Rams wide receiver Robert Woods does not believe that crowd noise during Sunday’s NFC Championship Game will have an impact on the game, but he knows that the Saints are going to tell their fans to “be loud and show up” in an effort to prove him wrong.
Saints coach Sean Payton is going a little further than that. The Rams offense plays at a higher tempo than some of the other teams that the Saints have faced in their building and Payton spent some time Thursday instructing the team’s fans that they can’t dilly dally when it comes to bringing the noise this weekend.
“I think what’s important for our fan base is understanding when that crowd noise needs to begin differently this week than normal weeks,” Payton said, via the New Orleans Advocate. “That crowd noise needs to begin prior to 15 seconds left [on the play clock]. That crowd needs to begin just as that last play finished. Look, you get 65-70 snaps of that crowd noise, earlier than normal and louder than normal, it’s difficult.”
Given how how much Saints fans like to feel they have a hand in helping the team during Superdome games, it seems a good bet that Payton’s instructions will be taken to heart come Sunday.
