Week 14 NFL Pick: St. Louis Rams vs. New Orleans Saints

The Rams already have one remarkable record to their credit in that they were the team that won the Super Bowl with the worst record the year before, as they went just 4-12 before winning it all with the “Greatest Show on Turf” and this newcomer QB Kurt Warner to the fold. No, we aren’t saying that the 1-15 Rams from yesteryear are going to become Super Bowl champs right away, but if they can win this one, they can take a major step towards the NFC West title, which would give them a home game in the first round of the playoffs. St. Louis has the best ATS mark in the game at 9-3 ATS, and it clearly has the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in QB Sam Bradford. No, this offense isn’t breaking any scoring records like Warner and his men came close to, but seeing this rook throw for 2,653 yards and take some major strides in the right direction has been impressive. Defensively, there has been a big time difference for Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo as well. His crew is allowing just 19.9 points per game and has only allowed more than 18 points on four instances this season.

We give the Saints a lot of credit for fighting through this tough stretch of schedule without really any semblance of a running game. RB Reggie Bush just isn’t getting the touches that we are used to seeing him get even though he has been back in the fold for a couple of weeks, but help appears to finally be on the way, as RB Pierre Thomas is going to be back for the first time since Week 3. That’s finally going to take some of the pressure off of QB Drew Brees, who is on pace to have yet another 4,000 yard campaign with ease. Brees is leading the league’s third best offense, and he has some phenomenal numbers. He has thrown for 3,634 yards on 69.5 percent completions, and his 25 TDs are amongst the league leaders. Unfortunately, so are his 16 picks… With a great game, WR Marques Colston could reach the 1,000 yard barrier, as he is at 71 receptions, 875 yards, and five scores this year. The Saints have struggled on defense of late, allowing 57 points of its last two games, but this unit has played significantly better at home than it has away. The 30 points allowed to the Cleveland Browns was largely thanks to some special teams and offensive gaffes, and that was the only truly terrible performance of the season.

New Orleans is going to win this game, but this is going to be a win-win situation. The Saints could care less how they get the ‘W’ in this one as long as they get it to ensure that they are just a few steps away from the postseason, while the Rams, though coveting the victory, would take a great performance to build off of. Both teams will get exactly what they want in what should be a relatively close run thing the whole way.