Saints need better defense against Rams

Nov 23, 2017 - 1:43 AM METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints are coming off one of their worst defensive performances of the season.

Even though the Saints beat the Washington Redskins, 34-31, in overtime, last Sunday for their eighth straight win, the defensive performance raised some concerns.

The four offensive touchdowns allowed were tied for the most this season as were the three touchdown passes.

The 456 total yards and 300 passing yards were the most allowed during the win streak and the 156 rushing yards were the third-most allowed during the streak.

Washington's time of possession was the most by an opponent during the win streak.

Now New Orleans (8-2) plays the second-highest scoring team in the NFL when it travels to Los Angeles to play the 7-3 Rams in an important NFC game.

"They're very dynamic on offense," safety Kenny Vaccaro said Wednesday, adding that he expects to play Sunday after missing the last two games because of a groin injury.

His is one a few injuries that contributed to the performance against Washington. In that game, defensive end Alex Okafor suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.

"That's a tremendous loss," end Cameron Jordan said.

Cornerback Marshon Lattimore missed most of that game after injuring an ankle and linebacker A.J. Klein missed the game because of an ankle injury he suffered a week earlier.

Klein said his injury is much improved and he's hopeful of playing against the Rams.

"Obviously, (Los Angeles) has been very efficient on offense," Klein said. "They've got skill guys across the board and they can hurt you in different ways."

New Orleans has been able to hurt opponents in different ways. The offense picked up the defense last week by scoring 15 points in the final six minutes to force overtime. In different games, different areas of the team have stepped to the forefront when needed.

"We understand that each game at times has played a little bit differently, depending on the opponent and how they're defending you or what have you," quarterback Drew Brees said. "When you do win in a lot of different ways, no matter what the scenario you feel like, 'Hey we've been here before we know how to win this game.' There's just a belief and the confidence."

SERIES HISTORY: 73rd regular-season meeting. Rams lead series, 40-32. The Saints won the last meeting, prevailing 49-21 last season in the Superdome. The Rams won the last game in which they were the home team, winning 27-16 in 2013 at the Edward Jones Dome when the franchise was located in St. Louis. In the last meeting in Los Angeles, New Orleans won, 31-15, in 1994 in Anaheim Stadium. These teams were NFC West rivals from 1970-2001, meeting twice per season with the exception of 1982 when they did not face each other during a season that was shortened to nine games because of a work stoppage. The Saints' first NFL game was against the Rams and Los Angeles won that meeting, 27-13, in New Orleans in 1967. In 1990, the Saints beat the Rams, 20-17, in the Superdome in a head-to-head regular-season finale to determine the final NFC wild-card playoff berth.

--The Saints' ball security is getting gradually better, but they would like to return to the level they were at to start the season. They did not turn the ball over in the first four games, but have turned it over in each of the last six. It started with a season-worst three against Detroit, then they had two turnovers against the Packers, Bears and Buccaneers. In the last two weeks, they had just a single turnover against both the Bills and the Redskins. For the season they are plus-2. Ball security figures to be especially important against the Rams, who have forced 19 turnovers and are second in the NFL with 84 points off turnovers.

--The Saints have brought in reinforcements at cornerback because of the uncertain status of cornerback Marshon Lattimore. They signed Dexter McDougle to fill a vacancy created when injured defensive end Alex Okafor was placed on injured reserve. Earlier, the team signed Sterling Moore to fill a vacancy created by the waiving of LB Adam Bighill, who was later signed to the practice squad.

NOTES: CB Marshon Lattimore (ankle) and CB Ken Crawley (abdomen) did not practice Wednesday. ... LB A.J. Klein (ankle), T Terron Armstead (rest) and S Kenny Vaccaro (groin) was limited Wednesday.