New Orleans Saints VS Los Angeles Rams Match Prediction

The Rams and Saints will play for the 77th time in this match up.  So far, the Rams lead the way with 42 wins and 34 losses.

Here's a look at the last five results:

1/20/19: Rams 26-23 (OT) Saints (NFC Championship Game)
11/4/18: Rams 35-45 Saints
11/26/17: Saints 20-26 Rams
11/27/16: Rams 21-49 Saints
12/15/13: Saints 16-27 Rams

Saints vs Rams Betting Tips and Odds

Bet365 have the following odds available for this match:

The Saints are +2.5 here against the Rams on the road.    

52 is points total that has been set for the over/under.

The Saints are at 23/20 and the Rams are at 20/27 on the money line.  

New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Rams Prediction

The spread shows that Vegas believes the game will be a tight one, just as the playoff game earlier this year.  However, with the Rams being at home it’s just too hard to dismiss them as the team that will win it.

Correct Score Prediction: Saints 28-30 Rams

Progress Report

The Saints are 1-0 ahead of their rematch with the Rams, which is a huge talking point, but they didn’t win it as comfortably as they would have liked last Monday.  It was tight and tense, but a last minute field goal got them their win as the Texans had just left too much time on the clock for their great offense to not use.  The Saints are going to be right up their with the top contenders in the NFC this year, you’d think, even without a win in this tough match up.  

Last Five Games

9/9/19: 28-30 W vs Texans
1/20/19: 26-23 L vs Rams (NFC Championship Game)
1/13/19: 14-20 W vs Eagles (NFC Divisional Round)
12/30/18: 33-14 L vs Panthers
12/23/18: 28-31 W vs Steelers

Key Offensive Players 

You just don’t give the ball to Drew Brees if he has any time left.  That’s what the Texans learned.  They might have ‘accidentally’ scored and had to take the points, but the point remains.  He’s just too good to let him have a chance to beat you.  He did that to set up Will Lutz’ field goal, part of a 370 yard night through the air.  On the ground, they got plenty of help as well, with running back Alvin Kamara finishing just shy of 100 yards on 13 carries.  Not a bad rate at all, and it makes a defense think hard when you have two such strong options.

Expected Offensive Starting Line up

QB    Brees
RB    Kamara
WR    Thomas
WR    Ginn, Jr. 
WR    Smith
TE    Cook
LT    Armstead
LG    Peat
C    McCoy
RG    Warford
RT    Ramcyzk

Key Defensive Player: 

Strong safety Von Bell emphasized the ‘strong’ part last Monday night in the win over the Texans by recording seven tackles and providing excellent coverage to help stifle Houston in the end.  Middle linebacker Alex Anzalone might be directly in the middle of the field, and theoretically having a harder time having an impact, but that did not stop him against Houston.  He ended up with five tackles, one of them being a sack to aid the ‘W.’

Expected Defensive Starting Line up

LDE    Jordan
LDT    Tuttle
RDT    Brown
RDE    Davenport
WLB    Klein
MLB    Anzalone
SLB    Davis
LCB    Apple
SS    Bell
FS    Williams
RCB    Lattimore

Progress Report

The Rams, like the Saints, just about came away with a win in the first week to take them to 1-0.  Unlike the Saints, though, they had to do it on the road in Carolina.  That was not an easy task, it never is traveling that far unless you are playing Miami at the moment, so it’s really a feather in the cap that they pulled it out.  With a strong unit on both sides of the ball, this is another of the teams that should be contending no matter the outcome here.

Last Five Games

9/8/19: 30-27 W @ Panthers
2/3/19: 13-3 L vs Patriots (Super Bowl)
1/20/19: 26-23 W @ Saints (NFC Championship)
1/12/19: 22-30 W vs Cowboys (NFC Divisional Round)
12/30/18: 32-48 W vs 49ers

Key Offensive Players

Like the Saints, the Rams also have an offense that can hit you from multiple directions.  Through the air, Jared Goff can light you up, though he struggled a bit against the Panthers by going 23-39 with one pick and one TD for 186 yards.  However, they were aided by the fact that running back Todd Gurley looked closer to his old self.  He ran for 97 yards on 14 carries and had a catch for four yards that put him over 100 yards total offense in the game.  Not bad for someone that was ‘done,’ according to a few.

Expected Offensive Starting Line up

QB    Goff
RB    Gurley
WR    Cooks
WR    Woods
WR    Kupp
TE    Higbee
LT    Whitworth
LG    Noteboom
C    Allen
RG    Blythe
RT    Havenstein

Key Defensive Player

If linebacker Cory Littleton didn’t get recognition here, we wouldn’t be doing our job.  Last weekend, he was utterly sensational in their win, making 14 tackles against the Panthers and intercepting a pass as well.  Strong safety John Johnson III also had a heck of a game, making 11 total tackles, five on his own, to help them record a win to start their season.  

Expected Defensive Starting Line up 

LDE    Brockers
NT    Joseph-Day    
RDE    Donald
WLB    Matthews
LILB    Littleton
RILB    Hager
SLB    Fowler, Jr.
LCB    Peters
SS    Johnson III
FS    Christian
RCB    Talib

It can't get much more juicy than this in week 2, can it? Two teams that both won last weekend and a rematch of last year's infamous game. The Saints will want revenge for what happened in the Big Easy, while the Rams will look to show they were deserving of going to the Super Bowl. It's hard to make a call on this game, and you know the Saints will want it badly, but the Rams being at home is too hard to pass up.

Along with the Patriots, the Saints and Rams have the highest winning percentages of any teams in the league since 2017. All three have gone 25-8 since then.