Saints vs. Rams: NFL Week 16 Live Updates and Notes

The stakes are pretty high for Thursday night's game between the Saints and Rams, and only one can end up claiming the big prize.

Author:
John Hendrix
Updated:
Dec 22, 2023 12:21 AM EST
Original:
Dec 21, 2023

In this story:

New Orleans Saints

LOS ANGELES -- The stage is set for the Saints and Rams to do battle inside SoFi Stadium to kick off Week 16 NFL action. The winner of this game will gain a huge leg up in the NFC playoff race. Keep things tuned here for all the latest from the game with updates, notes and plenty of observations.

Pregame

Pointed this out in the inactive report, but this is the sixth straight game that the Saints won't have Kendre Miller. It's pretty disappointing to say the least. New Orleans has had more production from their Day 3 picks than their Day 2 picks this season. We won't pass judgement just yet, but it's just not a great look.
Speaking of Miller, the Saints only have two running backs dressed for this game plus fullback Adam Prentice. This could open the door for more involvement from Taysom Hill. He was practically a non-factor against the Giants, but that also felt like it was by design.
No matter what happens in this game, New Orleans will get a mini-bye before they have to play the Bucs on the road for that extremely important NFC South game. We'll keep tabs on Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore, who were eligible to return from injured reserve after the Giants game.
If you haven't checked this out, then go read my colleague Ross Jackson's piece on Keith Kirkwood.
Tough to say how this one is going to go. Vegas is favoring the Rams and they feel like they can get this one. For what it's worth, I picked New Orleans.
Getting Chris Olave back will be a big boost for the Saints passing attack. This is a big opportunity for Derek Carr in the national spotlight too. The biggest thing is can the Saints defense limit the Rams enough and equally match the point output? We want to see as little of Blake Grupe as possible for the red zone.
Saints fans traveled pretty well for this game. Stadium isn't remotely full with less than 10 minutes to go.
No Lonnie Johnson Jr. in the lineup as the extra defensive back. We'd fully expect that to go to Johnathan Abram tonight, but we'll see how it plays out. Presumably, that would account for about 20-30 snaps.
Rams won the toss and elected to defer to the second half kickoff.

First Quarter - Rams 7, Saints 0

Scoring

Rams, 2:28 - Puka Nacua 6-yard reception from Matthew Stafford. (14-95, 7:56)

Notes

Good decision to get Chris Olave involved early. Derek Carr found him for an 11-yard hookup on 2nd-and-8 and then on the ensuing play for 9.
Max Garcia is once again the jumbo offensive lineman for the Saints. I think this has to be a case where you trust the veteran over Trevor Penning.
Great job by Derek Carr to escape pressure given up by Cesar Ruiz. He hit Olave again for 16. He's putting in work.
Carr ended up taking a sack on 3rd-and-7 that resulted in a 6-yard loss. That moved it from a 49-yard field goal attempt to a 55-yarder, and New Orleans elected to punt.
Cesar Ruiz is going to have to bounce back quickly. That wasn't a particularly good first drive for him on the interior.
Can't let Tyler Higbee be that wide open. He picked up 22 yards after a quick pass in the flats. Three Saints defenders had to chase him down.
You also have to make that tackle on 3rd-and-6. Isaac Yiadom had Puka Nacua short of the sticks, but instead he picks up 17.
Johnathan Abram is the extra defensive back in those situations.
This Rams drive started on the 5-yard-line. Los Angeles is dealing on their first offensive series.
Really nice stop by Pete Werner for a 3-yard loss on the Cooper Kupp run. That's about as good as it gets.
Werner picked up a bad pass interference on the 3rd-and-8. Another chance to get off the field, and the Saints defense can't.
The New Orleans defense gives up a 14-play, 95-yard drive that took nearly 8 minutes. You can't afford to have the offense go three-and-out now. Where was the pressure?
That's a nice basket catch by Rashid Shaheed for 16.
Chris Olave continues to be a big presence on the field, picking up a big Saints first down on 3rd-and-6 to end the quarter.

Second Quarter - Rams 17, Saints 7

Scoring

Rams, 10:23 - Lucas Havrisik 20-yard field goal. (7-50, 3:09)
Saints, 2:28 - Rashid Shaheed 45-yard reception from Derek Carr. (3-63, 1:25)
Rams, 0:21 - Damarcus Robinson 4-yard reception from Matthew Stafford. (5-58, 0:35)

