“It was unreal.”
Mike Detillier, co-host of Sports Talk and WWL NFL analyst, summed up in just three words how most of the Who Dat Nation was feeling after the New Orleans Saints dominated the Green Bay Packers 38-3.
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The Saints were playing a “home” game in Jacksonville, Florida because of Hurricane Ida; and many in southeast Louisiana are still recovering from Ida's impact. The Saints had also spent the week practicing in Texas before heading to Florida for the season opener. And what an opener it was.
“It was one of the most – if not the most – impressive season openers in New Orleans Saints history. That's how good it was,” Detillier enthused. “Consider the opponent. Consider the fact that [the Packers] have been to the NFC Championship game back-to-back years and [that] you're going up against the reigning-MVP [Aaron Rodgers]. And you totally dominated that football game.”
New Orleans outgained Green Bay 322-229. The Saints offense converted 5-10 third downs and scored on all three of their first half possessions and six of their first seven possessions. In his first start with the Saints, Jameis Winston was efficient, completing 70% of his passes and 5 of his 14 completions went for touchdowns.
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The New Orleans defense was even more impressive.
“It was a totally dominating performance,” Detillier said. “What really stood out to me was how good their defense was. They gave very few avenues for the Packers to do much of anything.”
The Saints defense held the Packers to just 1-10 on third down. They forced three turnovers. They sacked Rodgers twice and hit him seven total times. He had just a 53.6% completion percentage while throwing for 133 yards, his lowest total since Week 12 of the 2019 season. Rodgers's 36.8 passer rating was tied for the fourth-lowest of his career.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans run defense was just as ferocious, holding the Packers to just 43 yards and 2.9 yards per carry. No Green Bay running back had more than 19 yards on the ground.
The Saints accomplished this despite a litany of things that could have held them back.
“You've got a new starting quarterback,” Detillier said. “ You're missing different people either through injury or suspensions. You were displaced. Man, you've got to give Sean Payton and his coaching staff great credit to get this team to compartmentalize what's happening and to go on the road in Jacksonville to beat the Packers.”
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Plenty could have gone wrong; but, instead, almost everything went right.
“That perfect game,” Detillier said. “You sort of dream about that [where] everything goes right. Yesterday, not everything went right; but that's about as close as you're going to get. Everything just sort of fit into place."
The Saints will look to keep it going on the road against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.