Rams run over Saints – Thursday Night Postgame w/ The Athletic Football Show | #nfl #losangelesrams

Join Robert Mays and Nate Tice as they bring you postgame analysis of the New Orleans’ Saints’ battle with the Los Angeles Rams.

#neworleanssaints #nflfootball

W This is the athletic football Show Welcome to the athletic football show I’m robbert May joining me tonight it’s my good friend Nate tyon Nate how you doing buddy I’m doing whoa I’m doing very well it’s uh in a night where it felt like the Rams were marching on the ground it

Really felt like also I look at the teams stat as I pull it up ESPN every time as I do on these live shows and I see 18 passing first downs only to four rushing first downs really feel like the Rams had their way even though it got

Close at the end but I’m doing very well how are you doing tonight Robert I’m doing okay it was a fun game and it was a fun moment for the Rams this is a team that we’ve talked about to the point of exhaustion it feels like all season

About how dynamic they felt on offense how dangerous they felt on offense and now we’re seeing it this was a national game Prime Time game for everyone to watch right on the eve of the playoffs and we say this about teams all the time oh they’d be dangerous if they get in

They’d be dangerous if they get in the Rams part of me a couple weeks ago was looking at them and saying it’d be fun if they got in just from a watchability perspective it’d be fun if they got in they play an exciting brand of football they’re doing so many interesting things

On offense now the last couple weeks have started to think about it they could win a playoff game they absolutely could be one of these teams if they managed to sneak into one of those Wild Card spots with the way that that offense looks right now and how

Dangerous that offense feels right now oh the offense is lovely it it’s honestly my favorite brand of Run game and my favorite brand of pass game and a philosophy that I am fully a believer in being everything looked the same using the same Personnel using the Personnel

To do everything it’s like this offense is just everything because I’ve always been a Duo guy so that was the thing before about McVey I was like all the Zone stuff so I was like all right yeah that’s good so now that it’s Duo Centric

And it’s more at you two big thumbs up for me but this this they they got they were talking about you know herb Street and Al Michaels were talking tonight they got the you don’t want to see this team in the playoffs they when as soon

As you get that mentioned but I I’m fully behind this one because I think this is an awesome team the defense is funky they they you know they play greater as bigger as some of their parts than the you know everything is individual pieces Aaron Dal having Aaron

Do’s very nice but seeing all the young players stepping up and contributing how they’re playing well but then this offense they can do both they can run the ball at will and they can throw the ball vertically and create chunks which is what you have to do today in the NFL

They can match up against any defense that they face in the playoffs and their defense could do enough to hold their own on their side so it’s like this team I I thought they’d be pretty dangerous I just feel better by the week as I watch

Them they just look so good right now there’s probably a good chance they would play I’m not looking at this the standings right now in front of me so if they got the seventh seed let’s say they would play against the four four seed right three seed they seven seed they

Got the two seed two seed that’s right I keep all the Buys so they play against the two seed and right now that would probably be the Eagles of the Cowboys right yeah so right now right now they’re the six seeds so they play the lions in the first round I mean they

Could beat the Lions they could beat this version of The Eagles I think they could be any of those teams if they managed to sneak in when I was watching this game one of the prevailing thoughts that I had prevailing feelings was just how different it feels to watch these

Offenses play how different it feels to watch Derek Carr compared to what it was like to watch Matthew Stafford right now and that brought me back to where we were with these teams before the season started the saints were a team that paid up for Derek Carr because as they were

Trying to rationalize where they were as an organization the thought was if we drop a quarterback into this we can compete in the NFC right now that that’s the last little Gap Andy Dalton was fine last year but if we get a real quarterback if we spend on a real

Quarterback the defense is still Elite we have all these other things that can push us push us over the top they did that you watch this team and they don’t feel anything close close to a team that’s relevant in the NFC or a team that can make any sort of noise this

Summer people were talking about the Rams like they were done they were one of the worst offenses in football they were cooked they had a six and a half over under win total this was going to be one of the worst teams in the league potentially they were going to be

