Packers look to stifle the Saints at the Superdome
The Packers look to remain undefeated as they play their first nationally televised game of the season, a visit to New Orleans to play the Saints on Sunday Night Football.
The Packers are 2-0 with divisional wins over the Vikings and Lions. The Saints are 1-1, defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34-23 but losing to the Las Vegas Raiders 34-24 on Monday night in the Raiders’ home opener at their brand new stadium.
Drew Brees will go into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, but his performance in 2020 so far has been less than spectacular, especially vs the Raiders on Monday night. The absence of WR Michael Thomas for the majority of the first two games might have something to do with it as the two have some amazing chemistry between them. RB Alvin Kamara has more receiving yards than rushing yards in this young season. A player who could make a huge difference is former Packer TE Jared Cook. The Packers need to have an effective pass rush so Brees doesn’t find his rhythm. Some turnovers always help as well.
Aaron Rodgers will also go into the Hall of Fame, but he is having a nice start to 2020, unlike Brees. The running game has helped him tremendously, especially Aaron Jones. The offensive line has its share of injuries already, but they have done a nice job of giving Rodgers time to throw and opening up holes for the running backs. It is unclear if Davante Adams will play, although he insisted that he could have come back in the game on Sunday vs Detroit had the score been much tighter. Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard have played well, so if Adams is out, they still have options. We’ll see if the offense can keep it up on a fast track in New Orleans.
Brees and Head Coach Sean Payton both came to New Orleans in 2006. Both helped to reenergize the team (and the city) after Hurricane Katrina. They had much success together but won only one Super Bowl together. Does that sound familiar Packer fans? It’s surprising that they don’t get criticized for that fact more often than they do.
Brees may not be off to a great start but he’s put up some huge numbers vs the Packers in his career. He has never had a game below 300 yards passing vs Green Bay. Granted, that might be kind of misleading as he fell behind in some of those games and had to throw the ball to catch up, but stats are stats.
It’s kind of amazing that the Packers and Saints haven’t met in the playoffs yet, although they did come close a few times. In the 2010-11 playoffs, Marshawn Lynch had his famous run to the endzone as the 7-9 Seahawks upset the Saints, who were defending champions at the time. I believe the Saints would have beaten the Bears in Chicago and the Packers would’ve had to travel to New Orleans for the NFC Championship Game instead of Soldier Field. Last season, the Vikings upset the Saints. Had the Saints prevailed, they would have come into Lambeau Field instead of the Seahawks.
The Saints have a struggling quarterback right now and they played on Monday night, which means they have a shorter week to prepare for this game. The Packers can’t take anything for granted though. The Saints, and especially Drew Brees, are feeling a lot of heat right now in the press and elsewhere. I think the Saints are going to come out with a sense of urgency, and the Packers had better be ready for this game. Drew Brees is still capable of having a huge performance.
Games like these are huge because tiebreakers come into effect. This might be the difference on whether a potential playoff matchup will be at Lambeau Field or in New Orleans. The one positive is that although this game is in the Superdome, the Packers don’t have to worry about deafening crowd noise.
Just a bit of nostalgia: The Packers won Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, their first championship since the Vince Lombardi Era. It never gets old reminiscing about wins like this one.
I expect a competitive game on Sunday night. The Packers aren’t playing a team from the NFC North this time around. This will be a good test for them. I think it will be a high-scoring game. Turnovers and stops will be huge in a game like this. Let’s go on out there and keep proving the doubters wrong. Let’s get this win and keep the train moving forward.
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
