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It’s just a fact: You cannot win in this league without the proper amount of spiced chicken in your diet.

That’s the wisdom coming from columnist Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times, who spoke with members of the New Orleans Saints as they waited for their postseason opponent to be decided Sunday.

The Saints didn’t know which team they would be facing, but players understood that if they wanted to win on the road in the postseason, they would have to bring back a time-honored franchise tradition.

“Coach has got to give us Popeyes in the plane again,” said Saints wide receiver Robert Meachem. “Everybody’s talking about that.”

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Yes—they’ve got to have that chicken. It is the key to the Saints getting the bug off their back and winning on the road, according to Meachem.

“Every road trip in ’09 we had Popeyes,” Meachem said. “Coach needs to bring back the Popeyes. Wherever we play, whoever we play, when we get on the plane—have the Popeyes ready.”

Meachem has a point, considering the Saints went 7-1 on the road during the 2009-10 season and won the first Super Bowl in franchise history.

This season, however, the team’s decision to forgo eating hand-battered chicken at high altitudes has clearly hurt its ability to win on the road. The Saints are 3-5 playing away from the Superdome in 2013, and running back Pierre Thomas believes its time to bring back the tradition.

“We’ve had Popeyes since ’09, but just not this year,” Thomas said. “Oh, we had so much in ’09. Popeyes has been good to us. I think we’ll have Popeyes on the plane this time.”

Considering the Saints haven’t won an away postseason game in franchise history, having Popeyes certainly cannot hurt.

“All we have to do is go to work and keep playing well,” Meachem said.

“And bring the chicken,” interrupted Saints wide receiver Lance Moore.

Hear that, Saints fans? Sounds like a hashtag and a rallying call all in one.

#BringtheChicken

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