New Orleans Saints @ St. Louis Rams: Game Preview

by Dave Cariello on Nov 11, 2009 1:00 PM CST

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (8-0) AT ST. LOUIS RAMS (1-7)

SERIES

	SAINTS	RAMS
SERIES LEADER		38-29
STREAKS		3 of past 4 & 10 of past 15
COACHES VS. OPP.	Payton: 0-1	Spagnuolo: 0-0
LAST WEEK	W 30-20 vs. Panthers	Bye (Week 8: W 17-10 at Lions)
LAST GAME	11/11/07: Rams 37 at Saints 29. St. Louis rattles off 34 unanswered points to post 1st victory of season. Rams have 409 yards of offense & maintain possession for 39:42.
LAST GAME AT SITE	10/23/05: Rams 28, Saints 17. St. Louis DB Mike Furrey has 67-yard INT-TD with 1:55 remaining, completing 4th-quarter rally. Rams RB Steven Jackson runs for 2 TDs.
BROADCAST	FOX (12:00 PM CT): Chris Rose, Trent Green, Rob Desir (Field reporter). SIRIUS: 122 (NO), 130 (StL.). XM: 108 (NO).

STATS

PASSING	Brees: 181-265-2,336 (1C)-17 (T1L)-7-106.1 (1L)	Bulger: 95-170-956-3-4-68.2
RUSHING	P. Thomas: 83-455-5.5-5	Jackson: 165-784 (T1C)-4.8-1
RECEIVING	Colston: 37-596-16.1-6	K. Burton: 25-253-10.1-0
OFFENSE	426.9 (1L)	287.6
TAKE/GIVE	+8 (T3L)	-7
DEFENSE	331.6	373.4
SACKS	Smith: 6.5	Little: 5
INTs	Sharper: 7 (T1L)	J. Butler, Laurinaitis (R): 2
PUNTING	Morstead (R): 43.6	D. Jones: 46.0
KICKING	Carney: 69 (3C) (36/38 PAT; 11/14 FG)	Jo. Brown: 29 (8/8 PAT; 7/10 FG)

NOTES

SAINTS: Are 8-0 for 1st time in team history. Average 37.9 points per game, most in NFL...QB DREW BREES has averaged 326.5 yards per game (5,550) in past 17 indoors & has 14 300-yard games (82.4 pct.). Has 42 TDs, 12 INTs & 110.3 rating in those 17. Since joining NO in 2006, leads NFL with 16,246 pass yards. Has 2,413 yards (344.7 per game), 22 TDs, 5 INTs & 121.9 rating in past 7 vs. NFC...RB-PR REGGIE BUSH had TD run in last meeting. Has 28 career TDs (16 rush, 8 rec, 4 PR) & is only Saint to score via rush, rec. & PR. RB PIERRE THOMAS has 9 TDs (7 rush, 2 rec.) in past 7 indoors...WR MARQUES COLSTON has 10 TDs in past 11. Had 8 catches for 129 yards in only meeting. WR ROBERT MEACHEM had 5 catches for 98 yards last week, incl. 54-yard TD. TE JEREMY SHOCKEY has TD in 2 of 3 vs. Rams...Last week, DE ANTHONY HARGROVE had FF & 2 FRs, incl. FR-TD. Was drafted by StL in 2004. S DARREN SHARPER leads NFL with 317 INT yards & 3 INT-TDs. DE WILL SMITH had sack in last meeting. Had 2 sacks last week...

RAMS: QB MARC BULGER has completed 59 of 82 (72 pct.) for 660 yards with 3 TDs vs. 0 INTs for 107.8 rating in 2 starts vs. NO. Aims for 3rd meeting in row with 300+ yards. Has 0 INTs in 82 career att. vs. NO...RB STEVEN JACKSON has 216 scrimmage yards (108 per game) & 3 TDs in past 2 vs. NO. Has 283 rush yards (141.5 per game) in past 2 games. Has averaged 125 scrimmage yards per game since 2006, tops in NFL (5,998 yards, 48 games)...WR DONNIE AVERY has TD in 2 of past 4. In past 5, all 12 of Avery's catches have resulted in TD or 1st down. TE DANIEL FELLS caught 36-yard TD from K JOSH BROWN in last game. Fells leads team with 3 rec. TD. WR KEENAN BURTON has catch in 16 consecutive games & had 5+ catches in 3 of past 4...S OSHIOMOGHO ATOGWE has 7 FF & 4 INT in past 12 in Nov. Has 14 INTs since 2007, 4th most in NFL. Had INT in last meeting. DE LEONARD LITTLE aims for 4th meeting in row vs. NO with sack. Rookie LB JAMES LAURINAITIS has INT in 2 of past 4.

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Comments

If there's such a thing as a trap game, this is it.

This is the one game on the schedule that I truly can’t imagine the Saints losing. Just like in ’06…

What you have to do is to turn his little body over so that when he does get it, he lands on his head and he doesn’t come back in for a while." -- Gregg Williams on Steve Smith.

by FuSoYa on Nov 11, 2009 2:03 PM CST via mobile reply actions