NFC TITLE GAME
Los Angeles Rams (14-3) at New Orleans Saints (14-3)Time & TV: 3:05 p.m. EST (Fox)Opening line: Saints by 3 1/2Series: Rams lead, 41-34Last time: Saints beat Rams 45-35 on Nov. 4, 2018Last week (divisional round): Rams beat Dallas Cowboys 30-22; Saints beat Philadelphia Eagles 20-14Noteworthy: The Saints have won their past seven home playoff games, starting with a victory over the Rams under previous coach Jim Haslett. They are 6-0 in home playoff games since coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees joined the team in 2006.— The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - One way or another, today's NFC title game between the Los Angeles Rams and the host New Orleans Saints will be won by a coach named Sean with an Irish surname who designs and calls plays for one of the most innovative and productive offenses in the NFL.
The ties between the Rams' Sean McVay and the Saints' Sean Payton go well beyond that, though.
"We both cut our teeth in this league under Jon Gruden," Payton said of the current Oakland Raiders coach who returned to the NFL this season after a decade away. "That (Rams) staff - there's a ton of guys that we're friendly with and that we know on that staff, guys who we have worked with, and Sean and I have a real good relationship. He is an engaging guy, a fun guy to be around."
Gruden was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997 when Payton was hired as the team's quarterbacks coach. Gruden was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach when he hired McVay as a receivers coach in 2008.
This season and last, McVay and Payton has each led his team to the playoffs with one of the best offenses in football, thanks in part to elite quarterbacks - Jared Goff for the Rams and Drew Brees for the Saints. Both coaches have acknowledged they watch each other's offensive video nearly every week, and not just because of the possibility of playing against one another - they're looking for good ideas.
And then there are some connections on the roster and coaching staff. One of the Rams' top receivers, Brandin Cooks, was Payton's first-round draft choice in 2014. The Rams' running game coordinator is Aaron Kromer, a former running backs and offensive line coach under Payton, including on the 2009 Saints team that won the franchise's lone Super Bowl title.
Players on both teams praise their coach's intangible feel for how a game is developing.
Saints Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead extolled Payton's "fearlessness" in his play calls and said the coach has "so much believe and confidence in us and the system that we can go out and make a play no matter the down and distance."
Goff mentioned how McVay sends in plays "with confidence and having a good feel for everything."
"There's certain moments in games where being a good play caller - you can't teach it - but there's certain moments where you have to go for that dagger or you have to pull back a little bit," Goff continued. "There's just different ebbs and flows in games. I think he's got a great feel for that."
The main things that separates the two are age and experience. The 55-year-old Payton got his first head coaching job 13 years ago, is coaching in his third NFC title game and is trying to win his second Super Bowl title. In his second season as a head coach, McVay, 32, is preparing for his first NFC title game.
The same goes for their quarterbacks. The record-setting Brees turned 40 on Tuesday, but Goff is just 24.
"He's been doing it at really high level for a lot longer than I have," McVay said of Payton. "He's an outstanding coach - clearly referenced by the way that his team is playing this year, how they've played over the course of his career when he's been leading the Saints.
"So I don't think we're in that category yet. We've got to do things for a lot longer to be able to be mentioned in that same breath."
Getting to a Super Bowl by winning today at the Superdome would be a good start for McVay and the Rams, whose first loss this season came when they last visited New Orleans on Nov. 4 and fell 45-35. Brees carved up the Rams' defense for 346 passing yards and four touchdowns that day, but the Rams have reason to believe they can do better this time.
Star cornerback Aqib Talib missed that game due to injury, but he is back in uniform. Los Angeles typically doesn't line up cornerbacks against specific receivers, but defensive coordinator Wade Phillips could consider it to get Talib against Michael Thomas, who had 211 receiving yards in the November game, largely against Marcus Peters.
Phillips also has two additional months of experience using edge rusher Dante Fowler, who had just arrived in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars before the last trip to the Big Easy.
But that moniker for the city of New Orleans shouldn't be applied to its NFL team today.
Since Brees and Payton joined forces in 2006, the Saints have gone 6-0 in playoff games in the Superdome, including two wins the season they won the Super Bowl. Payton suggested the environment in the domed stadium - while not an overwhelming factor - is nonetheless something that can influence an opposing offense in particular.
"What's important for our fan base is understanding when that crowd noise needs to begin differently this week than normal weeks," he said. "That crowd noise needs to begin just as that last play finished. You get 65, 70 snaps of that crowd noise earlier than normal and louder than normal, it's difficult."