Tyler Shough played with Juwan Johnson at Oregon. When Shough replaced Spencer Rattler last week, he targeted Johnson five times. Look for the Saints to be trailing and forced to throw as two-touchdown underdogs at the Rams. That should mean plenty of targets for Johnson.

The Saints will surely have a pretty simple gameplan today as rookie Tyler Shough makes his first NFL start, but he threw a pick in relief last week. The Rams are good against the pass if only having four INTs. But obviously we expect the Saints to get way down and Shough to be slinging it in the second half.

Saints safety Justin Reid has been very active the last couple games, racking up 13 combined tackles. This is another strong matchup as I expect LA to dominate time of possession. That should help Reid rack up at least six stops.

Saints backup QB Tyler Shough will get his first career start in a very difficult spot. He faces a healthy Rams defense coming off their bye week, and will be without his best OL Erik McCoy. This is problematic against a vaunted Rams D-line that should have Shough under duress all game long. Saints RB Alvin Kamara and WR Rasheed Shaheed are both playing banged up, and I'm just not sure how New Orleans will find scoring opportunities here. The Saints are under this team total in 4 games this season, and mustered up just 3 points against the Bucs last week. The Rams defense is dialed in right now, allowing just 3 points to Baltimore and 7 to Jacksonville in their last two games.

This is a bad matchup for the New Orleans Saints rookie QB Tyler Shough, who will be making his first start of the season. This Saints offensive line is patch work and they face one of the best defensive lines in the league. On offense the Rams get back Puka Nacua and that spells bad news for a Saints defense that'll be on the field more than it wants to.

Give the Rams coach credit for how he handled his team's travel schedule. Once again, the Rams went to the East Coast and won, then took a red eye to London before winning again and heading into their bye. They should be well rested on defense and will get Puka Nakua back on offense and that's a bad mix for first-time starter Tyler Shough on a team that's actively looking to move pieces ahead of the trade deadline. The Rams should be able to attack with Matthew Stafford and Nakua/Davante, forcing Shough to throw a lot and allowing the Rams to pound the ball with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum the whole second half.

Many fantasy football players were surprised to see the veteran TE emerge as a high-volume target early in the season. But this was no accident. The Saints rewarded Juwan Johnson, who emerged as a primary target late last year, with a 3-year, $30 million extension. He is now paired with Tyler Shough, with whom he played one collegiate season at Oregon. They were reported to have a strong connection during training camp, and there's little doubt the untested rookie in his first start will be relying upon the 6-4 Johnson as a safety net for short, easy completions. We love all the Juwan Johnson overs Sunday, but the receptions are the safest bet. He could have this by halftime.

The Rams are coming off the bye fresh and expected to get Puka Nacua back, but I'm not sure they're going to push to score enough points to get this game to 45. I don't expect the Saints to contribute much with Tyler Shough making his first start on the road against a defense that allowed just 10 points over two games combined (both away from L.A.) before the bye, and key Saints offensive playmakers have to wonder which team they could find themselves on in a week's time. The Rams are likely to sit on a lead in the second half with the run game and chew up clock, but also note the Saints completely shut down the Bucs offense last week.