The New Orleans Saints went out to L.A. looking for a statement win, instead they got handed a statement loss by the Rams.
And that statement, in a 30-22 loss that wasn't nearly as close as that score sounds, is a pretty simple one: The Saints are not on the Rams' level, at least not right now. New Orleans got bullied at almost every level on national TV, and now it's playoff future rests in the hands of other teams. Not great.
With all that in mind, here are the stock up and stock down players after the Saints (7-8) demoralizing loss to the Rams (8-7).
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1. SUSTAINED POSITIVITY
At the end of the day it's a pick-a-number kind of feeling for what to criticize first, but I think the broader view is important to really understand what makes this team so frustrating. The talent is there. We've seen it, but only in flashes.
With the loss in Week 16, the Saints are now guaranteed to go the entire season without a stretch of 3 consecutive wins. They've won back-to-back games three separate times, but each of those would-be streaks ended in the most deflating ways possible. That's simply not a good sign, considering it took a three-game winning streak at the tail-end of 2022 just to get things to a 7-10 finish.
There's been a slight uptick in wins this season, with the potential for 9-8 still on the table. But with the weakest schedule in the NFL, that still feels like a step.
As Alvin Kamara said earlier this year, when you look at the teams still playing deep into January, you'll almost always find that those teams had strung together a long streak or two of wins. That was the case for all four postseason trips from 2017-2020. Ending every stretch of positivity with a thud is why this Saints team, barring a helpful loss from the Bucs this week, is most likely staring at another season without playoff football.
Call it what you want, but if you think you have the right players in the building, there's nowhere else to look but the coaching staff. The short week is difficult, but this team didn't look ready to play today. It didn't look ready in Week 10 when it lost another of those would-be streak games.
We can talk all we want about fight and want-to and hard work and gas cans and whatever the heck else you want to toss around, this season has made it clear that, at the absolute minimum, serious changes need to be considered.
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2. NOT COVERED
The feel-good story of the season didn't feel so great in Week 16.
Going into the game I pointed to the secondary's ability to not allow the Rams receivers to detonate all over them as a key element in how they could potentially win this game. The exact opposite occurred.
Only four Rams players caught passes. That was more than enough. Between Puka Nacua and DeMarcus Robinson, there were 15 catches on 17 targets for 246 yards and 2 TDs. You read that correctly, it didn't even take Cooper Kupp. The Saints DBs didn't get the job done against a rookie and a guy Saints fans couldn't have even named going into the game.
So what gives? I don't think Isaac Yiadom played terribly. He forced tight window throws, the problem is they were caught. There were missed tackles, there were catch and run opportunities. Nacua in particular looked unguardable, and in Yiadom's defense ... that's been the case basically all year.
The biggest struggle, though, came for Alontae Taylor in the slot, who was actually benched in the 4th quarter and replaced by Ugo Amadi. Taylor was sitting with the quarterbacks for an extended period as the defense was on the field. It was clear he wasn't going back in the game. At one point Johnathan Abram came over to give him a pep talk, after which he stood up and re-engaged on the sideline. He didn't re-enter the game. It was a struggle for a player who was shifted into the slot role this year, and it certainly hasn't been perfect. He struggled with his eyes in this game, Dennis Allen said, something that was emphasized going in with the amount of eye candy the Rams offense throws at you.
I expect Taylor to be back starting when the Saints face the Bucs in Week 17, but it was a low moment for the second year CB. Personally I don't think his future is as a slot corner and at some point the Saints need to let him do what he does best, and that's locking down on the outside. I just don't see that happening this year.
In the end, this is a team playing without its start cornerback in Marshon Lattimore, and this was the first matchup where his absence felt like it was too much to overcome.
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THE RUN GAME
The Saints haven't exactly been a dynamic running team this season, but the Rams made sure the word anemic could be used accurately. Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams combined for 27 yards on their 11 runs. Taysom Hill carried the ball twice for 2 yards. Rashid Shaheed ran a jet sweep for 4 yards.
That's it. Hard to win that way.
