Saints fend off Los Angeles and get back in the win column

The Good: Passing offense

Andy Dalton played his best game as a Saint yesterday, as he threw for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21/25 passing. Rookie receiver Chris Olave continued his strong season as well, notching the third 100-yard game of his career and also catching a touchdown. This was a great performance for the Saints passing game, especially given it came against Jalen Ramsey, who struggled to keep up with Olave all game. This performance came at an important time for Dalton, as rumors swirled all week that he may be replaced as the starting QB. We’ll see if he is able to keep it up and if the last two weeks were just a fluke.

The Bad: Offensive line play

This one is understandable as the Saints were playing with two backups on the offensive line, at center and at left tackle, arguably the two most important positions on the line. Dalton and Taysom Hill were sacked 4 times, and the line was unable to create many running lanes for Kamara and the Saints ground game. As the backups get more playing time I’m sure they will improve, but this week was worrisome if the Saints ever get behind and a defense is able to sell out to rush the passer against them in the coming weeks.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

The Ugly: Giving up big plays

Not a whole lot stood out as ugly in the game, but the Saints giving up four plays of 20+ yards should not go overlooked. Tutu Atwell was able to get behind the defense in the first quarter for a 62 yard touchdown, while Stafford was able to hit completions of 20 and 18 yards on the Rams touchdown drive to give them the lead going into the half. Thankfully the Saints defense was able to adjust at halftime and allowed just 6 points in the second half, but the defensive backfield needs to be shorn up as the Saints look ahead to the 49ers and Buccaneers in the next two weeks.

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