First Look: Saints at Rams

It's a short week for the Saints and Rams, and whoever ends up victorious will earn a huge leg up in the NFC playoff race.

The Saints (7-7) and Rams (7-7) kick off Week 16 NFL action on Thursday Night Football, and the stakes are extremely high for both clubs. For Los Angeles, they're trying to hold on to their Wild Card spot and crack the postseason. For New Orleans, they are trying to capture the division and also have Wild Card potential. There can only be one winner out of this matchup, and here's some of things to pay attention to leading up to kickoff.

Saints Storylines to Follow In Week 16

PLAYING ON THE SHORT WEEK

The Saints have placed a huge emphasis on getting their bodies right ahead of Thursday night's game against the Rams. They're only doing walkthrough practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, and they're going to have to make a long trip to the West Coast. We'll see where some players are at, as we'd expect Chris Olave and Ryan Ramczyk to likely return to action at least. Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore are both eligible to return from injured reserve, both we don't anticipate that happening this week.

THE SEAN MCVAY-DENNIS ALLEN CHESS MATCHUP

Dennis Allen praised the Rams receivers and their ability to block out on the perimeter. They're undoubtedly talented there, and I'm still wondering how Cooper Kupp got that wide open against the Commanders. Kyren Williams is a big reason for success, so obviously the Saints run defense will go under the microscope. Matthew Stafford is playing well too, so it's one of those offensive vs. defensive matchups. Allen has dialed up two really solid game plans in a row. Will it work again?

Saints And The Playoff Picture Entering Week 16

WILL THE OFFENSE KEEP IT GOING?

Derek Carr is arguably coming off his best game in a Saints uniform, and his performance was more what fans were expecting all season. The best thing to appreciate about the outing was the fact there was no Chris Olave or Michael Thomas. After all that's happened, this is where they need to operate. They've improved in the Red Zone and on 3rd Down, and you obviously want to be playing your best football in December and beyond. Use Alvin Kamara like you have been doing, and it calls for one heck of a game plan.

FIND A WAY TO WIN

Some may feel like this is a game the Saints could lose, and that's somewhat true based on the division opponents in Weeks 17 and 18, but New Orleans should not leave that to chance. We've seen them go down this road before. It's not impossible, but winning out would be their best bet. You don't want to get into a tiebreaker situation with other teams to have earlier wins come back to bite you. Vegas is favoring the Rams and many analysts will pick them too, but I have a feeling the Saints have something on their side to piece together a win.