Picking near the top of the draft think about how different that feels right now and to me that’s a comment on how quickly things can change but also how important it is to have a real level of self-awareness when it comes to what you’re rer is what you could potenti

Potentially achieve and I feel like the Saints didn’t understand that and one of the most impressive things to me about the Rams this offseason is they knew exactly who they needed to be and exactly where they wanted to go with this version of the roster that’s it

They they they ate their vegetables they worked out they got into shape this offseason everything they do has had a plan there’s levels that’s why the offense is so cool you can tell that everything is with a purpose there’s nothing wasted everything is the pristine play everyone executes it very

Well but they add layers each week but you can tell that it’s almost like okay we’re going to sprinkle in this week because we got set stuff up and you can tell this whole offseason they understood their personnel getting TOA obviously boosted a lot of this but this

This draft is huge I mean this draft is a potentially I’m calling it franchise altering may be strong but you’re getting yourself back on track so quickly by adding three or four cheap contributors in the way that they had in one single draft it’s been monstrous the

That they’ve added on both sides of the ball ail nakua young and Turner in one single draft and what they’ve gotten out of those guys even Davis Allen had some moments last week where I was like okay Davis Allen this is one of those drafts for the Rams there’s no doubt about that

He the week one when they played the Seahawks and you asked me I like does this feel like a playoff team I was like what they looked like on offense I was like yeah this is a playoff offense because that was so well thought out and even how they’ve reconfigured the old

Wind it’s like like you said they looked at themselves in the mirror they’re like what are we what do we want to to do what’s our best version of ourselves it was almost like they kind of like left all the roster spots open you know probably other than Stafford and cup

Maybe havenstein we just like okay everyone else that was about it that was about it though even on offense that was about it Y and I I had a conversation with sha mcfan I’m comfortable talking about this before the season it was this first day of training camp we sat down

In the team hotel where they have camp and just talked about the way the last year had went and some of the shortcomings of those Rams teams and maybe some of the shortcomings that he had in the way that he approached the job and just the way that he oversaw the

Franchise I think he knew he needed to be better and he knew that the staff needed to be better and that they needed to approach this in a very different way and you can feel every ounce of that energy when you watch that team right now and I think it’s just so important

And so crucial to have one of those guys at the top and we’ve seen the value of those guys so much this year what Shanahan brings the Niners what sha McVey is for the Rams when you have that Catalyst at the center of your entire organ organization when that guy is

Bought in and that guy is bringing the energy and that guy is bringing the vision it can change things so fast for you and that’s where the Rams are right now and it’s it’s exciting it really is exciting and it was fun watching it’s funny watching Stafford tonight because

I I had two thoughts and one was I wish he was younger and and I say that because I just wish we would have more of this I wish we would have more years than maybe just next year or the year after yeah with Matthew Stafford playing with Shan MC

And then the other way that I went with it was I wish we had gotten 10 years of this I wish Matthew Stafford got with Shawn McVey when he was 25 because think about the way we talked about Matthew Stafford when he was in Detroit it wasn’t this we didn’t talk about him

This way he wasn’t considered the sort of player even if he had some fun moments even if he was talented I think it’s so fascinating how differently we can see quarterbacks as their circumstances change and I don’t think anybody has been an embodiment of that more over the last Five Seasons than

Matthew Stafford the way that we talk about him the way that we see him the way that we’ll remember him is irreparably changed because he went to Los Angeles and started playing with Shawn mcy and I just think that’s it’s really interesting when you think about how quarterbacks careers go the way we

Consider them and all of the things that maybe are subtly hugely influential in how these guys are remembered and what we talk about them like yeah the land of spots are everything I mean even just like a guy like pton Manning getting with a guy like Tom more and just those

Two just crafting stuff together and you’re like thank God you know it’s like it’s like Paul McCartney and John Lin growing up in Liverpool together Mahomes though the fact that Mahomes just got Andy re from day one it’s just so it’s beautiful Kindred Spears is a great way

