From Andy Benoit:
Rams at Saints
Running backs in the passing game could decide this one. Alvin Kamara was the reason the Saints were even competitive when they visited the Rams in Week 12 last year. Will Sean Payton go back to featuring Kamara on the weak side of spread empty formations? (Taysom Hill’s curious rise seems to have come at the expense of New Orleans’s once-foundational spread-empty passing game.) Speaking of empty sets, that’s what the Rams employed at times last week against Green Bay when throwing to Todd Gurley. This doesn’t necessarily reflect a shift in philosophy, though. Those empty formations were condensed, not spread, and out of them the Rams still ran many of their usual pass plays for Gurley. Whichever team gets more big catches from its tailback will win this game. And keep in mind it was reported yesterday that Saints DE Marcus Davenport will be out for about a month with a toe injury.