Green Bay Packers v. Saints: 5 Big Questions in Week 1
By Paul Bretl
It’s finally time to turn our full attention towards the Green Bay Packers Week 1 matchup with the New Orleans Saints.
This is going to be a different Saints team than what we saw in 2020, with most notably Jameis Winston under center instead of future Hall of Famer, Drew Brees. But New Orleans also underwent some other changes throughout the roster in an effort to get under the league’s shrunken salary cap.
As I’ve done in the past, I’ll have a few different articles each week previewing the upcoming game, but this one will focus on the five big questions facing the Green Bay Packers that particular week.
How will playing in Jacksonville affect the overall game?
As we all know, due to some very unfortunate circumstances, the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Saints was moved to Jacksonville. When looking at how this move could impact the game, there are two important items worth noting.
The first is that the Packers won’t have to contend with the New Orleans fans — or at least not anywhere near the same amount that they would have — in the dome. That crowd and environment gives the Saints are very real edge when at home. And now, there may actually be more Packers fans at the game.
Second, is the heat. This coming Sunday, it is supposed to be 86 degrees in Jacksonville with 73 percent humidity. It does help that the summer weather up here in Green Bay is also very humid, but it’s going to be important that the team hydrate both well before the game and during as they aren’t accustomed to playing a full game in this type of heat.
Ultimately, I believe playing this game at Jacksonville benefits the Packers more than the Saints because of the loss of the very distinct home-field advantage–but we will see.