the thick of things as far as the middle of the pack. There really is nothing there that looks any bit impressive though, as the stats point to a team that is simply awful.

Going by the statistics alone, the Rams are simply a car without an engine on offense. The Rams are averaging just under 15 points game.

That means on an average day, teams would only need a shade over two touchdowns to beat them. The Rams offense are also averaging about 300 yards a game with 215 yards passing and 85 yards rushing. This bodes well for a Saints defense that is seemingly hitting their stride at the right moment right now.

Put all that aside for right now, and let’s look at their quarterback. Rookie Jared Goff will get the start this Sunday again. This will only be his second start of his young career. Goff was drafted #1 in the draft by the Rams, and his stock is still in question. His first game last week against the Dolphins, he was 17 of 31 passes for 134 yards and a passing rating of 65.8. Hardly a great start to a career.

Of course, one can’t draw a full conclusion over one game, but the Saints should be able to make him feel uneasy in the Mercedes Benz Superdome on Sunday. The defense really need to be licking their chops for this one. A home game against an unproven rookie is as easy as it gets. Running back Todd Gurley will likely get to touch the ball quite a bit. But Gurley is only averaging just over three yards a carry.

The Rams on defense are fairly tough giving up under 20 points a game, but the Saints have already been successful against the Broncos and Seattle respectfully. This game is a total mismatch, and the Saints won’t even need a great game to pull this win out. Of course, if I’m Sean Payton that wouldn’t matter to him. Surely, Payton has them believing they are playing against the New England Patriots.