Saints hosting Los Angeles Rams

To some degree, it’s been a tale of two seasons for the New Orleans Saints and the stats prove it.

Despite leading the league in point differential, of the four remaining playoff teams, they actually rank last in that category dating back to their week 13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Ever since then, the Saints are also last in points per game and yards per play, suggesting their defense has been coming through in the big spots.

Numbers aside, the motto heading into Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams is preparation over panic and dogs over destiny.  Saints running back Mark Ingram said, “Man, you just have a higher sense of urgency or a higher sense of focus, higher sense of preparation. Everything means a lot more. All the small things matter, all the details are maximized in these games so you’ve just got to pay attention to the small things and stay true to who you are.”

Saints tight end Ben Watson said, “Got guys on this team that have been in Super Bowls before, me being one of them. But it’s not like we have a team that is a quote, unquote Cinderella team that hasn’t had any type of experience and so that’s a good thing. It’s good to have that type of game experience and also it’s good to have the feeling of what it’s like to be out there and to win and to lose.”

The Saints beat the Rams 45-35 in week 9 of the regular season.