Don't Miss a Beat: Rams vs. Saints Live Updates and Scores in Week 13

Keep up with the Rams-Saints action with our weekly game thread, with notes, scoring, big plays and in-game analysis.

Nov 17, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill (7) celebrates a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns with New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

NEW ORLEANS -- Sunday's game against the Rams is about as important as they come for the Saints, as they look to move to 3-0 under interim head coach Darren Rizzi. More importantly, they look to keep pace in the NFC South and prove they're legitimate. Keep up with all the Week 13 action here in our weekly game thread, as we'll provide notes, scoring, big plays and in-game analysis.

Pregame Notes

• With no Erik McCoy, Shane Lemieux figures to be the most likely candidate to snap to Derek Carr. Kyle Hergel was signed to the active roster on Saturday, and he's got some work in at center too.
• It's only pre-game warmups, but I'm not seeing a big club on Pete Werner's hand. He was a full participant of practice this week.
• Scoreboard watching at this point, but paying close attention to that Chargers-Falcons game. The Saints aren't out of it until they're out of it, and we're doing this thing again. New Orleans just needs to win and focus on that.
• Crazy to think this is just the second late kick for the Saints of the year and that's all they have, assuming the schedule doesn't get flexed anymore and that finale against the Bucs isn't one.
• Shane Lemieux and Kyle Hergel are snapping in pre-game warmups. Would obviously expect Lemieux to get the start today for the Saints.
• Chris Olave is on the field with Coach Dubb (Keith Williams). Good to see him around.
• Did you know the home team has won the past nine regular season matchups? That's pretty nuts.
• Really nice crowd pop for Marquez Valdes-Scantling. He's done a really nice job making plays for the Saints in Olave and Rashid Shaheed's absence.
• Joel Hilgenberg is today's Saints Legend of the Game. Khalen Saunders and Cesar Ruiz led the Who Dat chant.
• Rams won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.

First Quarter - Saints 3, Rams 0

Scoring

• Saints, 8:48 (12-34, 6:12) - Blake Grupe 54-yard field goal.

Notes

• Rams know they're going to be tested on the ground after last week's game against the Eagles, and Alvin Kamara got a first down on the first run.
• Kamara got another good run on 2nd-and-10 to pick up 9 and then got stopped for no gain by Christian Rozeboom.
• Saints elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 after lining up and using a timeout and then Derek Carr went empty. He hit Kevin Austin Jr., just as we all thought would be the read.
• That's a wild catch by Kamara to lose 2 yards. I don't know how he did that.
• Drive stalls out after Carr's 3rd-and-12 pass goes incomplete. It was originally ruled a fumble and then scooped up by the Rams for a touchdown. However, they overturned it.
• Big boot by Blake Grupe to give the Saints the lead. It wasn't the prettiest finish to the drive, but every point counts.
• That's some pass rush the Saints got on 3rd-and-5. Bryan Bresee got the hit on Matthew Stafford and the ball fell incomplete. New Orleans passes their first test on defense.
• Really nice block by Taysom Hill on that Kamara 10-yard run.
• Carr tried deep to Juwan Johnson. Doesn't hit. Fans really don't agree with a no-call. Can't say I've seen that before.
• Rizzi ball is fun. He tried the fake punt on 4th Down and rolled right with Taysom Hill trying Kevin Austin Jr. Rams called for a hold that gave New Orleans a fresh set of downs.
• That's a fun play design by Klint Kubiak. Carr hit Taysom Hill after a fake pitch to the left to Kamara that picks up 21 yards. Bad news is New Orleans had to burn their second timeout at 2:19 of the opening quarter.
• Ineligible player downfield on Taliese Fuaga wipes out a Kamara touchdown from Carr after some great efforts. That's brutal.
• Another costly penalty on New Orleans, as Trevor Penning gets called for an illegal block below the waist. I thought he tripped at first, but that wasn't the case.

Second Quarter - Saints 6, Rams 0

Scoring

• Saints, 0:02 (11-51, 1:48) - Blake Grupe 54-yard field goal.

Notes

• Grupe misses from 36. That's about right. He was wide left, but it wasn't by much.
• Saints defense is going to be tested by that duo of Blake Corum and Kyren Williams. Corum had some good runs.
• Rams were able to have some success on their second possession, but it ends in nothing. Stafford and the offense stayed on for 4th-and-4 and he tried Cooper Kupp deep but it wasn't close.
• That's a really nice move by Carr in the pocket to escape a defender and hang in there to find Jamaal Williams for a first down.
• You don't see Alvin Kamara drop many passes, but that was one he probably should have had. Not sure if he would have picks up the first down, but it would have been interesting had he caught it.
• Two really strong Kyren Williams runs in a row. The Saints have to tighten up that run defense. It looked good against Nick Chubb, but so far it's not that great today.
• Saints pass rush was another focal point going into this game, so that's a good play by Nathan Shepherd to get home on Stafford for an 8-yard loss.
• The Stafford-Nacua connection isn't hitting early on. Just a lone catch for 4 yards on 3 targets. That'll surely change.
• Interesting to see the Saints operate in the 2-minute drill and start with a run. It worked to Kamara though, as he picked up 11.
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling gets involved and picks up a big first down after an 8-yard catch. That'll hurt his big average.

Third Quarter - Rams 7, Saints 6

Scoring

• Rams, 8:50 (11-70, 6:10) - Kyren Williams 4-yard run.

Notes

• It's the first regular season game that Sean McVay is shutout in the first half. The only other time it happened was in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.
• That's a really good tackle by Pete Werner. If he doesn't get Kyren Williams there, then he might be off to the races.
• Can't hold Puka Nacua down forever. That's a big conversion. Rams moving down the field relatively easy on this drive.
• Nice pass breakup by Ugo Amadi on Nacua. That's not easy to do, but Amadi has also played pretty well in the slot since taking over.
• Very little resistance by the Saints on defense there. That's not a good way to start the half.
• Really uninspiring drive for the Saints offense to counter. You put a tired defense back on the field who was just out there for 6:10 and 11 plays.

Big Plays