3 bold predictions for Saints in Week 13: Taysom Hill, Alvin Kamara and more

The Saints (4-7) will go for their third straight win under undefeated interim coach Darren Rizzi Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams (5-6) on Sunday (3:05 p.m. central, FOX) in the Superdome in New Orleans. Look for Rizzi to continue his common sense approach since replacing fired head coach Dennis Allen following seven straight losses and a 2-7 start.

That means plenty of touches and yards for Mr. Versatility RB/TE/WR/RET Taysom Hill and RB Alvin Kamara against a porous Rams' run defense. The Saints defense, meanwhile, will continue to improve and play better late in games than it had been pre-Rizzi.

3. Taysom Hill will again dominate

Hill, the Saints' eight-year veteran who played quarterback at Brigham Young, is coming off the game of his life two weeks ago before an open week. He rushed seven times for 138 yards and a 19.7 average with touchdowns of 75, 33 and 10 yards. He caught eight passes for 50 yards, completed an 18-yard pass and had 42 kick return yards.

Part of Hill's game since former Saints' coach Sean Payton signed him as an undrafted free agent off waivers from Green Bay in 2017 is to not get too greedy with him. He has been best when there is an element of surprise to his usage.

"There's a fine line between too much and not enough, so we've got to do a good job of managing that," Rizzi said.

"I understand trying to find a balance and all that," Hill said. "But we also need to make sure we're doing everything we can to win games. I don't know exactly what that's going to look like, but I'm certainly enjoying the more opportunities I get."

How about just giving it to Hill until it doesn't work?

"The more he's on the field, the more effective we've been," Rizzi said. "Our usage with him these last couple weeks is really what we're trying to trend toward - a little bit of everything, not too much of anything."

2. Alvin Kamara can dominate, too

Beyond the novelty of Hill, the Saints have one of the best dual-threat running backs in the NFL as well. Kamara has rushed for 782 yards on 183 carries with six touchdowns while catching 55 passes for 443 yards and a touchdown.

And just last week, the Rams allowed 255 yards on 26 carries (9.8-yard average) to Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley, who ripped off TD runs of 72 and 70 yards in a 37-20 win. He also caught four passes for 47 yards. The Rams are 28th in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed per game with 144.3. With Hill and Kamara to mix and match with, that should bode well for Saints' quarterback Derek Carr, who has been using play-action passes more with success in recent games.

1. Saints defense will keep throwing fourth quarter shutouts

One reason the Saints are 2-0 under Rizzi is the defense in the fourth quarter. New Orleans shut out Cleveland in the fourth period during a 35-14 win two weeks ago. In Rizzi's first game, the defense blanked Atlanta in the final stanza for a 20-17 win.

During the seven-game losing streak under Allen, the Saints lost leads in the fourth quarter three times against Philadelphia, Atlanta and Carolina.

The defense has been improving partly because of a healthy Pete Werner at outside linebacker. After missing three games iwth a hamstring injury, Werner has 28 tackles in his last four games and 19 solo stops. He has also been able to overcome a broken hand suffered against Atlanta two games ago as he has been playing with it under a heavy bandage - not unlike St. Louis Cardinals and Saints' offensive lineman great Conrad Dobler did in the 1970s.