Saints close gap on Rams with Derek Carr to Rashid Shaheed touchdown pass
Rashid Shaheed, a wide receiver for the Saints, was wide open down the field and caught a pass for a touchdown from 45 yards out.
It was the team’s first score of the night. At the end of the second quarter, Shaheed’s score cut the Rams’ lead to 10–7.
For the score, Shaheed had several steps on the player closest to him. It was his fourth receiving touchdown of the season. Of the four scores he’s scored this season, two have been at least 40 yards.
ESPN Stats & Information says it was Shaheed’s fifth catch of 40 yards or more this season. That’s the most in the NFL and the most by a Saints receiver since ESPN started keeping track of air yards in 2006.
It was Shaheed’s fourth catching touchdown of at least 40 yards since he joined the NFL last season as an undrafted rookie. That’s tied for the fourth most in the NFL.
The Saints and Rams will first play each other in Week 16 of the NFL season at SoFi Stadium. The winner of this game will have a huge advantage in the NFC playoff race.
Check back here often for updates, notes, and lots of thoughts on what’s going on in the game.
Thursday’s 30–22 win over the Saints put the Los Angeles Rams in charge of the NFL’s NFC playoff race. They held off a late New Orleans comeback.
The Rams’ Matthew Stafford threw for 328 yards and two scores, and their rookie Puka Nacua caught nine passes for 164 yards and a touchdown.
The Rams now have a better record than the Saints in the race for the last two wild card spots in the NFC.
In Rams history, Stafford is the first quarterback to have four straight games with two or more touchdowns and no picks.
The Rams got better to 8-7 with a run by Kyren Williams for 104 yards and a touchdown and a catch by Demarcus Robinson for 82 yards and a score.
The Rams scored on their first two plays. Nacua caught a touchdown pass of two yards to end a 95-yard drive, and Lucas Havrisik then kicked a field goal from 20 yards out to make it 10-0.
Early in the fourth quarter, they were ahead 30–7 before Derek Carr of New Orleans threw touchdowns to Juwan Johnson and A.T. Perry. Before the end of the game, the Saints made a two-point conversion that cut the lead to eight points.
But the Rams held on. Nacua recovered an onside kick and then ran for a first down, which kept Los Angeles’ last drive going. “It’s fun to score,” Stafford said, adding that the Rams could have scored even more.
“We could have had 40 tonight, in my opinion,” he stated. “There were a few plays that didn’t work out for us.” But that’s a part of it.
“We could do a lot better, but I’m proud of my team for how they came back and won the game when it was all over.” Carr completed 319 yards of passes and connected with Rashid Shaheed for a touchdown from 45 yards out.
And the Saints could still win the NFC South division title. They are still in the thick of the playoff race. At the end of the regular season, they play two games against teams from the same division, Tampa Bay and Atlanta.