A few days off to shake it all off, all being five straight losses, might help the sad sack Saints (2-5) collective heads are regrouped and cleared. They play at Los Angeles Chargers (3-3) today (3:05 p.m. Central, FOX) before Saints fans start collecting grocery bags to wear over their heads at games.

The Chargers are favored by a touchdown, which is quite a bit for a team that lost its third game in four last week on Monday Night Football, 17-15, at 2-3 Arizona. The Saints return five key starters, who will help on the field and mentally as an emotional lift.

So take the Saints and the touchdown. Here are three reasons why:

New Orleans’ only elite wide receiver right now is third-year veteran deep threat Chris Olave, with Rashid Shaheed out for the season with a knee injury suffered in the Week 6 loss to Tampa Bay. Olave, who has 23 catches for 280 yards and a touchdown, missed the Saints’ last game against Denver after suffering the concussion against Tampa Bay. He’s coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and gives rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler a shot.

The Rattler will start the third game for the injured Derek Carr (oblique). The Rattlers will also feel a little better with the return of right guard Cesar Ruiz (knee). Ruiz last played in the week three loss to Philadelphia. If the hitting Rattler, who has a minor hip injury, needs a break, Wildcat quarterback / tight end / running back Taysom Hill can spell him. The versatile hill (lung, rib) will return for the first time since the loss in Atlanta in Week 4.

Other starters returning from injury will be left guard Lucas Patrick (chest) and linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring).

And, just in the Rattler case is struggling so does backup Jake Haener, the Saints could have Carr. Carr did not practice this week but returned to throwing after being injured Oct. 7 in the Monday Night Football loss at Kansas City.

“Potentially, yes,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said of Carr on Friday. “We’ll see where he is on Sunday.”

First-year coach Jim Harbaugh has some key injuries to deal with against the Saints. Freshman wide receiver Ladd McConkey (hip) is questionable. He has 24 catches on the season for 265 yards and two touchdowns in six games. If he doesn’t play, he will be missed by an offense that has scored 15 points or fewer in its three losses.

Also, wide receiver Quentin Johnston (ankle) is questionable. He has 14 catches for 164 yards and three touchdowns in five games. Veteran wide receiver DJ Chark (groin) has been out all season and remains on injured reserve. Backup wide receiver Derius Davis (hamstring) is also questionable. So quarterback Justin Herbert is quickly running out of targets.

New Orleans hasn’t lost six straight games in nearly two decades. so the odds should be in favor of the Saints, right? The sixth straight setback came in the 2005 season interrupted by Hurricane Katrina, when the Saints lost, 24-17, at New England on Nov. 20.

The Saints finished 3-13 that year without a home stadium because the Superdome’s roof was blown off by the storm. In temporary homes, New Orleans was 0-4 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge and 1-2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, where then-owner Tom Benson had business interests. He wanted to move the team there permanently before NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue blocked him. Sean Payton replaced Jim Haslett after the season. The Saints signed Drew Brees from San Diego. And the rest was history.

In the lagniappe department (New Orleans speak for something extra), there’s this. If the Saints somehow pull away from the Chargers, they could play at 1-6 Carolina next week. The Saints defeated Carolina, 47-10, in the opener. So a two-game winning streak is possible to put the Saints at 4-5. There is some motivation.