THIS WEEK: Fresh off a dramatic 34-30 road victory at Cincinnati, the Saints (9-3) will return to the Louisiana Superdome to host the St. Louis Rams (6-6) on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 3:05 CT.
TELEVISION: The game will be televised on FOX. Dick Stockton will handle play by play and Charles Davis and Jim L. Mora are the color analysts. The game will air in the New Orleans area on FOX 8and*in Baton Rouge onWGMB Channel 44. The game also airs onKADNin Lafayette,WDBDin Jackson, MS andWXXV *in the Mississippi Coast.
RADIO: Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan will call the game on the Saints Radio Network with Kristian Garic on the Saints sidelines. The game will air live on Saints Radio Network originating on WWL 105.3 FM and 870 AM, with pre and post-game analysis. The radio pregame and postgame shows will feature former Saints Steve Korte and Bobby Hebert as well as host Deke Bellavia.
SPANISH RADIO: Saints 2010 games air in Spanish on radio station La Fabulosa, WFNO 830 AM. Emilio Peralta and Marco Garcia handle announcing duties.
SERIES: The Saints and Rams have played 68 times with St. Louis holding a 38-30 edge. Former longtime foes in the NFC West, the Saints have played only the Atlanta Falcons (82) and the San Francisco 49ers (71) more often than the Rams. The two clubs have split the last four regular season contests. Three of the last five games in the series have been decided by a eight points or less, one by a field goal or less. From 1985-95, New Orleans won 15 of 20 meetings with the Rams. St. Louis responded by winning five of six from 1995-1997. New Orleans is 7-11 vs. the Rams since the organization moved to St. Louis in 1995.
LAST MEETING: Saints 28, St. Louis 23 at Louisiana Superdome, November 15, 2009 – Despite a furious fourth quarter Rams rally, where they rallied from an 11-point deficit and were driving for a touchdown as time expired, the Saints held on and improved to 9-0 as their nine-game winning streak tied a franchise record.
Things started slowly for the Saints as QB Drew Brees had a pass picked off by St. Louis S Oshiomogho Atogwe. The Saints defense stepped up as S Usama Young picked off Rams QB Marc Bulger in the end zone and returned it 24 yards.
RB Reggie Bush put the Saints on the scoreboard with a three-yard TD run. A 29- yard scoring pass from Bulger to Rams WR Donnie Avery tied the score but Brees then Bush on a 15-yard touchdown on the next possession. Rams RB Steven Jackson tied the game at 14-14 with a two-yard TD run with 55 seconds left in the half.
The Saints retook the lead for good on the second half's opening kickoff which WR Courtney Roby returned 97 yards for a score. A 32-yard field goal by Rams K Josh Brown put the Rams back within four points at 21-17.
On a possession that carried over into the fourth quarter, Brees found WR Robert Meachem for a 27-yard touchdown to push the New Orleans advantage to 28-17 with 12:15 remaining. Bulger found Avery for another touchdown and he led the Rams to the New Orleans 32 on their final possession before time ran out.
CONNECTIONS:Assistant head coach/linebackers Joe Vitt coached defensive backs with the Rams for the club's final three seasons in Los Angeles from 1992-94. He rejoined them, serving as assistant head coach/linebackers from 2004-05, taking over the head coaching reigns for the final 11 games of 2005...LB Scott Shanle was originally a seventh round draft pick of the Rams in 2003 and spent most of his rookie season with the club...DL Anthony Hargrove was a fourth-round draft choice of the Rams in 2004 and played in St. Louis from 2004-06...Coaching assistant Brian Young was a fifth round draft pick of the Rams in 2000 and played for St. Louis from 200-03...QB Chase Daniel was a three-year starter at the University of Missouri and led the Tigers to their first two Big 12 North division titles in school history...St. Louis running backs coach Sylvester Croom played for the Saints in 1975...Tight ends coach Terry Malone and Rams linebackers coach Paul Ferraro served on the same coaching staff at Bowling Green from 1991-95...Assistant special teams coach Mike Mallory and Rams defensive line coach Brendan Daly served on the same coaching staff at Maryland in 2000...St. Louis strength coach Rock Gullickson served in the same position in New Orleans from 2000-05...Offensive line/running game coach Aaron Kromer and Rams defensive backs/cornerbacks coach Clayton Lopez served on the same staff in Oakland in 2004...CB Tracy Porter, WR Courtney Roby and Rams G Jacob Bell were teammates with the Tennessee Titans...CB Leigh Torrence and St. Louis S Oshiomogho Atogwe were college teammates at Stanford University...Rams DE James Hall prepped at St. Augustine High School and was a teammate of C Jonathan Goodwin at the University of Michigan...St. Louis P Donnie Jones prepped at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge and played at LSU...Rams FB Mike Karney was a fifth round draft choice of the Saints in 2004 and was New Orleans' starter for five seasons...Head equipment manager Dan Simmons is a St. Louis native who graduated from Meramec College. Simmons, worked for his father, Bill, who served in a similar position with the St. Louis Cardinals...K Garrett Hartley and St. Louis QB Sam Bradford were teammates at Oklahoma...Rams director of player programs La'Roi Glover played for New Orleans from 1997-2001 and is ranked seventh on the club's all-time list with 50 sacks.
NEXT WEEK: The Saints will go back on the road next Sunday when they face the Baltimore Ravens at Noon CT.
