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St. Louis – A nearly perfect storm of poor performance and hyped opponent cocooned the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, when they failed to get out of their own way and couldn’t effectively block St. Louis’ path, either.

The result was a 27-16 loss to the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome that Coach Sean Payton termed “disappointing” repeatedly, in all phases and on all levels. And it was a loss that set the stage for a showdown against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., next Sunday, with the winner taking control of the NFC South Division and of its fate as the No. 2 seed in the NFC for the playoffs.

For the Saints (10-4), the equation is simple.

If they beat Carolina on the road, they’ll win the division title and the No. 2 seed. Even if they lose the regular-season finale to Tampa Bay and Carolina wins its season-ender in Atlanta to pull into an identical overall record, the Saints take the crown because they’ll own the tiebreak (a head-to-head sweep) over the Panthers.

If the Saints lose to the Panthers, then they’ll need help. Specifically, they’ll need to beat Tampa Bay in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and for Carolina to lose its finale in Atlanta in order to win the NFC South crown and the No. 2 seed.

They’d claim the title and No. 2 seed because they’d still own the tiebreak over Carolina, via a better division record. But none of that was close to being a primary consideration Sunday.

New Orleans lost its second consecutive road game by double digits – it fell 34-7 in Seattle on Dec. 2 – and fell for the second time in three games as the Rams (6-8) took control early and turned New Orleans’ errors into an insurmountable lead.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw interceptions on the team’s first two offensive possessions. The defense committed three personal foul penalties on consecutive St. Louis touchdown drives. A field goal was blocked. A St. Louis onside kick was recovered by the Rams.

And that was just in the first half, after which the Rams led 24-3.

The Saints appeared discombobulated from the start, a condition for which Payton accepted blame.

“That was pretty ugly,” he said. “Obviously, it was a disappointing loss, extremely disappointing.

Read more: John DeShazier: 'Disappointing' 27-16 loss to Rams sets up huge showdown with Panthers

hagan714

are we elite enough to win a huge game on the road?

if so what is the issue with sundays game? playing down to the competition? What?

If we win i look at coaching as to why the players were not focused in St. Louis or our other 3 losses on the road.

right now we do not deserve to be in the super bowl because it is being played in New York and not the dome.

we have a lot to prove.

did the NFL set this all up for next weeks ratings against the panthers? lol

dizzle88

Disappointing? Really?

How about down right embarrassing

We are pathetic on the road

nicebush25

trap game

NOLA54

I hope I'm wrong, but I can see no way in which they win in Carolina. They have not been able to prove they can win on the road.