The Rams’ big-play ability got them past the Saints and could win them Super Bowl 53

The New Orleans Saints jumped out to a 13-0 lead and had several chances to nail the Los Angeles Rams’ coffin shut. Instead, it’s the Rams headed to Super Bowl 53 after stealing away a 26-23 overtime win in the NFC Championship.

The Rams did it without much help from running back Todd Gurley, who spent much of the game watching from the sideline and finished with just 10 yards on four attempts.

What saved the Rams was what they’ve been great at all year: Explosive plays. Los Angeles made the bigger plays on offense, and kept the Saints from making many plays at all downfield.

It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Rams, but their propensity for chunk plays could be the key to winning Super Bowl 53.

For all the bells and whistles that Sean McVay has brought to Los Angeles, the Rams are often a powerhouse offense. They bulldozed the Cowboys in the Divisional Round and finished the regular season with the third most rushing yards and third best rushing yards per attempt.

That game plan didn’t work as well against the Saints. Gurley was absent for much of the game and C.J. Anderson was bottled up for 44 yards on 16 attempts.

Goff usually needs to make only a few great plays to supplement the Rams rushing attack, but he needed to do more Sunday. With the Rams desperately needing points before halftime, Goff dropped in an absolutely beautiful pass to Brandin Cooks for a 36-yard gain.

When the Rams needed a third-down conversion in the fourth quarter to keep a drive alive, Goff extended a play and threw a dart to tight end Gerald Everett for a 39-yard gain.

Another one of his biggest plays was just a 6-yard pass to Tyler Higbee. The Rams were facing a second-and-13 situation in Saints territory and only needed a few yards to set up a potential game-winning field goal. Goff avoided what could’ve been a devastating sack on the play and flipped the ball out to Higbee.

Two plays later, Greg Zuerlein drilled a 57-yard field goal for the win.

Goff finished with 297 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. That’s nowhere near his best stat lines of the year, but it was enough and came when the Saints dared Goff to beat them. He pulled it off.

With just a few minutes left in the game, and the Saints trying to put together a game-winning drive, Drew Brees lobbed a ball into traffic that could’ve been intercepted. Instead, Lamarcus Joyner misplayed the pass in the air, allowing Ted Ginn Jr. to haul it in for a 43-yard gain.

It was the only play of the game for the Saints that went for more than 25 yards.

That’s a surprisingly good day for a Rams defense that is typically a boom-or-bust unit that thrives off of sacks and turnovers, but has been prone to allow big plays.

In the first meeting of the Rams and Saints during the regular season, wide receiver Michael Thomas had a career-best 211 receiving yards. This time around he had 36 yards on four receptions.

The Rams defense can consistently create chaos up front with Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, and Dante Fowler. It was Fowler who got in Brees’ face in overtime to force an errant throw that was intercepted.

But if it can also avoid allowing big chunks at a time, it’s a defense that will be tough to score against. The Saints found that out in the NFC Championship and it could be a problem for the winner of the AFC Championship too.