To put it it’s beautiful to see these sorts of football marriages and it’s kind it’s like a late in life thing it’s like Matthew Stafford found the love of his life deep into his 30s when he spent his 20s toiling away over there in Detroit and he was a good quarterback

But this just feels so different now and the type of of character he is within the NFL ecosystem is just so different now yeah I I think McVey and Stafford who are very close in age to both of us but they got what I have seen uh is

Having in other sports too they kind of got that Fountain of Youth through the young players think how different this feels and like you were talking about last year felt like they just rolled the ball out and they’re like hey we’re gonna run it back let’s do it let’s get

Bobby Wagner let’s get Allen Robinson and that’s how it felt they felt old and creaky and then like the Saints feel now yes yes and now you go from Allen Robinson to PUK and deua even at a 2 two Atwell and then you go from Bobby Wagner to freaking what’s his name Christian

Rose boom I’m gonna remember your name but you go from that and you go from an undrafted free agent and a fifth rounder but young guys and it’s just again they get that Fountain youth you can feel the energy like the whole sideline is ridiculous with the Rams right now you

See him with Thea after like at the end of that game when just slapping him on the shoulder pad McVey is having a blast right now the jet sweeper AI runs over runs through the tackle and then like he gets up and you his teammates think he’s hurt but he’s like

Screaming because he’s all fired up and it’s like how do you not get fired up from that when I went to practice in training camp they had a lot of energy but I was like yeah the roster is full of undrafted free agents all these day

Three guys of course they have a lot of energy and it’s like of course they have a lot of energy and but it’s great it’s it’s it’s rejuvenated me a little bit because I was like we know what the Rams are gonna be some trick shots from

Stafford some Run games this has been a revelation that was staring at us but they they’ve been one of the nice pleasant surprises this entire season but in a good way like they’re actually good which is fun it felt like something ended last year it felt like we were

Getting to the end of something with that core of players with McVey with Stafford and it feels like now they’re just beginning and for it to happen that quickly is remarkable but again it helps when you have somebody like McVey at the center of it all on the other side of

This with the Saints this does feel like the end of something this is one of the oldest rosters in the NFL and their rationalization as they built the team the way that they did this summer was we can still squeeze out maybe one more Elite year of the defense we can get

Over the hump in this watered down NFC that’s my assumption based on all of their actions I’m just reading the tea leaves from the way that they approach the off season now you have a defense that is no longer Elite even if it’s falling back just outside of the top 10

Martian Latimore’s hurt Etc but this just isn’t a scary unit anymore even if it’s a solid unit and the offense this team’s paid Derek Car $60 million guaranteed I mean he’s going to be the quarterb there next next season if he wants to no trade clause no trade clause

And $52 million in dead money if they were to move on from him this is what it is and you think about all the young pieces on the Rams and all the young exciting pieces on the Rams who are the young exciting pieces on the Saints outside of maybe olve and then couple

Pieces on the defense yeah a couple DBS and yeah yeah a couple pieces on the defense offens it’s like Jawan Johnson alve but the offensive line has just been you know injured and disappointing different different degrees of that and that’s kind of it you know Rasheed uh

Shahed I mean uh uh he’s a fun player he’s an exclusive rights free agent after this season yes yes but uh but as far as like you know a lot of the other pieces around that it’s it’s not great it’s not great not a lot of building

Blocks so they have the car situation to maneuver next year they’re $87 million over the cap it’s the same old story we tell every single year of course they’re going to restructure everyone and get under and be more flexible than people think just by reading that number on

Over the cap but these things are going to start to catch up with them it’s going to happen I believe Andre Pete has a 13 million doll capit next year to not be on the roster jamus Winston has a $10 million cap hit next year to not be on

The roster at a certain point this is going to be a multi-year process for the them to dig themselves out of the bets that they made and the financial decisions that they made over the last couple years and when we get to that point it’s going to be ugly and I think