Don't get me wrong, this wasn't all on the runners. The OL got almost no push. There were rarely lanes to attack and when they did exist, it seemed they closed instantly. Kamara simply didn't impact this game in the way you need him to for this offense to feel dangerous.
Derek Carr said after the game that the lack of a rushing attack didn't limit the play action effectiveness, and while that's true, I still see it as a massive issue. You can't get one-dimensional against a team with Aaron Donald on it. That's what happened.
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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Derek Carr wasn't terrible in this game, though his stat line is certainly a bit misleading with two of those touchdown drives coming in what was effectively garbage time. He was under fire all day. There were a couple drops. But there's also the element that I just don't see him as being able to lift this offense unless everything is perfect around him, and in a league where the best offenses all seem to have a QB that can do that, it seems like a massive disadvantage week in and week out. I mean, Matthew Stafford is his contemporary. He's also not a mobile guy, so why did he seem so much more able to extend plays and get the ball downfield in key moments? I think I'm a lot less critical of Carr than most, but the ceiling just doesn't seem high enough for this offense to be anything less than middling with some big plays tossed in. I hope I'm wrong. ... Too much aggression. I get the idea. You're not going to win this game kicking field goals. You've got to press the action, but man, can we find the happy medium? 4th and 5 near midfield isn't a money down, yet the Saints repeatedly acted as if it was. It burned them late in the first half when instead of a drive for a game-tying field goal or more, they turned it over on downs and set up the Rams on a short field for a touchdown before the break that felt like a back-breaker. There was also the onside kick attempt when you certainly didn't need it. I don't know, it's hard to get onboard with some those decisions. ... Neither side of the line was good enough today for the Saints, and that's a direct product of missing on high picks in the draft. You spent a first-round pick on a left tackle two seasons ago and he can't even get on the field. I count myself as a Landon Young fan, but really? We can't find a way to get Trevor Penning in the mix here? It's frustrating on its own. It's worse when the protection is as porous as we saw today. Oh, and the Saints couldn't stop the run, either. There was plenty of bad to go around.
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STOCK UP
1, CHRIS OLAVE'S TOUGHNESS
If you watched Chris Olave closely in this game, it was pretty clear that he was playing well shy of 100%. The ankle injury he's been nursing since the win over the Panthers was clearly limiting him, something that head coach Dennis Allen confirmed after the game.
There was one play in the third quarter where this stood out the most to me, and it came on a backshoulder throw during a drive that ended in a turnover on downs. I've watched a healthy Olave plant, flip his hips and elevate to haul in that ball. Today he simply couldn't do that.
All this is to underscore just how remarkable his line of 9 catches for 123 yards truly was. He also got free for a 2-point conversion that pulled the Saints within one score with just under 4 minutes to play.
Olave was slow to get up several times. He moved slowly on an off the field. He still found ways to get open all day long.
A lot of folks were questioning the kid's work ethic, drive, professionalism, whatever you want to call it earlier this year. He's answered those questions about as well as possible. Now he's got 10 days to get healthy for the next one.
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2. PUNT BLOCKS
Don't worry what the official stats say, the special teams unit is certainly doing something right on punts. More specifically, punt blocks.
This time it was J.T. Gray streaking in to get his hands on a punt that set up a quick TD to A.T. Perry. The ball caromed past the line of scrimmage, which means it goes in the books as an 8-yard boot as opposed to a punt. A similar thing happened after Zack Baun got his hands on a kick in Week 1. Two weeks ago it was Nephi Sewell getting through so clean that he actually took the ball off Johnny Hekker's foot for what officially went down as a forced fumble.
Whatever you want to call it, the Saints have been racking up these momentum-changing plays this season.
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3. BIG PERRY
Throw the ball up to A.T. Perry and good things tend to happen.
This time it was for a 35-yard touchdown in the 4th quarter on what was Perry's only target of the game. He might have gotten away with a pushoff, but I don't much care. He's a big-play machine.
The only issue I have with Perry is why he doesn't have the ball sent his way more often. I have a feeling that will change if he keeps showing up big for his QB.
