I’ll get to the preview in a second, but first some bulleted notes as I shuffle through the week in Rams news.

• Sunday’s game is in fact a sell out. The team asked for and received a 24 hour extension yesterday, and was able to sell out the game before noon today. The game will be broadcast on KTVI locally.
• Craig Dahl and David Roach were both fined for hits during the Lions game. Zach Follett, who layed the (apparent) helmet to helmet on Danny Amendola, was not fined.
• The team also made a few minor roster moves this week.
• Injury Update: Incognito won’t play, CJ Ah You is doubtful, Danny Amendola will play as will Ron Bartell.

On to the preview. The 1-7 St. Louis Rams are hosting the 8-0 New Orleans Saints Sunday at the dome. The Saints are averaging 37.9 points per game and giving up an average of 21.8. The Rams are scoring 9.6 points per game and giving up 27.6. It looks like a mismatch on paper, and it probably will be on the field, but if the Rams are able to do a few things better than they have earlier in the season, the game could be closer than it appears.

On offense, assuming the Rams are able to keep it reasonably close for the entire game, the Saints should see a steady diet of Steven Jackson. He’s one of the top rushers in the league right now, and the Saints would be foolish to think the Rams aren’t going to use one of their only good players on a lot of plays. Yes, he’s going to get a lot of running plays, but I’m thinking Shurmur is going to be calling lots of screens to Jackson on Sunday to try and keep the Saints D honest. They like to press to create turnovers (which explains why they lead the league in scoring), and will exploit on every passing play the Rams run. If the Rams are able to run the screen effectively and keep the Saints honest, it could create more room for Bulger to work with in the intermediete passing game.

Speaking of Bulger, he’s going to have to play his best game of the season if the Rams are to have any shot at this. Jackson is a great player who is going to get plenty of yards on the ground, but he can only do so much. If the Saints are smart, they are going to pack 7, 8, or even 9 players in the box to limit the amount of yardage Jackson can gain. When this happens, it will be entirely on Bulger to make plays, something he hasn’t done a lot of this year. If Bulger is able to find the open receivers 5-10 yards downfield, the Rams will stay in this game. If he’s pressured and makes poor decisions, he’s going to turn it over, and it’s going to be a long day. The Rams have to convert on third down. 3rd and 10, 3rd and 1, 3rd and 6 I don’t care, they will have to convert. Time of poessession is going to be a very important statistic on Sunday, and if the Rams don’t have the ball for at least 30 minutes, it will probably be a blowout.

On defense, well good luck. Drew Brees has obviously played very well this year and has the weapons to make something happen on every single play. He’s going to complete passes and make plays, that’s inevitable. However, have three important tasks on defense to at least contain this very potent Saints attack:

1. Stop the run.

Drew Brees does enough himself. If Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush are able to run straight through the line, it just makes Brees’ job that much easier on passing downs.

2. Get pressure with the front four.

If the Rams are able to force Brees out of the pocket and hurry, he will make some poor decisions that could create turnovers. However, if the Rams have to blitz to get any sort of disruption, Brees will burn them. This is something the Rams haven’t been able to do all year, and it’s something they will have to do to have a chance on Sunday. Chris Long has to bring his A game.

3. Get off the field on third down.

Like on offense, it’s going to be very important for the defense to “convert” on third down. The longer Brees and the Saints have the ball, the less likely the Rams are to stay in the game.

This game has the makings of a blowout, and it very well could be. However, I think the Rams are getting better both on offense and defense, and will challenge the Saints for a half before accepting a 28-10 defeat.