Notes

Another promising Saints drive that ends in nothing. James Hurst got beat on 4th-and-5 that resulted in a 9-yard loss. New Orleans can't afford to keep getting across midfield with nothing to show for.
Puka Nacua gets wide open. We're seeing that too much. This time it cost the Saints 28 yards.
Rams are inside the 10 again after Cooper Kupp gets a big connection. New Orleans is letting this one get away from them too quickly.
Saints lucked out after Stafford just missed Kupp in the end zone on the 3rd-and-Goal play. New Orleans was fortunate to just allow a field goal, but they have to respond with points.
Good response on the first play with Carr hitting Olave for 16. He's up to 5 catches for 56 yards on 6 targets.
Horrible time to take a holding call. Landon Young guilty of it to back the Saints up to 2nd-and-20. They punted after having their worst drive on offense.
Defense can't generate the pressure necessary and they can't get off the field on a 3rd Down again.
Demario Davis is getting looked at on the Saints sideline. Oh boy. He missed a few plays while getting his right hand looked at. It got taped up and he went back out there.
Havrisik is no good from 46 (wide left) and the Saints catch a break. Let's see if they can make something of it.
Really nice hookup of 21 to start the drive via Carr to Juwan Johnson. Saints are once again across midfield.
Great time to dial up the play action for the Saints offense. Carr hit a beauty to Rashid Shaheed for the 45-yard score.
Nice play for the rookie Jordan Howden on the Cooper Kupp deep attempt. Carl Granderson ending up getting the first Saints sack on 3rd-and-5 after the pressure finally was able to get home. New Orleans has a chance to put points up on the board before the half.
Chris Olave has been money in the first half. He kicked off the drive with an 18-yard gain. 6 catches for 74 yards.
Complete whiff on 4th Down. No one was there. Not sure why the Saints went in a hurry-up mode with two timeouts on their side.
Demarcus Robinson was able to flip the field with a 32-yard gain on the first Rams play with less than a minute in the half.
Nacua and Robinson are eating up the Saints secondary. They seriously have no answers right now.
Like the aggressive call to draw up a shot to Shaheed, but it just couldn't connect.

Third Quarter - Rams 27, Saints 7

Scoring

Rams, 11:10 - Lucas Havrisik 22-yard field goal. (10-72, 3:50)
Rams, 5:42 - Kyren Williams 10-yard run. (5-41, 2:45)

Notes

Can't stress how important these final 30 minutes of the game are. You might could get away with losing this one, but why leave it to chance?
So much for that. Stafford hit Nacua for 41 yards to start the second half. It's unraveling for New Orleans right before our eyes.
Saints dodged a huge bullet with Stafford missing Nacua for the first time. He was wide open and would have scored.
New Orleans could have got a big stop, but instead give up an 11-yard gain to Cooper Kupp on 3rd-and-10. When it's ugly, it's ugly.
New Orleans was fortunate to get off the field for the 3rd Down play, but the Rams add to their lead. The offense has to get six and not three soon.
Having to burn a timeout so early in the 3rd Quarter is maddening, but the play clock was dwindling.
Really big catch by Foster Moreau on the 3rd-and-6 play that picked up 13. That might have been the least expected option there.
Jordan Fuller gets the first turnover the game after picking off Derek Carr and then returning it 21 yards. Saints have dug themselves a nice hole and I don't think they'll climb out of this one.
One team prepared for this short week and it looks like the other didn't. This has been a pretty bad display all around, especially the tackling.
Chris Olave has been a bright spot tonight. He's up to 102 yards receiving on 7 catches. He's been targeted 9 times.
Starting to see some off-target stuff and questionable choices now. The play Carr went to Olave he went to Johnson and then the Johnson play should have went to Olave.
You need a first down and go with a short route on 4th-and-7 that had no chance.
Chris Olave was pretty upset following that sequence. You can't blame him either.
Alontae Taylor is on the bench right now next to the quarterbacks and Ugo Amadi is in for him. That certainly looks like a benching.

Fourth Quarter - Rams 30, Saints 22

Scoring

Rams, 12:44 - Lucas Havrisik 32-yard field goal. (9-56, 4:55)
Saints, 6:33 - Juwan Johnson 5-yard reception from Derek Carr. (12-75, 6:11)
Saints, 3:53 - A.T. Perry 35-yard reception from Derek Carr. 2-point attempt is good to Chris Olave. (2-35, 0:40)

Notes

Puka Nacua is special, but the Saints secondary is also bad tonight. He has 8 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown.
I'm not sure where New Orleans goes from here. I don't see much to suggest they'll go in and beat the Bucs. This is seriously a step back for them and their only path is the division.
The urgency on offense is producing some success, but the clock is against you and you're down 23 points.
Good effort by Juwan Johnson on the 3rd-and-6 play to pick up 20 yards.
Juwan Johnson got into the end zone for the second straight game, but it's certainly too little, too late.
Alontae Taylor has had a towel over his head for a bit now on the sideline. It's been that kind of day and game.
J.T. Gray got a blocked punt inside of 5 minutes that resulted in a 8-yard boot. It sets New Orleans up with good field position, but they're still down 16. Because the punt gained yards, it won't go down as a block.
That's some catch by A.T. Perry. Rams fans certainly wanted a flag on that, but it goes down as a big haul for the rookie.
The first onside attempt of the year didn't get home, but when you're kicking at Nacua, what do you expect?
Why go for the hit instead of a tackle on Williams? That's not what you're supposed to do.
Jumping on 3rd-and-6 to give the Rams an extra 5 yards to make an easy field goal sounds about the right way to go out.
The crazy part about not quitting and the comeback is that it really feels like a false sense of hope. I understand it, but you got to play 60 minutes.