Great Season, Saints

NFL screwed us

Scoring Plays:
1Q - NO - Wil Lutz 37 yd FG GOOD 3-0 NO
1Q - NO - Wil Lutz 29 yd FG GOOD 6-0 NO
1Q - NO - Drew Brees to Garrett Griffin 5 yd TD pass (PAT Good) 13-0 NO
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2Q - LAR - Greg Zuerlein 36 yd FG GOOD 13-3 NO
2Q - LAR - Todd Gurley II 6 yd TD rush (PAT Good) 13-10 NO
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3Q - NO - Drew Brees 2 yd TD pass to Taysom Hill (PAY Good) 20-10 NO
3Q - LAR - Jared Goff to Tyler Higbee 1 yd TD pass (PAT Good) 20-17 NO
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4Q - LAR - Greg Zuerlein 24 yd FG GOOD 20-20
4Q - NO - Wil Lutz 31 yd FG GOOD 23-20 NO
4Q - LAR - Greg Zuerlein 48 yd FG GOOD 23-23
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OT - LAR - Greg Zuerlein 57 YD FG GOOD 26-23 LAR
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Hello Who Dats and Who Datettes... we're back with another playoff edition of the Saints Game Thread

Today is the day we see if our favorite football team will head back to the Super Bowl for just the second time in franchise history by winning its 2nd George Halas Trophy (and 1st in the new design).

though I'm definitely a fan of the old version of the Halas Trophy

That's right, it's Conference Championship Sunday, and your Saints are not just in it for the third time in franchise history, but are hosting it for the second time. In a way, this right here is why the team plays those 16 games between September and December, to put itself in the best position possible to get to the Super Bowl, and there's no better position than having won the right to host the Conference Championship Game.

So you better get up and call someone and make sure they're ready to scream loud and cheer our boys onto the Super Bowl

To punch our ticket to Atlanta though, we have to get past the other team in the NFC that went for 13 wins during the 2018 regular season, the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams stopped by the Superdome earlier this season and left with their first loss of the season, a 45-35 Saints victory, which is the reason today's game is in the Superdome instead of the Los Angeles Coliseum. Michael Thomas took Marcus Peters' soul that day, going for 211 receiving yards and the game clinching TD where CGM did his cell phone tribute to Joe Horn, something I'm sure the Rams haven't forgotten.

So what's different today than November 4th? On the Rams side, their defensive backfield is bolstered by having Aqib Talib this time around, but the wide receiving corps is missing one of its big weapons, Cooper Kupp, who was the Rams' 2nd leading receiver in the earlier meeting, including a TD. The Rams also added CJ Anderson late in the season who's helped give Todd Gurley some time off.

On the Saints side, they have Ted Ginn, Jr. this time as he was out injured during the first meeting, and Eli Apple has way more than just a couple days in our system (Apple had been acquired from the Giants the week of the 1st Rams game). Unfortunately, last week's win over Philadelphia came at a cost for the Saints defense, who saw Sheldon Rankins' playoffs come to an end (unfortunately, as well as his 2019 season it seems) when he went down with a torn Achilles.

As for the actual injury report, the 53 Rams on the active roster are all healthy and good to go, while the Saints will reportedly be without TE Ben Watson as he battles appendicitis, even though he is marked as QUESTIONABLE on the injury report with just an illness. The Saints will also with without WR Keith Kirkwood, who suffered a calf injury last week against the Eagles.

LET'S SEND THE RAMS HOME FOR GOOD AND MAKE ATLANTA'S WORST NIGHTMARES COME TRUE BY CLINCHING OUR SPOT IN THE SUPER BOWL AT OUR HATED RIVALS HOME STADIUM!!!

Uniforms: Just like in the 1st meeting between the 2 teams, the Saints will be in the all-black uniforms for today's NFC Championship Game

Today's Officials: Again, the playoffs are all a mix-and-match of the best officials during the season, so an official's regular season crew is listed in parenthesis

Referee: #52 Bill Vinovich (Vinovich and his crew worked the regular season meeting between the Saints & Rams)

Umpire: #102 Bruce Stritesky (Bill Vinovich)
Down Judge: #13 Patrick Turner (Tony Corrente)
Line Judge: #59 Rusty Baynes (Jerome Boger)
Field Judge: #97 Tom Hill (Shawn Hochuli)
Side Judge: #60 Gary Cavaletto (Bill Vinovich)
Back Judge: #30 Todd Prukop (Tony Corrente)
Replay official: Mike Wimmer (Shawn Smith)
Replay assistant: Bill Ellis (Shawn Smith)
Alternates: Jerome Boger (R), Mark Perlman (LJ - Bill Vinovich), Steve Freeman (BJ - Alex Kemp)

Inactive Lists:
LAR-
RB Justin Davis
OL Jamil Demby
OLB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
DT Sebastian Joseph-Day
DT Tanzel Smart
DB Darious Williams
OLB Trevon Young

NO-
C Will Clapp
WR Keith Kirkwood
T Derek Newton
LB Manti Te'o
DT Tyrunn Walker
RB Dwayne Washinton
TE Benjamin Watson

This post was edited on 1/20/19 at 5:28 pm