Legendary QB Battle ends in a Packer 37-30 win
New Orleans, LA – They say the third time’s the charm in whatever you put your mind to. In the case of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it’s to beat the New Orleans Saints at the Super Dome for the first time in his career, as Green Bay puts a dagger into a faltering Saints team on Sunday Night Football, winning 37-30.
Rodgers Revenge Tour
During the first two weeks of the season, Aaron Rodgers has played like a man who’s looking to avenge his family, tearing the Vikings and Lions apart in Weeks one and two, respectively, for 604 yards, six touchdowns, and no picks. Against the Saints on Monday night, the trend continued, as A-Rod completed 21/32 (66% completion) for 283 and three touchdowns. Remember, the Packers drafted a quarterback (Jordan Love) in the first round of this year’s draft. The 36-year-old Rodgers showed he’s still pissed about that selection, and he’s taking his anger out on opposing defenses.
Rodgers played in his trademark style; launching deep passes out of the pocket and finding unheard-of players for huge gains. Missing his top target in wideout Davante Adams to a hamstring injury tonight, second-year wideout Allen Lazard (6-146-1) became ”that guy”, being on the receiving end of a 48 and a 49-yard pass that set up two go-ahead touchdowns for Green Bay.
Fourth-year halfback Aaron Jones came into the game as the leading rusher in the league, with 234 yards and three touchdowns. He was kept in check by New Orleans’ rushing defense but was still able to put up good production on the ground, rushing for 69 yards and a score.
Over on defense, Green Bay was missing nose tackle Kenny Clark to a hip injury, and it showed. On the ground, the Packers gave up 122 yards to the Saints, with half-backs Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray both rushing for 58 yards (more on Kamara in a bit). Mike Pettine’s defense did come up big when it mattered, though, with linebacker Za’Darius Smith not only stripping the ball from the Saints’ swiss army-QB that is Taysom Hill, but also recovering it near midfield to set up a lead-taking field goal for Green Bay.
Drew Brees’ arm isn’t the problem
Since the Monday Night game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been criticized for his throwing arm missing that signature zip it used to ha have. Against the Packers, Brees played similarly to how he did against the Raiders; dump-off passes to Kamara and throw short curl, drag, and slant routes to all his receivers. The deepest pass he completed was an 18 yarder to wideout Tre’Quan Smith during a two-minute drill in the fourth quarter. Yet, Brees put up numbers, completing 29/36 (81% completion) for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Granted, fourth-year halfback Alvin Kamara had more than half of those yards, gaining 130 of them after the catch, but Brees still produced when he needed to.
If anything, it was the defense that let Brees and Payton down. Coming into tonight’s game, the Saints defense was one the most penalized in the league, with over 230 yards of penalty yards against yards. Against the Packers, they were hit with eight penalties for 83 yards, with cornerback Janoris Jenkins having two pass interference calls against him in the second half. But the worst one goes to all-pro linebacker Demario Davis, who was called offsides on a crucial third and long that set up Crosby’s lead-taking 49-yard field goal.
What comes next?
Green Bay is back in the prime-time lights, as they look to beat down on an Atlanta Falcons team that gave up back-to-back double-digit leads in two consecutive games (blew a 15-point lead to the Dallas Cowboys in week 2, and a 16-point lead to the Chicago Bears in week 3).
As for New Orleans, it’s a road trip to the Motor City to take on a Detroit Lions team that’s coming off a last-minute upset win against a red-hot Arizona Cardinals squad.
Writer
-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo