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

By Steve Rivera

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 20: Johnny Hekker #6 and Greg Zuerlein #4 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrate after kicking the game winning field goal in overtime against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 20, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints with a score of 26 to 23. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 20: Johnny Hekker #6 and Greg Zuerlein #4 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrate after kicking the game winning field goal in overtime against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 20, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints with a score of 26 to 23. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 20: Greg Zuerlein #4 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates after kicking the game winning field goal in overtime against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 20, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints with a score of 26 to 23. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 20: Greg Zuerlein #4 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates after kicking the game winning field goal in overtime against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 20, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints with a score of 26 to 23. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The best part of the Los Angeles Rams NFC Championship win against the Saints was the absolute stellar play of John Fassel’s  special teams unit. Both kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter Johnny Hekker were central to LA moving on to Super Bowl LIII.

They may be a key to a win in Super Bowl LIII.

The Rams needed a lot of things to work in their favor for a road win in the Superdome. When those things looked to be be slow in developing both Zuerlein and Hekker filled in the gaps.

Hekker got things started with a fake punt that kept a drive going in the first half, and then Zuerlein got two key field goals to first tie the game then win it in overtime.

One thing that has been a big part of these Rams the last two seasons is balance. While their offense was off the charts scoring a ton of points, they compensated for a defense that seemed average to sometimes porous at best. Of late, with an offense that seemed stuck in the mud, it was their defense that kept them in the game at New Orleans.

Yesterday, as Los Angeles was grinding and looking for a pathway to a big win, it was special teams who got them over the top.

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