Preview of the Saints vs. the St. Louis Rams

This sunday in New Orleans, the Saints will take on the Rams with the Who Dat nation hoping to keep pace with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.  The good thing for New Orleans is that they are ranked 3rd in the league in passing and 3rd in the league against the pass.  Common sense would tell you that if the Saints have the air game working the other team will have to throw if trailing late in the game which plays into the strength of the defense.  The bad new is this, the Saints defense is 15th in the league against the run and have allowed 240 yards and five touchdowns on the ground over the last two weeks.  Oh by the way, St. Louis has Steven Jackson toting the rock, who is just 15 yards shy of having his sixth consecutive 1,000 yard season.  The New Orleans defense has to be able to finish these games.  Drew Brees and the offense seem to have found their groove but if the defense can't protect these leads then it is going to come down to who has the ball in their hands with 2:00 left on the clock.  If the Rams are still hanging around in the fourth quarter with time on their side, this could get ugly for the Saints.  Sam Bradford does not look like a rookie quarterback.  Yes, he has 10 interceptions to his 17 touchdowns but when they need him most he has been able to step up.  I think the biggest stat that will play into this game is that the Rams are allowing opponents to convert 31.8 percent on third downs, the second best in the NFL, and will take on a Saints team that has the second-highest third-down conversion rate at 47.7 percent.  The major reason that the Saints have such a high third down conversion percentage is because they have so many weapons for Drew Brees to get the ball to.  It should be interesting but I think the Saints will be able to pull this one off but it'll be closer than most think but the home filed advantage pulls the Saints through.  Saints 31-Rams 28.