Los Angeles Rams: 4 grades for their NFC Championship win against the Saints

The Los Angeles Rams escaped the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with a 26-23 overtime win to advance to Super Bowl LIII, where they will face the New England Patriots.

The Los Angeles Rams won in overtime Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans Saints 26-23 to secure a spot in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII. They also knocked out the top seed in the NFC, beat Drew Brees, and escaped a game that had some bad calls that went both ways.

Trust that fans will look to stoke that story into oblivion.

That aside, the Rams persevered. They overcame a stagnant offense that had little working for it as well as an All Everything running back in Todd Gurley who played about as bad a game as a player of his stature can, and still they won a game they could have lost before halftime.

Los Angeles has a defense. It took five months to find it, but when they needed it, they got another performance they desperately needed to have any shot on Sunday. So good they were that Sean McVay took the easy points on a field goal, knowing the Rams defense had gotten them to the point that if they avoided the big mistake, they’d have enough to win.

On Championship Sunday, the Rams got a little revenge against a team who beat them earlier this season. They won a game they could have lost, overcame their best player having a bad day, and got the kind of special teams performance that is often required for a Super Bowl run just like the Rams are making.

Against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, count on needing that kind of performance one more time.