That isn’t how you want to start a prime time game. The New Orleans Saints offense floundered inside Los Angeles Rams territory to start Thursday night’s game and settled for a punt, which was covered well and stopped at the L.A. 5-yard line. With head coach Dennis Allen’s handmade defense having gone two games without allowing a single touchdown, they figured the favorable field advantage would give them a big advantage.
But that wasn’t the case. Rams head coach Sean McVay got the better of Allen and conducted a 14-play, 95-yard drive to get downfield and score the game’s first touchdown; quarterback Matthew Stafford hit rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua on a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.
It was rough. And it was the longest drive the Rams offense has had all season. They went into this game with 9 drives having started inside their own 10-yard line and just one ended with a touchdown after gaining 94 yards (helped by a 15-yard penalty on the defense).
This wasn’t a bad bet by Allen and the Saints. They should have won this battle and gotten a stop inside Los Angeles territory to get the ball back in Derek Carr’s hands. Allen spent years drafting and developing players to fill out his defense and he trusted them to hold up under pressure.
But the Saints lost that bet, and suddenly found themselves playing from behind against one of the league’s most aggressive teams. The Saints offense has taken a long time to get up to speed, meaning their defense — Allen’s defense — has had to shoulder the load. That defense is supposed to be the strength of the team. If they aren’t pulling their weight, what does it say about Allen?