You could probably make an argument that that process should start as soon as this off seon so they can get it kick started as soon as possible and get out of it as soon as possible but either way no matter how you slice this they are

Looking at a dark couple years at some point down the road because I don’t know where that quick turnaround comes for them in the way that it came with the Rams it it felt like they convinced themselves so much that they were close to the Stafford Rams and even the Brady

Bucks I don’t think I think some I think that’s what they bet on they were just like hey that hey drop it in look at all these f we got we got nice pieces we got a couple young players too all right let’s do it and

It’s more like you kind of got Samy you got a little half tier kick and you but you paid four tiers more money like to to to do so that’s the difference who do you think has been a better quarterback this off this season Baker Mayfield or

Derek Carr Baker yeah yeah Baker and it’s just which is crazy Buck paid baker4 million this off this off seon 4 million to be their starting quarterback yeah that’s that that was the investment and they they weren’t in that dissimilar of places the Bucks and the Saints the

Aging roster some holes you paid a lot of these pieces you know maybe try to get the last great couple years out of a Levante David and some of the other Mike Evans the Aging pieces and the Bucks decided you know what we’ll pay Baker 4 million we understand what we are we’ll

See what happens over exactly let’s take a deep breath as we’ve stepped out of one team building period and potentially into another and the Saints never took that breath and I understand these teams are fascinating cuz they’re all they’ve gone through this little Crossroads from the late 2010s to now it’s like yeah

They all had different resets so yeah this is great and the Saints never had the reset and I I respect them trying to consistently win as a fan I would want something like that more often than not because I do think that there’s value in that I do think there’s value in

Consistently trying to be competitive but it comes with a price There’s an opportunity cost with all of these things and we’re looking at the price right now for the Saints I said it a couple weeks ago you’re watching them and you think about all of these shortterm kind of hedge moves that they

Made where they’re pushing the chips in and for this to be the final result just leaves you so incredibly cold it is such a starkly different experience to watch that team and watch the team that kick the out of them tonight and think about where they both are it’s it

Uninspiring is the the word I keep coming back to that and it’s funny because this Saints team had their version of the 2023 draft in 2017 when they all re same thing they’re kind of stuck in the muck it was they were going 6 and 10 6 and 10 7- n Fun

Offenses I think that’s ballpark where they were going but fun offens like seven n every single year because the offenses were great and the defenses were historically bad and then they and everyone’s like man how are they gonna get out of this because that’s when they started maxing out the credit card and

Then it just revamped the entire Saints franchise rejuven Li up by about 10 grand yeah yes yes I’ll update my income uh but that that’s what they did and and that’s what I mean look at the Chiefs nailing a draft too I mean this is just

What it can do when it can reconfigure your whole team like but it’s yeah but when you miss on draft picks like um shoot Trevor Penning and those that’s the one that will Loom large over the next couple years because of what they did to acquire him and again it’s that

Rationalization of we think we’re close if we trade up and get a left tackle and what their thinking B they think this this is all we need as opposed to yes that’s that’s and and I think comparing that to where the Rams were last year is very good when the Rams made similar

Bets last off season it’s like oh if we if we get Allen Robinson if we do this if we they almost traded two first- round picks for Brian Burns they almost did it they all they tried to trade for Christian mcaffrey so I just think those that sort of mindset that’s right Shan

I’ll TR that’s right that’s right the moves that you ultimately don’t make and the the Investments that they ultimately didn’t make ended up becoming huge for them and and I think taking a step back and taking a deep breath every once in a while is good for these teams and the

Rams did and look where they are right now the Saints didn’t and look where they are right now how about uh who tried to sign Allen Robinson and ended up not and traded for a different watch the Eagles end up trading for AJ Brown again sometimes the moves you miss out

On end up working out for you um real scheme scheme wise real quick there’s some fun stuff tonight other than everything that the Rams do because it’s amazing but Rams defense the third down stuff was really fun and Sam did a great job of pointing it out if anyone watched

