After being shut out in the first half, the Rams' offense exploded for three touchdowns on four drives in the final 30 minutes to leave the Caesars Superdome victorious.
The Rams set a season-high with 156 rushing yards against the Saints on Sunday with a strong and efficient ground game. Running back Kyren Williams led the way with 104 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Blake Corum added 42 yards. Defensively, Los Angeles held running back Alvin Kamara and utility man Taysom Hill in check during an impressive showing.
Here are five interesting stats from the Rams' 21-14 win in New Orleans:
Rams running backs faced a stacked box (eight or more defenders) a season-high 55.2% of the time, but averaged 1.86 yards before contact, their second-most of the year, per Next Gen Stats (NGS)
The Saints' defense was ready for the run, but they couldn't stop it. Prior to Sunday, the Rams hadn't faced a stacked box more than 29.2% of the time, and on that occasion, they averaged 1.11 yards before contact against New England. In New Orleans, the run blocking and execution excelled despite the Saints' clear pursuit to slow it down.
The offensive line punished the Saints' stacked front time and again, as the Rams didn't go backwards a single time. After the game, head coach Sean McVay said everyone from the line to the tight ends and receivers committed to excellence on the ground, and that opened up the rest of the playbook.
Omar Speights is Pro Football Focus' highest-graded linebacker of Week 13 at 94.1 entering Monday Night Football
The rookie linebacker out of LSU is proving to be a key find for the Rams. Since linebacker Troy Reeder went on Injured Reserve, Speights has stepped into the starting role and flourished in the midst of a postseason push. On Sunday, Speights had 11 tackles, seven stops and just missed an interception that ended up as a pass breakup on the stat sheet (via PFF).
Speights didn't miss a single tackle and was constantly in the right place at the right time. His extra film study has seemingly paid dividends in what's turning out to be a fantastic rookie season for the undrafted rookie.
Williams set season-highs in explosive runs (10+ yards) with five and rush yards over expected (+36), via NGS
Williams had arguably his best game of the season on Sunday with his second 100-yard rushing game of the 2024 campaign. McVay trusted his lead back throughout the game and then gave him the opportunity to ice it deep in the Rams' own territory, and that's exactly what he did. His 36 rushing yards over expected means that he gained that many more yards overall than what was statistically predicted based on the context of each play.
His decisive cuts and physical running gave Los Angeles explosives on the ground that it haven't had all season. McVay said his "energy was outstanding" and Williams excelled in the second and third levels of the defense, but he couldn't have gotten there consistently without the elite line play in front of him.
Half of Matthew Stafford's pass attempts and completions were off play-action, which accounted for 69.4% of his passing yards, via NGS
The Rams' success in the run game did wonders for their play-action passing. Stafford went 7-for-12 on play-action for 127 yards and two touchdowns against New Orleans, who had only allowed three touchdowns against play-action over its first 11 games. That's an area where the Rams have excelled all season, but they took it to a different level on Sunday.
"When (McVay) knows that we're handing the ball off and getting yards, the whole playbook comes alive," Stafford said. "The ability to move the pocket, play-actions, quick games, whatever we want, it's available when you can get six, seven (yards) a carry running the football."
The Rams defense allowed their fewest points of the season (14) without any sacks or caused turnovers
This wasn't a typical lockdown defensive performance, but it got the job done. The Rams didn't sack the quarterback or cause any turnovers – a pair of turnovers were overturned upon further review by the officials – but managed three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and six passes defended. They minimized extra yardage and held New Orleans short of the sticks more often than not, as it went 5-for-15 on third down.
Los Angeles allowed just 4.8 yards per play, its third-lowest of the season, against a Saints team that has averaged 5.6 yards per play over the course of the season. There weren't many splashy plays, but the defense did more than enough to earn a win on the road.
