In Week 16, the Rams’ final home game of the regular season is against the Saints on Thursday Night Football. Thursday’s kickoff in Inglewood is set for 5:15 p.m. Pacific Time on FOX 11 locally and nationally on Amazon Prime Video.
Here’s your First Look at Rams-Saints, courtesy of Hyundai, ahead of the game:
Notable Saints inclusions
QB Derek Carr was signed in March to a 4-year contract: Carr left the Raiders after nine years in an attempt to start over in New Orleans. It’s paid off thus far: With 16 touchdowns on 67.4% of his passes completed and 7 interceptions, he has the second-fewest interceptions in a single season of his career thus far.
In the fifth round of this year’s draft, Wake Forest wide receiver A.T. Perry was selected: *Although the rookie hasn’t produced much thus far this season, he is starting to play a bigger role now that Michael Thomas was placed on injured reserve on November 21. At six feet five and 205 pounds, Perry provides Carr with a large target as he has started the last three games for the Saints.
Week 15’s Top Performers
With 218 yards and three touchdowns on 23 of 28 pass attempts, Carr led New Orleans to a 24-6 victory over the New York Giants.
The Saints’ top rusher and receiver was running back Alvin Kamara, who finished with 16 carries for 66 yards and five receptions for 44 yards.
DE Tanoh Kpassgnon had a career-high 3 sacks and added six total tackles to lead New Orleans’ defense.
K Blake Grupe converted all three of his extra point attempts and his one field goal attempt on special teams, and P Lou Hedley averaged 41.8 yards per punt over the course of four punts.
What to watch for early storylines and how they relate to the Rams
There are no higher stakes in the playoffs than what Thursday night will bring.
The Rams, the No. 7 seed in the NFC, take on the Saints, the No. 8 seed. In the conference record tiebreaker, a single game separated the two teams (7–7). A victory would significantly boost that team’s chances of making the playoffs. Although a loss wouldn’t be fatal, it would be challenging to overcome in the final two weeks given how close the battle is for those Wild Card spots.
In the meantime, both offenses have clicked recently, with New Orleans scoring 24 points or more in three straight games and Los Angeles scoring 28 points or more in four straight, possibly setting the stage for a high-scoring match.