Disaster hit the New Orleans Saints defense early against the Philadelphia Eagles when breakout defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, one of the team’s best pass rushers and a great run stopper, was lost for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles. But the Saints persevered and marched on through the 2018 playoffs towards an NFC championship game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Now the Saints have a tough matchup between their top-ranked run defense (without one of its best pieces) against a Rams rushing offense that just put up 273 yards on the ground against the Dallas Cowboys.