[ad_1]
The New Orleans Saints will travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams, the team that beat them controversially in the NFC championship game last year.
This match will be the fourth time the two teams have played each other in the last three seasons, with the Rams holding the big book 2-1.
"This is sometimes part of how planning works," said Saints coach Sean Payton, about the frequency of the two teams' meetings. "We have (NFC) West this year, and we got them because of our first place and first place.
"It's a very good football team, of course, it's a team that needs a lot of preparation to deal with the movements and some movements in an offensive way, then to present, on the defense side, a lot of problems with their forehead and their ability to cover and return the ball. "
A look at all groups of positions of Saints and Rams, intangible assets and which has the advantage:
STRATEGIST:
Drew Brees, 12-time Pro Bowler, versus Jared Goff, 2-time Pro Bowler.
Last week, 40-year-old Brees completed 74.4 percent of his passes and had 370 yards and two touchdowns with a score of 105.8 against the Houston Texans. Goff, 24, completed 60 percent of his passes and collected 186 yards with a touchdown on a 69.0 rating in the Rams' win over the Carolina Panthers.
In 2018, Brees had 3,992 passing yards and 32 touchdowns with a league-leading completion percentage of 74.4. In total, Brees quarterback earned a score of 115.7, one of the league's top rankings. Also last season, Goff had 4,688 passing yards and 32 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 68.8. His passing was good enough to rank fourth in the league.
Edge goes to New Orleans.
Backups: Teddy Bridgewater from New Orleans, Taysom Hill. AJ McCarron of Houston. Blake Bortles from Los Angeles.
OFFENSIVE LINE:
The talent of Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Larry Warford, Ryan Ramczyk and rookie Erik McCoy stood out last week. They only allowed one bag and three tackles for the loss. In addition, Ramczyk won the battle in the trenches with sensational Houston defender J.J. Watt, limiting Watt to zero statistics for the first time in his career. Due to their success, Pro Football Focus has ranked the unit as offensive line of the week.
This brings last season, since the New Orleans quarterbacks were sacked only 20 times last season, making it the second lowest number in the league.
Andrew Whitworth, Austin Blythe and Rob Havenstein, both of Los Angeles, all started every game last season, while left-goaltender Joe Noteboom and center Brian Allen played reserve roles as rookies. They qualified for the starting lineup in the first week after the Rams did not exercise the option on center John Sullivan and left-hander Rodger Saffold signed a four-year contract with the Titans of Tennessee.
Goff was sacked once last week and the Panthers' defense conceded four tackles for the loss.
The edge goes to New Orleans.
Backups: Nick Easton, Will Clapp, Patrick Omameh, rookie, Ethan Greenidge, New Orleans. Jamil Demby of Los Angeles, Coleman Shelton, Rookies David Edwards, Bobby Evans.
backfield:
The Saints start the double Alvin Kamara, versatile player, while the Rams have two-time All-Pro and former most valuable player and offensive rookie Todd Gurley in their field.
Last week, Kamara had 97 yards in 13 races and 72 yards in seven receptions. And on his 41-yard reception, Kamara's speed reached 20.93 km / h, recording the eighth best time of the Week 1 running back, according to next-generation NFL statistics.
In 2018, Gurley led the league with 17 touchdowns and 21 in total. He was fourth in the league with a total of 1,831 rushing yards.
In March, Athletic reported that Gurley was suffering from left knee arthritis.
Oddly, Gurley also racked up 97 rushing yards in 14 races last week. Gurley is not much used in passing games, shooting in a four-yard reception.
"He played well," said Sean McVay, Rams coach, about Gurley. "It was good to get him in. I think he did a great job closing the game within a hundred yards, it was productive, but we can always improve things." C & # 39; was great to be able to see Todd look like Todd we all know and love. "
In comparison, Kamara was just behind Gurley in touchdowns with 14 and 18 touchdowns in total. Kamara finished seventh in the fray with 1,592.
