For the Saints to get to the postseason in 2023, it'll take the stars playing like stars.
Thats' what happened in Week 15, and it was in response to a challenge put forth by Demario Davis and underscored by red gas cans scattered around the locker room leading up to a 24-6 win over the Giants, as Saints GM Mickey Loomis explained on WWL this week.
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Mickey Loomis in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
“During the week [Davis] challenged some of the veteran players to have a little gas in your tank, let’s see what you got," Loomis told Mike Hoss on WWL this week, "and look, a number of guys, Demario, Tanoh [Kpassagnon], some of our offensive players, Alvin [Kamara], they responded."
Demario also had a two-part message for his team prior to the game. Silence the noise, then be the noise. Demario embodied that message himself with inspired play in the first quarter to set the tone against the Giants. The Saints finished the game with a season-high 7 sacks and outclassed a young New York team that had won its past three games.
"Oftentimes you’re going to go as your veteran players and your leaders go," Loomis continued, "and they certainly showed up last weekend.”
The Saints will have to do that again in Week 16, but on a short week and not against a rookie, but one of the longest tenured quarterbacks in Matthew Stafford, who happens to be one of just four active quarterbacks to have started and won a Super Bowl. The Rams are winners of four of their past five games and sit at 7-7 and in the thick of the playoff chase, just like the Saints.
There are currently seven NFL teams at .500 or worse in the NFC, with three playoff spots (one NFC South winner and two wild cards) likely to be spread among them.
“The margins are so small that any of the variables that happen during the course of the game can change the outcome of the game. So you just have to be conscious of that. You have to just keep grinding. As long as you have a chance to make the playoffs, you just keep grinding," Loomis said. "And even then you keep grinding, because look, winning a game is really difficult and it’s an accomplishment, regardless of what your record is. You can see — I saw the end of the Carolina game, and just, man, the relief, the joy that those guys got from winning a game speaks volumes. It speaks volumes as to their commitment and their passion for the game and I think we all need to keep that in mind as we watch these games.”
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MORE FROM MICKEY LOOMIS
On Derek Carr's performance vs Giants
“It was a solid day for Derek. You know, he made really good decisions, put the ball in the right places most of the time and look, our players made plays and that’s despite not having Mike Thomas or Chris Olave out there, so each week it’s been a little bit of a merry-go-round in terms of who’s playing and the playmakers that we have on the field, and you know, Chris wasn’t able to go, but Rashid was. We got Taysom Hill back this week, who interestingly enough, didn’t have a lot of production in this particular game. He’s an important player to us in each of our wins he’s played an important role, and this was one of the few games where he didn’t have a lot of touches and a lot of opportunities, and yet we were still able to win.”
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On two TNF games in a season
“Look, everybody, we’ve all had Thursday games, all of us. I mean, this is the first time where we’ve had two split apart. I think one year we had a Thanksgiving Thursday and then played the following Thursday, but that’s a normal 1-week schedule, so this is a little different. You know, look, we’re gonna pass judgement on it based on if we win or lose, right? Because that’s what we do. But look, the schedule is the schedule. Everyone is going to have to, at some point, deal with this and, you know, our number is up this year, so it’d be easier, certainly, if we didn’t have to travel for this second one, but look, the benefit is we’re gonna have 10 days after this game, so there’s certainly the downside of the short week, but on the other end of it, you get a longer week and we’ll take advantage of that.”
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On the Rams
"They’re well coached. They’ve got a heck of an offense with a veteran quarterback who has been one of the better players in our league for quite some time. They have weapons in Cooper Kupp and this rookie receivers, Puka [Nakua]. They’ve got a good running back. Their offensive line has played well. They’ve got a player at tight end that they can go to. They are a dangerous team and can put up a lot of points. I think they’ve put up a lot of points the last four or five weeks. They didn’t have their best receiver, Cooper Kupp, at the beginning of the season. That may explain some of their early struggles. But yea, they’re a good football team and we’re gonna have to have our A game to be competitive.”