The prime Vision uh but pointing out like the as opposed to they’re doing the 5 looks that we know with the Rams they’re trying to single up Aaron Donald Sam being a former off offensive lineman uh could points knows what he’s talking about here so I appreciate it so it’s a

Former it’s a five look they’re trying to create five 101s across the board for Aaron Donald the Saints are doing what a lot of their teams do now which is they slide as opposed to everyone single block Four Guys sliding for three let’s keep CRA in to block Ernest Jones who’s

Rushing right now but it burned him right away because Ernest Jones be be Jamal Williams he a very Blitzer he’s a really good Blitzer I mean this is like a thing that they can do it’s like he’s a weapon as a Blitzer but I thought it was awesome in the second half I

Actually was gonna give the Saints props because they adjusted and then the Rams adjusted to that which was awesome watching the third down sequence is a lot of fun so what they were doing was they would put Aaron donnald on third down the ramswood on the running back

Side why I saw this is they cut to play really early and I saw Aaron Donald going okay left left left he fall I was like I know exactly what you’re doing all right so they shipped over there the saints were smart and actually Carr did

A nice job he slid the line to that side until you know pointed CRA hey you’re going to cross protect here the Rams brought an extra Blitzer because the other linebacker was man coverage on C but it was just like such a fun chess game but again rahee Morris has been

Doing a kick-ass job this year that he was already on top of it and then the play that let so all that led up to the next third down which was the Rams went okay all right they’re doing this they adjusted protection okay we’re going to rush three have Ernest Jones hug rush

They call it Chimera so it’s rushing four basically and they ran a Zone car they kept getting maned so he thinks he’s gonna get an over route herbstreet actually did a great job of pointing it out it was supposed to be an over out he thought he was getting man coverage boom

There’s full for a pick just waiting there right it was just a nice little sequence but again this defense can do enough even if it’s kind of a no-name defense outside Aaron Aaron Donald it’s like they do enough and they can funky up stuff to stay to be competitive

That’s why I’m like so optimistic about this team on top of the offense every single time we have a conversation about head coaching candidates for next year R Morris’s name should be brought up yeah I everything that’s happened over the last couple years has made me a little

Cautious in terms of who I’m going to say is going to be a really successful head coach when they get that opportunity I think where I’m going to stop here is who deserves to be in these conversations who has done enough with his his current role to be just ifia in

The conversation to be a head coach Raheem Morris is very much up there at the top of that list AB based on what he has done over the last couple years and we can go back through everything about Raheem Morris beyond the job he’s done as that defensive coordinator he was on

The offensive staff in Atlanta for a couple years he’s cross trained that he’s coached in every single defensive system that you could possibly imagine he coached in the four down cover two bucks era way back when he coach he’s a mighty kein guy he coached in Pittsburgh

When they with with that tree with all the fire zone stuff that they do he came over and learn the fangio system and was the only coach that was new on that staff after Brandon Staley left this guy has seen a lot of football he is see

Cover three Legion of with Dan Quinn in Atlanta so he has seen everything and I think a lot of his presence in the building and what he’s meant for that staff and you could see the energy with some of these young defensive players if I were

Hiring a head coach this off seon I would want to have a conversation with Rim morrris about what he sees and what his plan would be that that’s where I’ll leave it because I do think those those qualifiers are going to be important as we continue to have these conversations

I actually like too that he had an opportunity before and failed because a lot of guys learned from their experiences not everyone could just hit stick The Landing like McVey and Shanahan he was 32 it was 10 years ago unbelievable remember those teams Josh Freeman is the quarterback remember that

Uh but he I actually think sometimes that’s the best thing that can happen with a lot of these right that’s a name huh uh but but I I actually like that and he’s now gone from okay so he’s the head coach 2011 he got fired so he’s

Been under Shanahan then he was under Quinn and Shanahan because then he was on offense then he was under shark and I I mean he’s just done like different things there it’s just I I don’t know there’s just a lot to like like you said different experiences is great it’s not

