Sunday, the New Orleans Saints prepare to battle the Los Angeles Rams with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.\u00a0\u00a0 The NFC Championship Game will serve as the pinnacle game in a long and intertwined history between the two franchises.\u00a0 It\u2019s a match-up that also brings a bit of nostalgia to the Who-Dat Nation. \u00a0On December 30, 2000, the rivalry reached an apex in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The New Orleans Saints entered the NFL\u2019s Eastern Conference in 1967 as a member of the Capital Division.\u00a0 In their first ever regular season game, the Saints hosted the Los Angeles Rams in Tulane Stadium.\u00a0 The Rams would beat the Saints 27-13 and go on to win the Coastal Division, while the Saints would finish 3-11. \u00a0The two teams would meet again in 1969 with a similar result.<\/p>\n
The AFL and NFL merged in 1970.\u00a0 As a result, the Capital and Coastal Divisions were dissolved.\u00a0 With the realignment, the Saints and Rams would both join the NFC West with the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers, where they would remain until 2002.<\/p>\n
Then, in 1971, New Orleans secured their first win over the Los Angeles Rams with a 24-20 home victory.\u00a0 However, victories over the Rams would be few and far between for the better part of the next decade.\u00a0 In fact, between that first meeting in 1967 and the end of the 1985 season, the Rams held a 32-8 advantage in the series.<\/p>\n
In 1986, the New Orleans Saints hired General Manager Jim Finks<\/a><\/strong> and Head Coach Jim Mora<\/strong>.\u00a0 While the two would eventually bring the bottom-dwelling New Orleans Saints to credibility, it would also mark a shift in the divisional series with the Los Angeles Rams. During the Mora era, the Saints flipped the series and won 15 of 22 games against the Rams from 1986 to 1996.<\/p>\n The start of 1997 brought about two drastic changes for both franchises.\u00a0 The New Orleans Saints parted ways with head coach Jim Mora.\u00a0 Mora delivered the Saints to respectability and four playoff appearances.\u00a0 However, Mora was never able to bring the Saints past the Wildcard Round.\u00a0 As a result,\u00a0Mike Ditka<\/a><\/strong> would be named the new Head Coach.<\/p>\n For the Rams, who, only a season prior had relocated to St. Louis, 1997 marked the hiring of Dick Vermeil<\/strong> and the birth of the Greatest Show on Turf.<\/a><\/p>\n Mike Ditka<\/a> was fired following a short, unsuccessful run with the New Orleans Saints.\u00a0 After finishing the 1999 season with a 3-13 record, Jim Haslet<\/strong> was hired as the new head coach in 2000.<\/p>\n On the other hand, the 1999 season for the St. Louis Rams ended significantly different as the team won their first Super Bowl by defeating the Tennessee Titans. \u00a0It appeared the Rams were poised to repeat throughout 2000 season. With a 10-6 record, the Rams were first in the league in total offense, completions, passing yards, yards per pass attempt, passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns.\u00a0 They had the 1999 MVP Kurt Warner<\/a><\/strong> and the 2000 MVP and Offensive Player of the Year Marshall Faulk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The teams split the season series, and New Orleans owned the tiebreaker over the Rams.\u00a0 At 10-6, the Saints would win the NFC West, setting up a Wildcard match-up with the Rams in the Superdome. MVP Marshal Faulk would take the NFL\u2019s most prolific offensive attack into the Superdome to face Aaron Brooks<\/a><\/strong> and a relatively unknown New Orleans Saints team.\u00a0 Brooks would be starting only his sixth game after taking over for free agent acquisition Jeff Blake<\/a><\/strong> who was injured in 11th<\/sup> game of the season.\u00a0 The Rams were not unfamiliar with Brooks.\u00a0 He had defeated them 31-24 in his first career start.<\/p>\n The game took place on Saturday, December 30, 2000, in front of a crowd of 64,000.\u00a0 The Saints, facing insurmountable odds, quickly surrendered a 17-yard touchdown when Kurt Warner<\/a><\/strong> connected with Isaac Bruce<\/a><\/strong>. A raucous crowd would help to turn the tide as the Saints would score the next 31 points. The offensive explosion started with Aaron Brooks<\/a><\/strong> connected with Robert Wilson<\/a><\/strong> for a 12-yard touchdown pass.\u00a0 Saints Wide Receiver Willie Jackson<\/a><\/strong> would account for 21 points with touchdown receptions of 10, 49, and 16 yards. Doug Brien<\/a> <\/strong>would also add a 33-yard field goal.<\/p>\n Up 31-7, a collective sigh of relief blew over the Superdome.\u00a0 Their first every playoff victory seem to be a reality.\u00a0 Then, with 9:36 left the fourth quarter, the Rams found their identity.\u00a0 They scored 21 points within a seven-minute span to bring the score to 31-28. Warner found Ricky Proehl<\/a><\/strong> for a 17-yard touchdown and then connected with Marshall Faulk for a 25-yard touchdown pass. With 2:36 remaining, Kurt Warner would take it in himself to bring the Rams within four.<\/p>\n As a result, the crowd had been silenced.\u00a0 With thoughts previous playoff collapses<\/a>, they sat in shock as the Rams comeback appeared assured.\u00a0 On the ensuing drive, the Saints punted the ball back to the red-hot Rams offense with 1:51 remaining.\u00a0 Consequently, the end to the Saints season seemed to be an inevitable fate.<\/p>\n Then, in a strange twist, the Rams Az-Zahir Hakim<\/a><\/strong> fumbled the punt return. Saints Fullback Brian Millne<\/strong> fell on the ball, securing the fumble.\u00a0 Finally, the New Orleans Saints first ever playoff win was also secured.<\/p>\n Aaron Brooks finished the game with 266 yards on 16 of 29 passing and four touchdowns.\u00a0 Willie Jackson had the best game of his career with six catches for 142 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n Kurt Warner was 365 yards through the air on 24 of 40 passing with three touchdowns of his own.\u00a0 Isaac Bruce recorded 127 yards on seven receptions and one touchdown.\u00a0 \u00a0With only 24 yards rushing, New Orleans native Marshall Faulk picked up 99 yards on seven receptions.<\/p>\n You never forget the first time.\u00a0 For Saints fans, the 2000 season was a first kiss, a first job, the first time taste of the open road after getting a license.\u00a0 It was the first time the black and gold felt post-season glory.<\/p>\n For the Rams, it was the one that got away. It was the would\u2019ve, could\u2019ve, should\u2019ve. It was the bitter taste that lingers. It was words that went unspoken, and the empty feeling after the heartbreak.<\/p>\n Afterward, the Saints would go on to lose the next week to Randy Moss<\/a><\/strong> and the Minnesota Vikings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subsequently, the Rams rebounded, reaching Super Bowl XXXVII the following season.<\/p>\n Now, with a trip the Super Bowl and the ultimate prize on the line, the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams will forever be connected and tangled up by a complicated history.<\/p>\n No matter the outcome, \u00a0Az-Zahir Hakim<\/a><\/strong> and the playoff breakthrough, will forever hold a special place in the Saints history books and the hearts of Saints fans.<\/p>\n Main photo:Changes<\/h2>\n
An Upset in the Making<\/h2>\n
The Breakthrough<\/h2>\n
Retrospect<\/h2>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>