Have the Saints beaten the Rams in the arms race for NFC supremacy?

The Saints look to be adding another weapon to their arsenal with Dez Bryant, leaving fans to wonder if they have won the arms race in the run-up to NFC supremacy over the Los Angeles Rams.

The Los Angeles Rams lost to the New Orleans Saints 45-35 on Sunday and may have lost on Wednesday morning when it was announced that disgruntled wide receiver Dez Bryant would be signing a deal for one year.

It’s a big deal that may or may not be determined for a good while. One thing that is certain, is that the Saints saw an opportunity to add talent to an already potent offense, and for that, you can’t fault them.

After Week 9, it’s clear that fans may have gotten a 60 minute preview of an NFC championship game. Fans may have also seen that as good as the Rams are and despite a previously unbeaten record, that the best team in the NFC is more than likely the Saints.

That’s no knock on the Rams.

Los Angeles roared back with 21 unanswered points to tie the game in the fourth when it looked like the game was all but over.

Then Marcus Peters happened and that was that.

Adding Bryant is a signal to the rest of the league that New Orleans is all in on 2018. Just as the Rams have been “all in” as well with a ton of free agent signings this past preseason, adding Dez is splashy with a ton of name recognition and maybe results. I mean, he’s not the number one guy he perceives himself to be, but he’s not window dressing either.

At the very least, he’s another weapon for Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

The Rams know what their Achilles heel is in 2018. Defense is an issue, and the fanfare that accompanied the signing of Peters and Ndamukong Suh, Aqib Talib, etc, hasn’t panned out as intended. Sunday in the Big Easy provided a white hot light on where LA’s biggest deficiency is and that’s on a defense soft against the run and absolutely light and fluffy against the pass.

Whatever is to come of the Saints adding Bryant is an unknown. What we do know is that the arms race towards winning a Lombardi Trophy was ratcheted up on Wednesday, and it looks like New Orleans won that contest too.