Packers crushed by Saints in season opener
The Packers are 0-1 to start the season after losing 38-3 in a dreadful performance vs the New Orleans Saints down in Jacksonville.
The Saints, who now have Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback, scored the first three times (a field goal, then two touchdowns) they had the football. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers finally got a field goal to end the half, but on the first drive of the second half, Rodgers threw a red-zone interception and then threw another pick on their next drive deep in their own endzone. The Saints ended up scoring a touchdown and the rout was on.
Like many games, just look at who is winning the battles at the line of scrimmage. The Packers were getting blown off the line on D. They couldn’t stop the run or put any kind of consistent pressure on Winston.
Hardly any of the starters played in the preseason. Could that be a factor? It’s asking a lot to give the starters their first game action together in Week 1 and expect them to be crisp and ready to dominate.
Rodgers looked nothing like a player who won the MVP Award last season. With everything involving him in the offseason, whether true or not, this can’t be good for him right now.
What about the defense? We have our third defensive coordinator in the last five seasons and nothing seems to change. It’s hard to imagine that we can sink much lower right now but something needs to change and quickly.
For the first time in his tenure as head coach, Matt LaFleur has a losing record after going 13-3 with two NFC Championship Game appearances the last two seasons. It’s looking like this will be more of a grind this season. We’ll see how both LaFleur and the players react to this loss.
Perhaps we underestimated how good the Saints really are. They had to have been motivated to give a good performance on the field after what happened to their city. It’s obvious that they brought their “A-game” or close to it and the Packers were nowhere close to matching them in that area. This game in Jacksonville was a Saints’ home game but it was the Packers who looked out of place.
At least Jordan Love got some action in the regular season. His drives ended up with a punt and a lost fumble on a sack, but he did get his feet wet.
The bottom line is that the Saints were the better team on Sunday. The Packers have a lot of work to do. All is not lost. Many teams had very disappointing performances in Week 1 but went on to win the Super Bowl to end their season. The Packers need to correct these mistakes and get things turned around.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that all of the other teams in their division lost as well. As bad as the loss was, they are still tied for first place. They have a chance to get their first win on Monday night in Week 2 when they take on the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field. There is plenty to work on and they have an extra day to prepare. Take care and stay safe Packer fans! We will see you Monday night!
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