Because of their different skills, this one is a boost.
Backups: Latavius Murray of New Orleans, Dwayne Washington, Zach Line. Los Angeles rookie Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson Jr.
BROAD RECEIVER:
Fourth-year catcher Michael Thomas had 12 yards and 12 receptions. For a week, these 10 receptions are tied for third place in the league. And only 22 receivers played more than 100 yards in Week 1. (And New Orleans had two, Ted Ginn Jr. had 101 yards in seven assists.)
Last year, Thomas recorded 125 receptions, a league high, for 1,405 rushing yards, making him sixth in the league.
The young Rams star Cooper Kupp played only eight games last year. She tore up the player's checklist during the 10th week and injured her knee earlier, which took her away from two games. Before sinking, he scored 566 yards on 40 catches with six touchdowns. He returned to his former state of attack, catching seven passes for 46 yards last week.
"It's such a smart and instinctive player that he does a lot of things," said Payton about Kupp. "It's not fair in the receiver game, it blocks, it puts the hands on the guys, it handles the force well.I think it's very consistent and a very smart player.I think that It brings a lot to what they do. "
Without Kupp in the lineup for the second half of the season, the Rams turned to underdogs Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods, who each captured 80 and 86 shots, respectively, for 1,204 and 1,219 yards. The Rams ranked fifth last year in passing attack.
Fun fact: The Rams also have a wide receiver named Mike Thomas. He is also a fourth-year player, but he plays a backup role.
Edge goes to New Orleans.
The rest of the WRs: Ted Ginn in New Orleans, Tre Quan Smith, Keith Kirkwood, Austin Carr and rookie Deonte Harris. JoJo Natson (Los Angeles), Michael Thomas, Josh Reynolds and rookie Nsimba Webster.
TIGHT END:
In the first game of veteran Pro Bowler Jared Cook as Saint, he caught two passes for 37 yards.
Before appearing in New Orleans, the 11-year-old professional played for Oakland and scored 896 yards on a career high of 686. His yards and receptions were the fifth highest among the ends. tight. He also recorded six receptions at the height of his career last year by Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
The Rams start forward Tyler Higbee, who had four catches for 20 yards with a touchdown last week. In 2018, the former graduate of western Kentucky had collected 292 yards out of a total of 24 shots with two touchdowns.
Edge goes to New Orleans.
Safeguards: Josh Hill of New Orleans, Taysom Hill. Gerald Everett of Los Angeles, Johnny Mundt.
DEFENSIVE LINE:
The defensive line of the Saints will be slightly different from last week, as David Onyemata was reinstated after serving his suspension of a match. Even without Onyemata, the defense had six sacks against the Texans offensive line last week, thus leveling the record of last year.
Sheldon Rankins and Mario Edwards Jr. have both been restricted to training on Wednesday with their respective problems of Achilles and hamstring.
The Rams use a 3-4 base defense, starting with Michael Brockers, Sebastian Joseph-Day and Aaron Donald. Donald only touched one goal and one quarter last week, but he just finished a monster season since he led the league in both sacks (20½) and tackled for defeat (25).
"He's a player of all time," said Donald Brees. "It has such a high engine so it's going away all the time.It's so multiple in things that it can do, the motions that it can give you, inside, the 39, outside, tearing, jumping in. I do not even have names for all the moves he can make to get to the quarterback.You can not block him with one player.C & # 39; 39: is such a good player.He is such a powerful player.It can change the game.I do not know if I've ever seen any one like him.Is a player phenomenal. "
Brockers, however, did not train on Wednesday due to a shoulder injury. If he can not go, the defensive defense end indicated on the depth chart is Morgan Fox. Fox missed the 2018 season due to an ACL tear that he suffered during OTA.
It would be a boost if Onyemata was not back. But since his reinstatement, in New Orleans.
