Good morning, everyone. On Sunday night, the Green Bay Packers took on the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. This game turned out to be a very entertaining one between both teams. In the end, the Packers won by 7 points to get their first win in the Superdome since Super Bowl XXXI. I am here to give you my thoughts on how the game went last night. Let’s get started.
The Packers defense got to a great start, forcing the Saints to a three-and-out. On third and 4 from the New Orleans 31 yard line, Jaire Alexander tackled Saints WR Deonte Harris short of the first down marker. The punt was fair caught by Tyler Ervin at the Green Bay 31 yard line, where the offense started their first drive. During the drive, Aaron Rodgers caught the defense offsides with a hard count. The bad part was that the play was blown dead due to neutral zone infraction. After that penalty, the Packers got two straight first downs to set them up at the Saints 31. A second down sack of Aaron Rodgers by Demario Davis killed the momentum of the drive. The Packers got 9 yards on a third and 22 to get into field goal range. Mason Crosby made it from 52 yards out to give Green Bay a 3-0 lead. The Packers almost got a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff, but the Saints fell on the ball. 4 plays later (including a 49-yard run by Alvin Kamara), the Saints got on the board with a 11-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Kamara. After a touchback on the kickoff, the Packers took possession at their own 25 yard line. The got all the way to the Saints 15 before the drive stalled. After a third and 5 incomplete pass to Aaron Jones, Mason Crosby was called upon for a 33-yard field goal (which is the extra point length). The kick was good, decreasing the Packers’ deficit to 1. The defense forced another three and out, with Kingsley Keke getting a sack on third down. The fumble was recovered by New Orleans, but the Packers forced the Saints to punt back to them. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Saints during the punt gave the Packers the ball at midfield. The Packers scored in just 3 plays, including a 48-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard. Lazard caught the 5-yard touchdown pass and second and goal. The touchdown gave Green Bay a 13-7 lead. During the next defensive possession, the Packers forced the Saints to a third and 15. Unfortunately, a short pass to Kamara from Brees went for 21 yards. Christian Kirksey injured his shoulder during the drive. I hope that he recovers fully from the injury. The defense did force the Saints to settle for a field goal after Taysom Hill was stopped by Adrian Amos on third and 3 from the Green Bay 27. With 4:28 left in the first half, the Packers had a great opportunity to get a touchdown both before and after halftime (they got the ball first in the second half). The drive stalled at the Green Bay 37 after 2 incomplete passes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in 3 plays. The Saints got the ball with 2:40 remaining in the second quarter. During the drive, the defense was getting burned with plenty of short passes from Brees. With 6 seconds left, the Saints scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders. The Packers trailed 17-13 at halftime (but not for long).
On the first possession of the second half, the Packers put more points on the board. On third and 10 from the Green Bay 25, Aaron Rodgers found a wide-open Allen Lazard for a deep completion. I wanted Lazard to get in the end zone so bad on that play, which is why I was not pleased with him being tackled 3 yards short. After 3 plays near the goal line that failed to score, I thought that the big play was going to be wasted. Head coach Matt Lafleur had the guts to go for it on fourth and goal, which I liked a lot. Aaron Jones punched it in with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Packers a 20-17 lead. The lead did not last for long, as the Saints went down the field for more points. They tried to get the Packers defense offsides on a fourth and 3 from the Green Bay 12, but they committed a false start on the play. The 35-yard field goal by Wil Lutz tied the game at 20-20. The Packers responded with another touchdown drive. During the drive, there was pass interference called on Marvin Williams during a deep pass intended for Tyler Ervin. 3 plays later, Marcedes Lewis made a great leaping catch for an 18-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a 27-20 lead. The game was tied again after a touchdown that was inexcusable for the defense to allow. Alvin Kamara caught a swing pass behind the line of scrimmage. 5 or 6 missed tackles and 52 yards later, he was in the end zone for a New Orleans touchdown. The next sequence of events was very tense, to say the least. After Aaron Jones was stuffed on a fourth and 1 run play from the Green Bay 48 (should have used Jamaal Williams or AJ Dillon there), the Saints had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. 