Saints wary of Lions’ penchant for performing in the c

Cooks, who had caught at least two passes in each of his 35 career games before Sunday, was not targeted in 36 attempts by Drew Brees against the Rams. Brees delivered the ball to Willie Snead, who hit a wide-open Tim Hightower for a 50-yard TD that was the exclamation point on a 49-21 victory.

Detroit needs that direction to start changing Sunday because New Orleans has one of the top offenses in the league, averaging an NFL-best 434.1 yards per game. A few months later, both wound up suspended for 2012 in connection with the NFL’s bounty probe.

The 60-year-old had surgery for a torn retina in his right eye November 1, 2016 after it was scratched during the Vikings’ game against the Chicago Bears the day before. I’m really concerned about the big plays and missed assignments but hopefully I’m wrong.

The recent adoption of the “Lion King” theme song is coincidental, said Strief, who declined to get into specifics of why the song has meaning to the club beyond saying it has to do with “the position that we’re in and the mentality that we need to have going forward”. “We want to put it all together”.

The Rams’ defensive breakdown against the Saints was staggering, apparently even to them. After winning three in a row in the series, the Saints have fallen to the Lions each of the past two seasons.

“We have to do a better job defensively”, he said. We’re trying to get to 8-4, we’re trying to increase our lead in this division.

One of the most explosive playmakers in the league, Cooks does have a point about wanting more targets, but the Saints offense is patented on spreading the ball around.

Saffold suffered an injury in the second quarter and would not return so it’s hard to know if he would have been able to help keep the Rams’ run game going in the second half when it all but disappeared. They only gave up 214 yards to rookie QB Jared Goff, but still allowed three touchdown passes.

INSIDE PRESSURE: Each team fields a defensive tackle it selected early in last spring’s draft. It gave Los Angeles a sixth loss in a stretch of seven games for the first time since 2011, the year before Jeff Fisher took over as head coach.

The Rams arrived at Mercedes-Benz Superdome having allowed an NFL-low 253 yards per game from Weeks 7-11. In that span, they’ve climbed to league-average in nearly every basic area: They’re 15th in points allowed, 15th in total yards, 14th in passing and 16th in rushing. They rank 32nd against the pass and 28th against the run. Still, as is always the case in New Orleans, the defense is pitiful.

Also, Brees’ trio of young receivers has been blossoming, and running back Mark Ingram, who learned a thing or two about catching passes from his ex-NFL receiver father, has been a reliable option on screens and check-downs. “Obviously, we still have a long way to go”.

Drew Brees, New Orleans: Yep, we’re supposed to be talking value, and Brees is the chalk (the No. 1 priced quarterback across the board).

“We tried to do everything we could to make sure his coming back here wasn’t a good experience”, Ingram said. He also scored on a 21-yard screen and was selected NFC offensive player of the week.