Green Bay Packers: 12 Quick Observations from Week 1 Blowout Loss
By Paul Bretl
Saints OL dominated this one
We knew coming into this game that the Green Bay Packers defensive front was going to face a tough task against a very good New Orleans Saints offensive line. And even though the Saints lost center Erik McCoy early on to an injury, the offensive line unit never missed a beat.
Winston had all day to throw in the pocket while Green Bay was unable to record even a sack, and they forced just three quarterback hits, according to ESPN. New Orleans didn’t break any major runs on the ground, but the offensive line generated a steady push for much of the game, allowing the Saints to consistently gain four to five yards per rush.
Credit to the Saints short-handed CB room
As I wrote in an article last week, I thought that there was a huge opportunity for Aaron Rodgers and the receiving corps to take advantage of a short-handed New Orleans cornerback room. But credit to the Saints defense, that wasn’t the case at all.
The secondary came away with two interceptions while holding Rodgers to 133 yards on 28 attempts. Davante Adams was limited to 56 yards — with 31 of those yards coming on one play –Marquez Valdes-Scantling just 17, and Allen Lazard 16. As Rodgers noted afterward, the Saints lined up in 2-shell, which caused issues, as did the New Orleans’ front-6.
Jordan Love makes his Green Bay Packers debut
I think we were all hoping that Jordan Love would make his NFL debut in Week 17 in a game where the Packers were resting for the playoffs because they had already clinched the No. 1 seed. However, it instead happened on Sunday because they were being blown out.
As should have been expected, Matt LaFleur didn’t ask Love to do anything wild out there, but he did make a few nice completions, including one for 32 yards to Randall Cobb and another to Amari Rodgers for 19. Love finished the game, completing five of his seven passes for 68 yards and a fumble in the red zone.