Offensive Dominance
The Packers knew that a win against New Orleans would secure a playoff berth, and they came out focused. They scored three touchdowns on their first three drives, a feat not previously accomplished by a Packer team quarterbacked by Jordan Love. In the first quarter, Josh Jacobs was the bull, and the Saints were his china shop.
The sturdy running back set a tone, highlighted by a stiff arm on Tyrann Mathieu that bench-pressed Mathieu off the field. Jacobs had rolled up 102 yards of offense early in the third quarter when he seemed to injure his left shoulder. But the fierce, battling tone set by Jacobs never left the field.
Chris Brooks picked up a first down after breaking a linebacker’s tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Then Emanuel Wilson came in and ran over a Saints defensive back for a first down. The Packers came back down to earth in the second half, scoring on a 55-yard field goal after Love missed an open Jayden Reed to force a fourth down.
Brandon McManus made the long kick in the cold look easy. He kicked a 46-yarder later to make it 27-0. Green Bay really needs to re-sign him.
Jordan Love kept making plays to move the sticks in the first half, and yet still could play better. He missed a couple of wide-open receivers, Christian Watson alone and uncovered for an easy touchdown for one, and yet on the play, he hit a wide-open Tucker Kraft for 15 yards and a first down.
The Packers scored a touchdown on the drive, so it’s hard to knock him when everything he was throwing in the first half was working. He ended the game early with 182 yards passing, a touchdown, no interceptions, and an 88.7 passer rating.
Defensive Prowess
The offense wasn’t the only Packer unit that came to play. The defense pitched the only shutout in the NFL this year. With both rookies Bullard and Miller not playing, the next man up was special teamer Zayne Anderson, who had a night to remember.
A nice interception on the Saints’ deepest drive of the third quarter kept the shutout alive. He almost had another pick late in the fourth, but as he grabbed the ball, he collided with Corey Ballentine, and the ball came out. He also had some nice run forces, coming up hard from the deep secondary to make tackles or allow his teammates to make a play.
Keisean Nixon forced the first turnover of the game, hitting Rattler, who immediately coughed it up, allowing Rashan Gary to gather in the loose ball. Edgerrin Cooper, hot off his NFL Defensive Player of the Week award, had another good game, leading the team in tackles, including a TFL and a fantastic diagnosis of a screen pass that was stuffed for no gain.
A Complete Victory
Admittedly, the Saints’ backup quarterback Spencer Rattler struggled, and the lack of stars playing for New Orleans was a long list. But it wasn’t too long ago when the NY Giants started backup quarterback Tommy DeVito in a game versus the Packers, leading the G-men down the field for a winning score to humiliate the Packer defense. There would be no poor execution or inability to stop a scrambling backup QB today.
The final score was 34-0. All three Packer units excelled, and they deserved this win. Time to celebrate another trip to the playoffs for Jordan Love and company.
Next up, a true playoff test: The Vikings in Minnesota.
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