The NFC Championship’s Rams-Saints showdown is the explosive rematch we need

Sean McVay has plenty to prove in his second shot at Drew Brees.

Back on Nov. 4, the Saints held off a fierce challenge from the Rams in a game where New Orleans never trailed. On Sunday, Los Angeles will get its chance at revenge — and this time, a spot in the Super Bowl is on the line.

The Saints overcame an early Eagles’ lead before dispatching Nick Foles and cementing their spot in the NFC Championship Game. That sets up an NFC title game rematch in New Orleans, and the Saints are riding high after coming back to dispatch the defending champions with a rousing rally Sunday.

The Saints can give Drew Brees’ third act a worthy centerpiece

The New Orleans veteran put together one of his finest seasons in 2018, riding the league’s rising tide of quarterback play to the kind of season that made him a brief MVP favorite late in the season. A December slump likely ceded the award to Patrick Mahomes, but he earn an even bigger honor by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl 53.

Brees may turn 40 years old on January 15, but he didn’t show any signs of aging in a season where he led the league in completion rate (74.4%) and quarterback rating (115.5) — both career highs. What was more impressive was his ability to thrive with a pair of star targets and little depth behind them. Michael Thomas was a worthy All-Pro selection after making 125 receptions for 1,405 yards, and Alvin Kamara showed out with 81 catches of his own.

And then things get dicey.

No one else on the Saints’ roster had more than 35 catches, and the club’s third-most targeted receiver was 38-year-old tight end Ben Watson. Stopping Thomas and forcing New Orleans to rely on other receivers was a big part of opponents’ brief flashes of success this fall; the Saints were 3-2 in games where he had 50 receiving yards or fewer, but 10-1 over the course of the rest of the season.

On Sunday, Thomas broke free for a franchise playoff record 12 catches and 171 yards. Kamara had 95 total yards on 18 touches. New Orleans needs that duo to stand tall in the Superdome once more to get their quarterback back to the promised land in three weeks.

But the Saints aren’t the only team that will pit their Super Bowl hopes on an overwhelming offensive attack Sunday.

Is the Rams’ offense back on track?

Los Angeles sputtered a bit as 2018 wound down, scoring only six points in a loss to the Bears and their top-ranked defense and then 23 — their second-lowest output of the season — while getting beaten by the Eagles. That cost the Rams their shot at the NFC’s top seed, but a weak schedule to finish out the season helped Sean McVay’s offense get back on track; LA sprang for 79 total points in comfortable wins after two of the league’s worst teams, the 49ers and Cardinals.

That momentum continued against the Cowboys in the Divisional Round, where a dominant running game kept the visitors from ever having a shot at advancing to the NFC title game. LA played right into Dallas’ strength, bullying its defense at the line of scrimmage en route to 273 rushing yards — a figure that included 100+ yard games from both Todd Gurley and twice-released tailback CJ Anderson.

The Rams crushed the Cowboys at the line of scrimmage, but on Sunday they’ll face a New Orleans defense that’s been extremely efficient against the run — but struggled against the pass.

There could be a mitigating factor at play here, however. The Saints lost beefy defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins to a torn Achilles’ in their Divisional Round win over the Eagles. That’ll make New Orleans a little more malleable up front — and could be the key to another big performance from LA’s running backs.

Can Aaron Donald do enough to shut down New Orleans’ explosive offense?

Donald likely cemented his second-straight Defensive Player of the Year award with a dominant season destroying pockets from the center of the Rams’ defensive line. The versatile tackle finished 2018 with 20.5 sacks, seventh-most in a single season in NFL history.

But Donald couldn’t take advantage of a banged-up Cowboys offensive line in LA’s Divisional Round win Saturday. The All-Pro had two tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage, but zero sacks. That performance marked the first time since September 23 that Donald failed to record a QB hit in a game.

That’s a bad sign for the Rams, because their defense has been fairly mediocre behind Donald. Los Angeles struggled against big plays throughout 2018, and on Sunday they’ll face a New Orleans team with a pair of playmakers who can score from anywhere on the field between Thomas and Kamara.

But if Marcus Peters’ comments are any indication, the Rams are welcoming the challenge (the audio is, uh, probably not safe for work).