The same some of these guys get kind the samey tree I guess and then it’s like they only know one way to think of look at the the Patriots guys for years it’s just that’s a thing where they just they don’t get other outside experien susceptible to problem solving like

You’re having issues with problem solving because you haven’t had to solve a lot of problems it’s why older defensive coordinators are sometimes interesting because they’ve seen so many different things that you can solve more problems why belich didn’t blink when he’s seen some of all the stuff that

Seems new and invogue cuz like ah this is just the same thing that Army did in 1968 so I I64 yeah they they did this with like Archie woods and he he was running deep posts from it yeah exactly that but that’s the thing we’ve talked about this

Off off off air but it’s I I really think that’s why spags and and and Jim Schwarz these older coaches that have had experiences from the OTS and now they’re the older coaches now they have that experience to draw back from so I think really they they’ve had an

Advantage and I think they have some answers to Shanahan stuff which is what eight offenses have some roots in it give or take so that’s nice to have so like you have something that you can draw back from 2007 or 2008 15 years ago when some of these guys that are

Coaching against you were in high school like you know or in college like that that’s a real big deal just to draw that when that’s what that es and flows the NFL sometimes there’s a chance that McVey has to replace another coordinator again if Rim Morris gets fired away I

Feel a lot better about his ability to do that now than I did over the last couple years and I think that the way that they filled out the staff this offse is very indicative of where he was and where this organization was there was a level of intentionality taken to

Those hires and the way that they built this thing in a way that I don’t think there was over the last couple years and I think that’s why this Ram team feels different and that’s why the results that you’ve seen are different so there’s a chance they lose a defensive

Coordinator to be a head coach there’s a chance the Saints lose a head coach because it might be time after these last couple years of Dennis Allen for them to potentially go in a new direction if they do feel like they need a reset and I don’t think that’s where

The Saints wanted to be when they made all those Allin moves this summer nope if we had reversed this conversation like if you told me beginning of the year be like hey the Saints are doing some cool stuff and the Rams you know just feel rudderless like you know it’s

Crazy how a few months and some inspired coaching inspired moves and players playing well can just ch alter so much especially I don’t know I love the comparison that we’re making to the Rams last year man it’s like that’s just that’s what they felt like they did Kick

The Can down the road and they’re like whatever let’s roll it out let’s just keep doing the same stuff and it’s Stark to see the how inspired they feel and how uninspiring the Saints feel just inspired is the right word I do I do think that’s what that building is this

Year and I think that you and I both saw it in training camp and sometimes that stuff can be a little bit misleading but in this very specific case and you can go back and listen to the conversation I had with Jordan from that camp and just

Talking about what that team felt like and what practice felt like and why I just thought if Matthew Stafford was on the field and he was going to be healthy this year the idea of them winning six and a half games and being a bottom three offense or bottom five offense was

Just inconceivable to me and we have arrived at that moment not only is that inconceivable they are one of the best offenses in the league and a truly dangerous proposition if they manage to do this and get in yes no caveats bun that I I fully fully agree with that all

Right that is all we’ve got week 16 Thursday Night Football in the books we only got one more of these my friend I saw one more of these next week Browns Jets the Jo Flo Revenge game you always know it’s a good good good juicy game when the two players that they brought

Bring up there are non quarterbacks that’s that’s they they had either I think they had s Gardner or Garrett Wilson s gner two defers two defensive players that’s yes it’s gonna be a good it’s gonna be two great defenses on display so at least we will have that to

Talk about for now it’s all we got sincerely enjoy the holiday friends if you would please go listen to our we 16 preview which is available in your podcast feeds as this is as well right now the Ravens play the ners on Monday game of the year we talked about it

Probably half an hour on that preview show digging into every single nook and cranny of what that game is going to look like plus a couple more of the highlights from week 16 so please go check that out for now that’s all we got appreciate you guys listening we’ll talk to you soon