Saints, Rams Week 9: Observations from the cheap seats

On Sunday in Week 9, the Saints knocked off the previously undefeated Rams. Here are some observations on the game from the cheap seats.

The Mercedez-Benz Superdome was electric with anticipation for the New Orleans Saints game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in Week 9. With a 3:25 start, there were a few more hours for pre-gaming and the Dome was abuzz, figuratively and quite possibly literally, with people fired up for the game.

Since Week 2 of this season, the Saints have rarely been disappointing overall and this week was no exception. Outside of the forgettable third quarter of the game, the Saints were outstanding. For many Who Dats, they were looking to shake off the gloom of a Saturday night watching LSU get completely dominated by Alabama. In the second quarter, the Saints began to look like they were going to orchestrate their own domination.

The fans were asked to come in loud all game. While I’ve heard the Dome louder, the noise was definitely a factor. The fans absolutely amped up the noise from go early on. That noise was stymied in the third quarter and into the fourth while the Rams went on their run that eventually tied up the game, but it went back to fever pitch when Drew Brees hit Michael Thomas on the go route that iced the game.

There are plenty of thoughts on the game and plenty of positives to bring from it. The Saints were simply fantastic in the first half. Outside of the Mark Ingram fumble, the offense scored touchdowns on every drive of the first half. The fumble didn’t hurt us because the defense stood up on their ensuing drive and they ended up turning the ball over on downs.

Going into halftime up 35-17 was not on anyone’s radar, not against the Rams. The comeback was almost a given. But the Saints deserve every bit of credit for holding when it counted and putting enough points on the board in the second half to put the game away.