COSTA MESA, Calif. — Most of the Saints starters played for brief periods in the preseason opener last week, and coach Sean Payton said playing time will ramp up a smidge in the second preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers at 3 p.m. Sunday.

What he’s looking for in the second game depends on the position, but the starters, regardless of position, will get more reps this week.

“Obviously we’re going to play our ones a little bit longer into this game like we typically do,” Payton said. “You’re wanting to see some of the mistakes cleaned up from a week ago.”

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Who Dat !

The Los Angeles Rams say they are ready for the New Orleans Saints.

They insist the Mercedes-Benz Superdome crowd noise will be a nonfactor in their rematch with the Saints in the NFC Championship Game.

But I think otherwise. They sound like they are trying to convince themselves that everything’s going to be OK. They sound to me like a team in denial.

The Saints are in their heads. And trust me, the sellout crowd of 73,000 will be in their ears on Sunday.

Five reasons why the Saints will win:

The New Orleans Saints play host to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional playoffs on Sunday afternoon at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The game is a rematch of the teams’ Week 11 contest in New Orleans, in which the Saints’ routed the Eagles 48-7, Philadelphia’s worst loss since 2005.

Here are seven keys to another Saints’ win on Sunday:

It’s the second of the two best football weeks of the year. A pair of playoff games each on Saturday and Sunday, although Who Dats will have to wait through the first three games for their postseason opener in the Dome this Sunday.

Down to the final eight, so which four will make it to their respective conference championship games? No need to wait for the weekend.

Here we go with our fearless predictions sans care or scare. With our usual sass, crass and joie de vivre, we keep rolling and hope to continue the fun into Dirty Bird Stadium next month.

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If New Orleans Saints players needed any extra motivation before their hopeful playoff run begins, coach Sean Payton gave it to them before they started preparing for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
During the team meeting on Monday (Jan. 7), there was a big box underneath a gold curtain, and when Payton unveiled it, the players saw a glass case full of cash, along with a Lombardi Trophy. There were also three armed guards who carried in some of the money, a total of $225,000, as the Saints saw a visual of what they stand to win this postseason.
“I think guys were excited,” running back Mark Ingram said. “You see a thing like that full of cash, that’ll make you excited a little bit.”
Saints wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. said the players reacted the same way anyone would when seeing that much cash.

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The New Orleans Saints will face a team they trounced during a regular season meeting when they host the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Divisional playoff game next Sunday (Jan. 13) at 3:40 p.m. CT.

The Eagles upset the Chicago Bears on Sunday (Jan. 6) in the last of four NFL wild-card games.

As the No. 1 seed with home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs, the Saints were assured of playing the wild-card winner with the lower seed. The Eagles have the lowest possible seed at No. 6.

The Dallas Cowboys, seeded at No. 4, will play Saturday in Los Angeles against the No. 2 Rams.

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The New Orleans Saints plan to start Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback in place of Drew Brees in Sunday’s season finale against the Carolina Panthers.

Coach Sean Payton announced the decision to start Bridgewater on Friday, saying the 26-year-old quarterback had been working with the first-team offense throughout the week of practice.

“He’s had a good week of preparation, and he’s thrown it really well,” Payton said. “So, it’ll be good to get a chance to look at him.”

The Saints have already clinched the No. 1 seed, so there are no playoff implications, which explains why the coaches want to rest Brees. This will be just third start Brees has missed since joining the Saints in 2006. He also sat in Week 17 of 2009 when the Saints already had the No. 1 seed, and he missed Week 3 of 2015 with a shoulder injury.

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