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Whew, buddy. The New Orleans Saints outplayed everyone’s expectations to dominate the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, ringing in the new season with their most satisfying win in years. Get caught up on how they won 38-3:

Final score: Saints 38, Packers 3

Sep 12, 2021; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; A New Orleans Saints fan reacts during the game against the Green Bay Packers at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Final

Green Bay

0

3

0

0

3

New Orleans

3

14

7

14

38

Keys to the Game

  • It all started by winning in the trenches. The Saints offensive line bullied their Green Bay opponents, consistently pushing them off the line of scrimmage. Even after the Saints lost Erik McCoy with a lower leg injury and shifted the lineup around. They allowed Winston to step up in the pocket and carve up the Packers secondary. On the other side of the ball, the Saints defensive line gave Rodgers’ patchwork blockers so much trouble that he threw a couple passes away. One memorable play was Cameron Jordan bench-pressing the right tackle into Rodgers’ face and flushing him from the pocket before disengaging, chasing Rodgers down, and forcing an incomplete pass — shoving Rodgers to the turf for good measure.

  • Let’s talk about Winston. He was decisive, taking a checkdown when it was all the defense gave him and pushing the envelope when appropriate. He avoided making mistakes outside a few too-low passes and an errant throw that got broken up and picked off in the end zone, which was wiped out by a bogus penalty (which does a little bit towards the many, many bad calls the Saints have had go against them over the years). He’s got room to improve even after lobbing five touchdown passes against a well-respected Green Bay defense, and that should scare every other team in this league.

  • The Saints won on critical downs. Green Bay only converted a single third down (on 10 attempts) and didn’t come away with a touchdown on their only trip into the red zone. Meanwhile, New Orleans went 5-of-10 on third downs, converted both of their fourth downs, and ended all four red zone trips with touchdowns. Situational football was a strength of the Packers last year and a weakness for the Saints, but they’ve reversed that narrative.

It was over when…

New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo, left, intercepts a pass thrown by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

…Paulson Adebo intercepted Rodgers in the red zone. The Packers were driving downfield, helped by a couple penalties against New Orleans, and got all the way down inside the Saints’ 20-yard line — where they’ve played their best football. Down 17-3 and in position to make it a one-score game, Rodgers instead threw too far off-target and Adebo seized his moment. A few minutes (and another Rodgers interception) later the Saints scored again, extending a lead that Green Bay couldn’t even challenge.

Players of the game

  • QB Jameis Winston. Yeah, he has to enter the way-too-early MVP conversation after this. Winston showed improved decision-making from his Buccaneers days but also proved he can still send the ball downfield as well as anyone in this league. And he was controlled, too, allowing the New Orleans running game to do its part as the main engine of the offense. He’s the first player in NFL history to throw for five touchdowns and fewer than 150 passing yards without tossing an interception.

  • RB Alvin Kamara. Kamara’s greatness was more understated than what we saw last year. He created an efficient 91 yards from scrimmage on 23 touches, but he was incredible on a snap-to-snap basis. Kamara’s adjustment to a too-high target from Winston put all his offseason training to good use, allowing him to contort his body, secure the bouncing ball, and then twist to stretch out for a first down conversion, all while falling to the sideline. By the way, his touchdown put him at 60 in his career, not too far behind Marques Colston’s 72 franchise-record scores.

  • FS Marcus Williams. His midfield interception stood out for itself, but Williams did so many things well that don’t show up on a stats sheet to bottle up the Green Bay offense. He shaded over one way or another to help Paulson Adebo (who also picked off Rodgers) and Desmond Trufant in coverage while filling in against the run. With so much ambiguity at the corner spots, Williams deserves a lot of credit for keeping the Saints secondary in position and error-free against one of the sport’s best quarterbacks.

  • DE Marcus Davenport. Davenport was credited with both the first tackle (for a one-yard loss) and the first sack of the Saints’ 2021 season. He did exit the game later but it’s unclear if that was injury related; we’ll keep an eye out for a status update. After years of frustrations, he’s finally looking the part of a dominant athlete off the edge. The Packers didn’t have much of an answer for him.

  • TE Juwan Johnson. Converting from wide receiver may have saved his career. Johnson caught two big touchdowns and converted a long fourth down attempt on a screen, and would have had a third score if he hadn’t been interfered with (which saw that pass picked off, but it was wiped out by a different penalty). He’s been a welcome surprise to the receiving corps.

Injury outlook

https://twitter.com/Erik_McCoy_73/status/1437186245462011905 Starting center Erik McCoy exited the game with a lower leg injury and did not return, though the team announced he was officially questionable, not ruled out completely. The Saints just didn’t need to rush him back with the unit continuing to play well. He was tweeting in good spirit after the game, so he’s probably not dealing with a serious injury.

Who saw this coming?

Sep 12, 2021; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston (2) signals at the line in the first quarter during a game against the Green Bay Packers at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Nobody. Not 92% of NFL experts, not the entire staff over at Packers Wire, and not me in our own staff picks. I thought the Saints were talented enough to keep it close in a tough loss. Instead they shocked the football world by beating Green Bay in every phase. The Packers had the advantages of greater experience, better health, and on paper a significantly better quarterback. New Orleans rolled its collective eyes at all of that and ran the Pack off the field.

What’s next?

Aug 27, 2021; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold (14) looks to pass in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Saints have a Week 2 road game with Sam Darnold and the Carolina Panthers, though they’ll return to Texas for another week of practice before flying out again. Carolina hasn’t beaten the Saints since the 2018 regular season finale, and they haven’t won in Carolina since Nov. 17, 2016. They had a solid 19-14 win over the New York Jets, but the Saints are in a great spot to bring them back to earth.

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