We are just seven weeks into the season the St. Louis Rams, who were in contention for a playoff spot until the final week of last season, are already playing for pride. Their pride might take yet another hit this week as they take on the New Orleans Saints, who are once again ready to compete for another Super Bowl title.
The Saints benefit from having one the league’s elite quarterbacks in Drew Brees. Brees was nearly flawless last week in the 62-7 domination of the Indianapolis Colts and between Lance Moore, Robert Meachem, Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, and Darren Sproles out of the back field, the Saints’ offense proved just how good they can be when firing on all cylinders.
The Rams recently added Brandon Lloyd as a weapon for quarterback Sam Bradford, just in time for the signal caller to go down with an injury. Bradford is currently expected to miss this week’s game meaning a second straight start for A.J Feeley is likely.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the key matchups to look for this week.
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1) Brandon Lloyd vs. Patrick Robinson and Tracy Porter
Lloyd (+5.5) went straight into the Rams starting line-up after they acquired him from Denver. While he is not close to the pace he set in 2010, when he caught 77 passes for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns, he has shown that he still has big play ability – with at least one catch of 20 yards or more in every game this year. However, with that being said he has yet to score a touchdown. Spending the bulk of his time on the left hand side last week, Lloyd will likely be matched up with either second year cornerback Patrick Robinson (+3.8) or Tracy Porter (-0.5) who line up primarily on the right hand side. Robinson has been somewhat inconsistent this year, with two games where he has allowed 50 or more receiving yards, but five where he hasn’t allowed more than 33. Porter has seen the majority of the snaps at right cornerback in the last two weeks but has allowed at least 66.7% of passes thrown his way to be caught in those two games. It will be interesting to see if Robinson has earned his way back into a starting role this week.
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2) Charles Brown vs. Chris Long
If the Rams are to have any chance at pulling off the upset on Sunday, they have to be able to get to Drew Brees, and their best pass rusher by far this year has been Chris Long. Long (+7.0 grade as a pass rusher) may have only recorded three sacks so far this year, but he has added five hits and 19 pressures, with the latter ranking third amongst 4-3 defensive ends. This week he’ll be up against right tackle Charles Brown. Brown (+3.0 grade as a pass blocker) has been solid in his first year as a starter, allowing just two sacks and eight pressures on 222 pass plays. The Saints will need to Brown to be at his best to keep Brees on his feet this week.
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3) A Tale of Three Tight Ends
The Saints have been able to boast PFF’s highest graded tight end so far this season. Jimmy Graham (+14.5) is on record pace this season with 674 yards through seven games which is over 200 yards more than the next tight end. The Rams on the other hand boast two of the worst tight ends in terms of their PFF grade. Billy Bajema (-8.6) has struggled across the board, particularly as a blocker where he has a combined pass and run blocking grade of -7.1. Lance Kendricks (-8.2) was supposed to be the Rams’ primary receiving tight end, yet he already has six drops which is tied for the worst amongst tight ends.
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