• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 15, 2009

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ST. LOUIS — Some members of the New Orleans Saints claim they don’t remember what the St. Louis Rams did to them the last time they met on Nov. 11, 2007, in the Superdome.

“We played them two years ago?” Saints defensive end Will Smith asked playfully. “Aw man, I don’t even remember who we played last week.”

Unfortunately, their last matchup against St. Louis isn’t that easy to forget.

The Rams, who were 0-8 coming off a bye, marched into the Superdome and built a 34-7 lead early in the final period against the Saints, who were on a four-game winning streak at the time, then held on for a 37-29 win.

Two years later, the Rams aren’t much better off. Since beating the Saints that afternoon, they’re 5-26 — 1-7 this season under first-year coach Steve Spagnuolo — going into today’s noon matchup against the Saints (8-0) in the Edward Jones Dome.

While it appears to be a classic mismatch on paper, especially when you consider the Rams have been outscored 221-77, they’re a concern for the Saints.

One of the reasons: a Rams bye last week.

“That’s a 62 percent winner in our league, (playing) home off a bye,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “We went down to Miami and played them at home off a bye, so this game is going to present a lot of challenges to us.”

Certainly, no one can forget what happened against the rested and charged-up Dolphins. The Saints played poorly in the first half and trailed 24-3 until a late first-half touchdown and a second-half rally netted a 46-34 victory.

“When you look at the last three years, teams coming off a bye playing at home, they’re winning more games than they’re losing,” said Payton, whose team crushed the New York Giants in the Superdome on Oct. 18 after a bye. “We have to be ready.

“It (the bye) gives you an opportunity to focus more on your work week,” he said. “It gives you an opportunity to get healthy. It gives you an opportunity and more time to prepare.”

That’s why the Saints have been properly warned by Payton, who is also concerned about his team’s sloppy play the last three weeks. Starting with the Dolphins game, the Saints have turned the ball over 10 times after giving it away just six times in the first five games and committed 20 penalties.

“We’ve heard that 62 percent (figure) a few times,” Saints right tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. “That’s one of those stats you believe. It’s out there.