Heading into the week, the New Orleans Saints came in as 68% to beat the Rams. Yet the Rams somehow managed to pull a rabbit out of their hat and shock the world. Almost everything the Rams did seem to generate a good outcome, against a top 5 team in the NFL.

Defense once again was the name of the game for the Rams against the Saints and Super Bowl MVP quarterback Drew Brees. Brees, the future Hall of Famer, seemed not to be able to get anything going against the Rams defense, in large part thanks to Defensive Player of the Year candidate Robert Quinn.

Quinn showed up to play this week with two key sacks, five tackles and a forced fumble with a recovery, after a quiet game the week prior. On the season, he has 15 sacks and 7 forced fumbles, placing him in prime position for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

So far this year, the Rams have beat three teams who are the current division leaders for their respective divisions: Bears, Colts, and Saints. The best part of those wins is that they have done it without their starting quarterback.

Now you can look at that fact two different ways: Do you think it will be better next year when he is back, similar to my opinion, or do you think it is his fault that we aren’t usually this good. Personally, I didn’t see a problem with Bradford this year, especially because he was in the top 5 of the league in touchdowns while he was still playing.

A possible reason that the Rams weren’t winning with Bradford in was the lack of running game. Rookie phenom Zac Stacy was injured while Bradford was playing, and now, it is vise versa. Stacy showed up big against the Saints, with more than 100 yards on the ground before the 1st half was over. He finished with 133 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

No Tavon, no problem. Tavon Austin did not play on Sunday, after suffering an injury the week before. That didn’t stop the Special Teams from coming up big against the Saints. However, it wasn’t returning punts or kick offs, it was on the defensive side of the ball. The Rams, blocked two field goals throughout the game. Not to mention the beautiful onside kick that the Rams recovered, which was wonderfully executed.

Without Bradford and Tavon, we were still able to surprise everyone beating a top team in the league. Each week, there are always noticeable bright spots on this Rams team. The Rams will keep looking to play hard the final two weeks of the season, against the Buccaneers and the Seahawks.