America’s Team could soon be taking over America’s second biggest city.The Rams have issued a reminder that tickets to Saturday night’s
game against the Cowboys at the L.A. Coliseuim are available to be purchased.
And if Rams fans haven’t Cowboys fans definitely will.Cowboys fans don’t travel
well per se; they’re simply already everywhere. The fact that they’ve had so
little postseason success since winning their last Super Bowl 23 years ago is a
testament to the power of the brand.But the last year the Cowboys won the Super
Bowl was the first year of a two-decade NFL hiatus from L.A.
Johnny Hekker Jersey , and a generation of Angelenos grew up free to root for any team, including the one that squatted on a nickname that resonates from coast to
coast.Remember the 2016 preseason game between the Cowboys and Rams that marked
the NFL’s return to L.A.? That meaningless game had a postseason vibe. This very
meaningful postseason game will have a Super Bowl vibe. And it could feel a lot
like a Super Bowl being played in Dallas.And that could help Dallas secure the
ability to play for a berth in the Super Bowl for the first time since January
1996. THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Marcus Peters stood at a podium Wednesday and
spoke about his respect for Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints. He insisted
his feisty comments about the coach two months ago had been misinterpreted and
blown out of proportion by controversy-hungry fans and media.And then his coach
popped up in the back of the room.“Let me get some of that soup!” Sean McVay
yelled.One way or another, gumbo will be served at the NFC championship game.As
the Saints and the Los Angeles Rams began their preparation for Sunday’s
showdown, Peters and Payton downplayed the importance of what occurred during
and after the teams’ first meeting at the Superdome this season. The cornerback
and the coach expressed a warm mutual regard and no hard feelings from
November.“We’re trying to play a game,” Peters said Wednesday. “We ain’t trying
to talk about no gumbo. We can talk about all that stuff afterward.”Still,
here’s the backstory on the Creole kerfuffle, for those with an appetite:New
Orleans beat the Rams 45-35, with Drew Brees shredding Los Angeles’ secondary
for 346 yards and four TDs while handing the Rams their first loss of the
season. In particular, receiver Michael Thomas appeared to dominate his matchup
with Peters
Greg Zuerlein Jersey , who acknowledges he had a poor game.Afterward, Payton acknowledged the Saints had targeted Peters because they liked the matchup with
Thomas — a bold statement to make about a former Pro Bowl cornerback. That drew
the attention of Peters, who responded sharply back home in the Rams’ locker
room.“Tell Sean Payton, keep talking that (stuff),” Peters said at the time.
“We’re going to see him soon. You feel me? Yeah. ‘Cause I like what he was
saying on the sideline, too. Tell him he can keep talking that (stuff), and I
hope he sees me soon. You feel me? Then we’re going to have a good little, nice
little bowl of gumbo together.”Peters is a personable athlete and an aggressive
competitor. He is also an interesting character who isn’t afraid to let people
know it — and that’s something of a rarity in the frequently buttoned-up,
corporate world of professional football.Peters says his comments weren’t meant
“to be disrespectful or anything like that. I was (ticked) off. I didn’t have
the game that I wanted to have.”Before McVay made light of the situation with
his shout, he put it in perspective.“I think it was all in good fun
Jacob McQuaide Jersey ,” McVay said. “I think there’s a competitiveness that exists. There’s a lot of dialogue that goes back and forth when you have
relationships or you have history with people. I think Marcus was having fun
with it, and I know that he has a whole lot of respect for Coach Payton and the
Saints.”Payton also was asked about the interplay repeatedly Wednesday, but the
veteran coach only repeated his respect for the Rams and their volatile
cornerback.“I’m a huge Marcus Peters fan,” Payton said. “A lot of it was
friendly banter, but he’s a tremendous player, a real talented player with
dangerous ball skills. He’s someone that you have to know where he’s at all
times.”Peters repeatedly refused to indulge in trash talk or any additions to a
budding rivalry Wednesday, and he explained exactly why.“I see y’all trying to
make it to be something that it’s not,” Peters told reporters. “All respect to
Sean Payton and what he does. Like you say, before, during the game
Dominique Easley Jersey , things happen, but I just love the fact that he’s a competitor.”In fact, Peters and Payton might be kindred spirits of a sort.Payton
is well known as an enthusiastic presence on the sideline, where he screams at
players on both teams, berates the officials and sometimes even gestures at the
opposing coaches. Over the years, he has made a choke sign at Devonta Freeman,
mocked the Minnesota Vikings fans’ signature clap and had animated postgame
interactions with fellow coaches including Dirk Koetter, who got slapped on the
chest rather aggressively.The gumbo date might not happen, but what occurred in
the teams’ first meeting should have reverberations into the playoff rematch,
where fellow star cornerback Aqib Talib will be back alongside Peters after
missing the first meeting with an injury.Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore
thinks Peters should be much more concerned about Thomas than Payton — and
Peters undoubtedly agrees.“He still has to guard Mike at the end of the
day
Troy Hill Jersey ,” Lattimore said. “You can do all the talking you want, but you still have to go out there and guard him. The last time, (Thomas) went for
211 (yards). You still have to go out there and get the job done, no matter how
much you talk. That’s no dis to him or nothing like that. That’s just with
anybody. I like Marcus Peters’ game, but you still have to go out there and
play. That’s why I don’t really talk too much.”
