The New Orleans Saints and L.A. Rams face off this week in a game that pits a pair of teams against each other that expected better results.
Both teams can point to injuries as a major issue, but the records say the Saints are 4-7 and the Rams are 5-6. Still, it's hard not to see the Rams as the favorite, even on the road, considering the shellacking they put on New Orleans in Week 16 of last season.
So what is the key for the Saints to turn the tables this time around? The Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert is keeping it simple and pointing to the same recipe the Eagles used for a big win against L.A. on Sunday Night Football in Week 12.
"I think we’re gonna have success against their defense, but what is our defense gonna do? If you look at last year, we got torched defensively, all them crossing routes," Hebert said, "and what did the Eagles do, the Eagles got all over Matt Stafford. That’s what you’ve got to do. I would tell coach Rizzi that that’s the key and whatever Brian Young and all, the defensive line, we’ve got to get after the quarterback."
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The numbers bear that out. In the Rams' six losses this season Stafford has been sacked a total of 22 times, a rate of more than three per game. In the five wins? Four, a rate of less than one per game. In other words, when the Rams keep Stafford upright, they win.
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The Saints have the opposite trend holding true. In their four wins they've logged 16 sacks (an average of four per game), compared to just nine total in their seven losses (an average of just over one per game). Considering the state of the Saints' secondary compared to the start of the season, it becomes all the more important.
"We’re not as strong as we were, maybe the perception at the beginning of the season, who’s playing in the secondary, so we’ve got to affect the quarterback," Hebert continued, "because I don’t want us to be in a shootout game. I mean, it’s like, if the Rams score high 20s, low 30s, that’s not good. I think if we can hold them and go back to where we were, an outstanding scoring defense in the past, not so much this year, but if we can hold them to low 20s then I think we have a great chance to win.”