Good morning, and welcome to the Tuesday, Dec. 19 edition of the Saints Insider newsletter. Let's have a chat about volume. Fill 'er upWhether it's coming from you (the fans), or me (the media), there's been a lot of chatter outside the Saints facility this year. The frustration has been obvious and palpable in the form of boos, the criticism has been loud, too, and it gained some steam during a three-game losing skid. So, the Saints dipped into the motivational well. Demario Davis told his teammates to silence the outside noise, and to bring the noise on the field. Coach Dennis Allen dropped off gas tanks at some veteran lockers on Friday with the message being to ask them how much they have left in the tank. For a day, they proved they still had some juice left, and that they could make the noise go in their favor. Now comes the tricky part, as columnist Rod Walker explains. Playoffs in sightThe Saints helped their own cause last week against the Giants, and also got some help from the rest of the league. As of Monday afternoon, their chances at making the playoffs hovered right around 50 %. It sets the stage for a huge matchup Thursday night with big playoff implications for both teams. Allow me to walk you through the scenarios here. Reinforcements delayed? Both Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore are eligible to return off injured reserve this week against the Rams, but after Dennis Allen spoke Monday, it doesn't sound like the Saints are going to be able to count on reinforcements. Neither Thomas nor Lattimore are going to have their 21-day practice window open this week, and Allen was not able to commit to either of them being back on the field in the regular season. The outlook seems a little more promising (though still a bit unclear) on receiver Chris Olave. Give us a listen! With the Saints playing on Thursday, we changed up the schedule a bit this week for the Saints Insider Podcast. Me and the rest of the Saints Insider crew chopped it up while breaking down the Giants win, and the (ahem) Ram-ifications tied to this Thursday's game. Check out (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel. Thanks as always for reading and listening and following along with us over at nola.com. We'll be back with more later this week. Cheers, Luke Johnson |