Photo by Evan Siegle - packers.com
Tucker Kraft
The Green Bay Packers scored over 30 points for the fifth consecutive game on Monday night, besting an injured an overmatched New Orleans Saints 34-0. The win brought their record to 11-4 with two games remaining and clinched one of the three Wild Card spots in the NFL playoffs. It’s the second year in a row the Packers have reached the playoffs with the league’s youngest roster.
On offense, the running game led the way for Green Bay as the team gained 188 yards and three touchdowns on a robust 39 carries. Nine different players carried the ball for the Packers, as they went after the 30th ranked New Orleans run defense mercilessly. While Jordan Love put up pedestrian numbers in the passing game (16/28, 182, 1 TD, 0 INT), it hardly mattered. Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson were more than enough to secure the win.
Slot receiver Jayden Reed made a welcome return from several quiet weeks, leading the team in receiving with 76 yards on three receptions while tight end Tucker Kraft chipped in 63 yards of his own, as Love picked on the soft middle of the Saints’ defense. The only real blemish on the day was a knee injury suffered by Christian Watson, however early reports are positive, listing Watson with a bruise.
While the 34-point total was impressive, the zero on the other side of the scoreboard was more so. While the Saints were without starting quarterback Derek Carr, running back Alvin Kamara, and former Packer Marquez Valdes-Scantling, it’s incredibly difficult to shut out any NFL team, but Green Bay pulled it off through a ferocious pass rush, and an impenetrable run defense. Brenton Cox was particularly impressive, recording a sack, and generating consistent pressure on New Orleans backup quarterback Spencer Rattler. The Packers recorded three sacks on the day, and on the Saints’ best scoring opportunity of the evening, safety Zayne Anderson picked off Rattler at the Green Bay two-yard line to preserve the shutout. It was the first interception of Anderson’s four-year career.
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Rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper led the team in tackles with 10 and continued to impress after taking home NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors last week. Cooper’s speed allows him to cover the entire middle of the field, and his rangy play has had a noticeable impact on the entire unit, leaving the edge rushers with fewer responsibilities, allowing them to focus more on getting to the quarterback.
The Vikings
Next week the Packers travel to Minnesota for what could very well be a playoff preview against the Vikings, who are fresh off a 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, and still sit two games ahead of Green Bay at 13-2. The Vikings won their first meeting with Green Bay 31-29 in Week Four, but the closeness of that game should give the Packers confidence. The Vikings two-point margin came despite picking Jordan Love three times, forcing a Tucker Kraft fumble, several drops by Dontayvion Wicks, and two missed field goals from former Packer kicker Brayden Narveson. The Vikings should have won the game by three touchdowns.
The first matchup between these two teams was also Jordan Love’s first game back from his early season knee injury, and he lacked mobility, and some zip on his fastball. Now fully recovered, Love hasn’t thrown an interception in five games.
The Packer defense is also much improved since the early season, as Jeff Hafley’s new system has had time to take hold, and the pass rush has kicked it up a notch. The one glaring weakness in the Packer defense is their defense of opposing tight ends, where they rank 18th. Minnesota’s star tight end TJ Hockenson missed their first game with an injury but will be available on Sunday. That said, the Packer defense has been noticeably better against tight ends since Edgerrin Cooper’s snap count increased, and it’s possible that the Packer defense no longer really has any weaknesses. According to the advanced statistic Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA), the Packer defense ranks sixth overall, just one spot behind the elite Vikings, and over their last four games, the Packers rank third.
Green Bay appears to be true Super Bowl contenders, but beating the Saints doesn’t provide us with a lot of information. This matchup with the Vikings will tell us quite a bit.