2 plays later, Za’Darius Smith made a big play by stripping Taysom Hill of the ball and recovering the fumble. The offense did not fully capitalize on the turnover, but at least they scored on a 49-yard field goal by Mason Crosby (his third of the game). The defense forced the Saints to go three-and-out on their next possession. On third and 5 from the New Orleans 30, Alvin Kamara was stopped for no gain by Chandon Sullivan, forcing the Saints to punt back to Green Bay. The Packers took over from their own 36 yard line with an opportunity to seal the game. During the possession, Aaron Rodgers caught the defense offsides again. This time, the refs allowed the play to go through. Allen Lazard would have gotten another touchdown if Janoris Jenkins did not grab his arm. Jenkins did get called for pass interference, giving the Packers the ball at the 1 yard line. 2 plays later, Jenkins was called again for pass interference in the end zone while defending Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who almost got the touchdown on the play anyway. 2 plays after that penalty, Rodgers found a wide-open Robert Tonyan for a 1-yard play-action touchdown pass that gave the Packers a 10-point lead with 2 minutes left in the game. On the last defensive possession, Jaire Alexander almost picked off Drew Brees. That would have been a pick-six to give the Packers a third straight game of over 40 points scored. Instead, the Saints went down the field for a field goal to cut the lead to 7. The onside kick went out of bounds, sealing the 37-30 win for the Packers in New Orleans.
With the win, the Packers are now 3-0 on the season. It was the Packers’ first win in the Superdome since Super Bowl XXXI against the Patriots. The Packers also handed the Saints their first home loss under head coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees on Sunday Night Football. Matt LaFleur called another great game, other than a couple of bad play decisions near the goal line. The offense played well in Davante Adams’ absence on Sunday night. Aaron Rodgers made some great throws as always, going for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns and a passer rating of 124.9. Allen Lazard led the receivers with 6 catches for 146 yards and 1 touchdown. I wish that he had a couple more scores, but the deep connections did result in a score later in their respective drives. Robert Tonyan had 5 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown, while Jace Sternberger rebounded with 3 catches for 36 yards (and no drops). Marcedes Lewis had one catch, but that catch was a great touchdown catch from 18 yards out. Aaron Jones ran for 69 yards and a touchdown, which was the fourth and goal run that was set up by Lazard’s 72-yard catch and run. I am really liking how the offense is doing so far this season. My only hope is that they can keep it up in terms of efficiency and scoring while winning the time of possession battle.
On defense, the Packers struggled at points against the Saints. There were times when they were giving up a lot of short passes to Drew Brees and the New Orleans receivers. Alvin Kamara had 197 total yards on the night (58 rushing, 138 receiving), accounting for pretty much half of the Saints’ total yards (they had 397 yards as a team). What did not help was the poor tacking, specifically on the short passes to Kamara that went for chunk plays (including the 52-yard touchdown in the second half). When the defense needed key stops, they got them. They forced the Saints to a three-and-out while holding on to a 3-point lead. Za’Darius Smith forced a fumble of Taysom Hill, which was recovered by Smith. Kingsley Keke had 2 sacks of Drew Brees on the night, including a strip-sack in the first half. It was good to see the defense rebound during the game despite not having Kenny Clark and losing Christian Kirksey with a shoulder injury. Hopefully Clark comes back soon to help the run defense. I als On Special Teams, the Packers did not make crucial mistakes. I was worried a bit for the onside kick, but the ball went out of bounds. Mason Crosby made all of his kicks again, which is always good to see. JK Scott only punted once in the game. During that punt, he was ran into by a Saints player. Weirdly, there was not a call against New Orleans on the play. At least that did not come back to haunt Green Bay. There were also no penalties or turnovers on Special Teams, which hopefully is an all-season thing.
Overall, it was a fun game to watch on Sunday night. It was tense at points, but I was happy to see the Packers come out of New Orleans with a win. The next game that the Packers will play is against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football at Lambeau Field. In the meantime, I will enjoy a third straight Victory Monday. Have a great day, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL's YouTube page.)
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