Despite recent success by the New Orleans Saints following the firing of Dennis Allen, interim head coach Darren Rizzi saw his first loss as the franchise’s frontman on Sunday with the team falling 21-14 to the Los Angeles Rams.
Here’s a quick recap from Caesar’s Superdome.
Scoring summary
New Orleans (4-8) shut out the Rams (6-6) in the first half as kicker Blake Grupe knocked in two 54-yard field goals to make for a 6-0 lead after two quarters. Interestingly enough, this was the first time since Sean McVay was hired as head coach in 2019 that the Rams were shut out during an opening half of play in the regular season.
In three out of four possessions to begin the second half, Los Angeles scored touchdowns – a four-yard dive from running back Kyren Williams, a three-yard pass to Demarcus Robinson, and a seven-yard pass to Puka Nacua.
New Orleans’ lone touchdown of the day came on a 28-yard pass from Derek Carr to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fourth quarter. The score made for Valdes-Scantling’s fourth touchdown in four games after being signed midseason. Dante Pettis hauled in a tight-coverage pass for a successful two-point conversion.
With Los Angeles up 21-14, the Saints had a chance to send the game into overtime. With less than a minute to play, Carr and company were inside the Rams’ 10-yard line but couldn’t manage to find the end zone. A fourth-and-three pass was deflected by edge rusher Jared Verse, giving the ball back to the Rams to go into victory formation.
What the coach said
Even with Rizzi’s first loss since taking over at the beginning of November, the interim expressed appreciation of his team’s effort in a close home loss.
“I’m extremely proud of the effort, but we didn’t finish drives and we didn’t finish off well,” Rizzi said. “We played the game in a lot of ways we wanted to but didn’t execute well to finish. We have a legitimate chance at the division still. The guys in the locker room are still confident in what we’re doing.”
Based on the numbers, Rizzi is right – the Saints do still have a chance to win the NFC South. In what’s so far proven to be the weakest division in the NFL this season, New Orleans only trails Atlanta (6-6) and Tampa Bay (6-6) by two games.
Box score leaders
Playing without center Erik McCoy, the New Orleans offensive line struggled with protecting Carr, who finished 24 of 36 passing for 184 yards and one touchdown.
Running back Alvin Kamara was the Saints’ top offensive weapon with 112 yards on 23 carries. The performance made for the 11th 100-yard rushing game of Kamara’s career, tying him for fifth in Saints history with Rueben Mayes.
Kevin Austin, Jr. led the receiving corps with three catches for 31 yards while tight end Juwan Johnson added five catches for 36 yards. Utility man Taysom Hill had five catches for 37 yards.
Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford had a clean game, throwing for 183 yards with two touchdowns. Williams finished with 104 yards on 15 carries, while Nacua had five catches for 56 yards.
Injury report
New Orleans lost three starters during Sunday’s game. Hill suffered a left knee injury when converting a fourth-down attempt in the fourth quarter. Left guard Nick Saldiveri suffered a knee injury on the touchdown pass to Valdes-Scantling. Safety Tyrann Mathieu left the game with a shoulder injury.
Next up
The New Orleans Saints will have a good chance to get back in the win column on Sunday, Dec. 8, when the team travels to the New York Giants (2-10). Kickoff is scheduled for noon CT. New York has not won a game at home this season.