Replacements: Trey Hendrickson of New Orleans, Taylor Stallworth, Mario Edwards Jr., Rookie Shy Tuttle. Morgan Fox of Los Angeles, Tanzel Smart, rookie Greg Gaines.
linebackers:
The Sario trio of Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone and A.J. Klein combined for 14 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback touched by the Texans.
Much of this production came from Anzalone, who owned five of these rigs and all of these other statistics, which was a good sign after missing a good part of the training camp due to the fact that it was a bad thing. an injury to the shoulder.
The Rams start Dante Fowler Jr., Clay Matthews, Cory Littleton and Bryce Hager (six defeats) in their 3-4 defense, and Fowler tore up Sunday against the Panthers.
He had two tackles, two sacks and three hits.
According to NFL Next Gen stats, he clocked the fastest NFL bag of the week, dropping Cam Newton in 2.2 seconds. The next fastest one was not even close: Arizona's Terrell Suggs with a 2.64.
In addition to that, Littleton had 14 tackles, one recovery as a result of a fumble and was one of the 22 players in the league to be intercepted last week.
Matthews was one of three Rams players not to train on Wednesday. According to her practice report, her illness is a back injury. Matthews missed only a handful of games in 11 years of career.
If Matthews can not go, it's a nudge. When he plays, Edge goes to Los Angeles.
Substitutes: Craig Robertson of New Orleans, Kiko Alonso, rookie Kaden Elliss. Samson Ebukam of Los Angeles, Travin Howard, recruits Natrez Patrick, Troy Reeder.
Defensive back:
In one game, Saints' high school was in the middle of the pack with 234 allowed yards allowed. The Rams secondary was similar last week, allowing the Panthers to gain 216 meters in the air.
Only 22 players have been intercepted so far this season, one of whom is Marcus Williams of Saints Safety. Williams was restricted to training on Wednesday with a groin injury.
Among the starters of the Saints, Vonn Bell had seven tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback. Marshon Lattimore had four tackles, Eli Apple had three tackles and a quarterback, and P.J. Williams added four tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback.
The Rams have introduced Pro Bowler Marcus Peters twice, Pro Bowler Aqib Talib five times, John Johnson III and Pro Bowler Eric Weddle six times in defense of their base.
Last week, Johnson paced the defensive backs with 11 tackles and a tackle for defeat. Peters added four tackles, Talib had one and Weddle had six. However, Weddle was restricted to training Wednesday with a concussion.
Also in the team: the cornerback who thought he deserved a flag for NOLA's No Call, Nickell Robey-Coleman.
Edge in Los Angeles.
Backups: Williams of New Orleans, Rookie C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Rookie Saquan Hampton, Patrick Robinson, Justin Hardee, J.T. Gray, Ken Crawley. Nickell Robey-Coleman, Los Angeles, Darious Williams, Troy Hill, Marqui Christian, rookies David Long Jr., Taylor Rapp, Nick Scott.
SPECIALISTS:
The Saints have the title of NFL Special Team Player of the Week at Wil Lutz in their team, while he just scored 3 of 4 goals, winning the game against the Texans with a 58-yard placement.
Hunter Thomas Morstead hit twice, averaging 44.3 yards per punt.
As for the Rams, Los Angeles has striker Greg Zuerlein and scorer Johnny Hekker on the list. Last week, Hekker had 46.0 yards per kick and Zuerlein scored three of his four goals.
Edge goes to New Orleans.
Alternates: Taysom Hill, New Orleans Licensee; Alien Kamara and Ted Ginn; kicking back Kamara, Ginn. Los Angeles: none.
They will play a lot more games in their career.
INTANGIBLE:
Some may call it a "revenge game," but the Saints and Rams are ready to move on.
The saints have the fourth best record on the road since 2006, with a record of 57-47 over this period.
The L.A. Memorial Coliseum is the fifth largest NFL stadium in terms of reception capacity, with a peak attendance of 78,500 people. This will be the home opener of the Rams, who faced the Panthers in North Carolina last week.
Edge here? Launch in the air.
[ad_2]
Source link