NFL Playoffs preview: Drew Brees hoping to beat Los Angeles and Father Time one more time
New Orleans face Los Angeles in a rematch of one of the regular season's most entertaining games
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Your support makes all the difference.They say life begins at 40 but Drew Brees would settle for just one more game.
The New Orleans quarterback celebrated reaching his fourth decade this week fresh from an age 39 season that ranks amongst the best of his what will be Hall of Fame career. Career highs in completion percentage and quarterback rating headline what would've been an MVP year had it not been for Patrick Mahomes' superhuman heroics in Kansas City, but were still good enough for a 13-3 campaign and the NFC's No 1 seed.
That homefield advantage was tested within an inch of its life a week ago - or, to be more accurate, the width of Alshon Jeffrey's hands - as the Saints outlasted the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles in a thriller in New Orleans. Now only one hurdle remains between Brees and a first Super Bowl appearance in a decade.
It's a pretty high hurdle, however, as the Los Angeles Rams head to The Big Easy on Sunday evening for the NFC Championship game. They've been already this year, of course, and gave the hosts everything they could handle in a 45-35 barn-burner in week nine losing their pristine unbeaten record in the process. They went on to lose only two more times but were it not for that night in NOLA this one, and the road to Atlanta with it, would be going through LA.
You feel that could ultimately prove crucial with the famously juiced up Mercedes-Benz Superdome crowd surely set to be a factor again as they were last weekend. Quietening them early will be LA's No 1 priority.
To do it expect them to lean on the biggest and most bruising one-two punch in the league with MVP contender Todd Gurley and late season free agent acquisition CJ Anderson likely to see the rock early and often. Since Anderson's arrival off the street in week 16 the Rams have averaged 40 rushing attempts per game in piling up nearly 600 yards. It's no surprise they won all three of those tilts and with standout run stuffer Sheldon Rankins out for the Saints they look set to go back to the well with that winning formula again this week.
Should they get their run game going that will play into the hands of signal caller Jared Goff who has thrived off play action all year long. The softer coverages and perfectly designed plays to exploit them helped him look an MVP himself for much of the season. A mid-year slump is firmly in the rear-view now too and should they keep him upright - as they did superbly last week against the Dallas Cowboys, anchored by the ageless Andrew Whitworth - then Goff should come to play.
The Saints will have a plan of their own, of course, and will be hoping to get out of the gate faster than a week ago when they spotted the Eagles a 14-point lead early. Brees relied on Michael Thomas to get him out of that particular hole and you'd think he'll do so again after the all-star wide receiver's monster 12-catch, 211-yard day against this weekend’s opponent nine weeks ago. He took Marcus Peters' lunch that night but the returning Aqib Talib could and should see New Orleans move Brees’ favourite target around from his regular slot role this time around.
Add in the Saints' own two-headed running back monster, Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, and the Rams' 19th-ranked defence certainly have it all to do. That said, the usually high-powered Saints offense slumped to a distinctly average 19 points per game over the last month of the season and showed a hitherto not seen vulnerability that will give LA and coach Sean McVay plenty to be positive about ahead of this second meeting.
Brees has got his team this far using every last ounce of his experience. He'd trade it all for the chance to do it just one more time.
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