Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

Chris Ivory walks about the New Orleans Saints‘ locker room with a bit more pep in his step. He talks with more confidence. He’s smiling more often.

It’s all a product of how he’s performing.

Ivory, an undrafted free agent running back, turned in his second 100-yard rushing game Sunday, gaining 117 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries in the 34-30 win at Cincinnati.

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By Pat Yasinskas

If the season ended today, the NFC South would have two teams in the playoffs.

The Atlanta Falcons, 10-2, would be the No. 1 seed. The 9-3 New Orleans Saints would be the No. 5 seed and join the 8-4 New York Giants as a wild card team.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

A week after he said he was “guarded” about the return of running back Pierre Thomas, New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton said Monday he is “cautiously optimistic” Thomas will return on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.

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Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

Cincinnati — The New Orleans Saints got a touchdown with less than a minute to play and beat the Cincinnati Bengals  34-30 at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.

David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens had a decent day,
but in the end, the New Orleans Saints got a win at chilly Paul Brown Stadium.

Drew Brees hit Robert Meachem for a 3-yard pass — one play after the Bengals jumped offsides on a fourth-and-2 — and the Saints, which blew a 14-point lead, improved to 9-3 on the season.

It got a little hairy after the touchdown as Bernard Scott returned the kickoff 47 yards to the 49 yard line.

But the Bengals couldn’t convert, and they dropped to 2-10 on the season.

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Pierre Thomas isn’t quite ready to return to the New Orleans Saints.

The running back won’t play Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, a team source told NFL Network’s Kara Henderson, although he should return for next week’s game against the St. Louis Rams.

Thomas didn’t play in New Orleans’ previous eight games while he recovered from a severely sprained left ankle. After Thomas was limited in practice Friday and listed as questionable on the injury report, Saints coach Sean Payton said he was “guarded” about the running back’s prospects of facing the Bengals and would make a game-time decision.

Thomas was the Saints’ leading rusher last season with 793 yards and six touchdowns. An effective receiver on screens and swing passes, Thomas also caught 39 passes for 302 yards and two scores. He capped his 2009 season with touchdowns on screen passes in both the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.

This season, Thomas had 147 yards and one score on 46 rushes, along with 133 yards on 17 catches, before he suffered his injury at the end of a Week 3 overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Story here.

James Varney, TP

What are the chances today’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the Cincinnati Bengals is the one people expected?

That is, could the apparent mismatch between New Orleans (8-3) and Cincinnati (2-9) be something like what the NFL envisioned when the schedule was put together — an outdoor December battle between the defending Super Bowl and AFC North champions?

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Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, especially in the American Midwest.

Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-Picayune
The New Orleans Saints might get their first game in the snow since the 2006 NFC Championship Game.

A huge winter storm is anticipated across Big Ten Country and into the Northeast. That, of course, includes Cincinnati, Ohio, where the New Orleans Saints will play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at noon.

The latest forecast predicts a high of 36 with a 70 percent chance of snow.

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By Pat Yasinskas

Saints. Running back Pierre Thomas (ankle) officially is questionable and Sean Payton wouldn’t rule out playing him. But the game is outdoors in Cincinnati and snow is possible. Thomas only practiced on a limited basis this week. I’m thinking we still are at least a week away from seeing Thomas.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.