GREEN BAY (14-4) at NEW ORLEANS (13-5) at Jacksonville, Florida
Sunday, 3:25 p.m. CDT, Fox
OPENING LINE: Packers by 3 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook
SERIES RECORD: Packers lead 17-9
LAST MEETING: Packers beat Saints 37-30 on Sept. 27, 2020, in New Orleans
PACKERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (5), RUSH (8), PASS (9), SCORING (1).
PACKERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (9), RUSH (13t), PASS (7), SCORING (14).
SAINTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (12), RUSH (6), PASS (19), SCORING (5).
SAINTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (4), RUSH (4), PASS (5), SCORING (6).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Packers plus-7; Saints plus-9.
PACKERS PLAYER TO WATCH: All-Pro WR Davante Adams is star QB Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target. Adams led the NFL last season with 18 touchdowns receiving and also tied for second in the league with 115 catches. He tied for fifth with 1,374 yards receiving.
SAINTS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Alvin Kamara was the centerpiece of New Orleans’ offense last season and should be again following the retirement of NFL all-time leading passer Drew Brees. In 2020, Kamara led the Saints with 932 yards and 16 TDs rushing and with 83 receptions for 756 yards. His 21 TDs from scrimmage led the NFL.
KEY MATCHUP: Adams against Saints top CB Marshon Lattimore. This marquee matchup didn’t take place last season because Adams sat out with an injury. Lattimore, the Saints top draft choice in 2017, when he was also Defensive Rookie of the Year, is now in the final year of his contract and looking to build on his credentials as an elite pass defender.
KEY INJURIES: The Packers are playing without All-Pro OT David Bakhtiari, who is opening the season on the physically unable to perform list after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on Dec. 31. … The Saints will be without top WR Michael Thomas, who also is on the PUP list because of ankle surgery in June.
SERIES NOTES: The Saints have won two of the past three meetings, in 2014 and ’17, and are 4-2 against Green Bay with Sean Payton coaching (not counting a 2012 loss to the Packers when Payton was suspended). … Rodgers is 3-2 in career starts vs. New Orleans with 1,580 yards and 13 TDs passing against six INTs.
STATS AND STUFF: The game was moved out of the Superdome and to Jacksonville because the New Orleans area is recovering from Hurricane Ida. It’s the first Saints home game scheduled for the Superdome to be moved since Hurricane Katrina displaced the club in 2005. The only other Saints home game played outside the dome since then was part of the NFL’s international series in London. … Rodgers won his third MVP last season and led the NFL in passer rating, touchdown passes, completion percentage and interception percentage. He was the first player to lead the league in all four categories since Steve Young in 1992. … Packers K Mason Crosby has made 18 consecutive field-goal attempts. The only two longer streaks in team history also were Crosby’s. He made 23 straight from 2010-11 and 19 in a row from 2013-14. … Green Bay has won its season opener each of the last six years, matching the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL’s longest active streak. … QB Jameis Winston, a 2015 first overall draft choice by Tampa Bay, is slated to make his first start for New Orleans since joining the Saints in free agency in 2020. … Winston passed for 270 yards and two TDs vs. no INTs in his only start vs. Green Bay on Dec. 3, 2017. … In 2019 with the Buccaneers, Winston led the NFL in yards passing with 5,109 and ranked second in TDs passing with 33, but also led the league with 30 interceptions. … Saints DE Cameron Jordan had 7 1/2 sacks in 2020 and ranks fourth in the NFL with 93 1/2 sacks since 2012. He also is the only player with at least seven sacks in each of the past nine seasons. … Saints LB Demario Davis has at least 100 tackles in each of his past four seasons. Davis and Tampa Bay’s Lavonte David are the only LBs with at least 400 tackles and 40 or more tackles for losses since 2017.
FANTASY TIP: The Saints have been scrambling to find a second starting caliber cornerback, and also have had turnover on the interior defensive line. So Rodgers could have time to throw and find weaknesses to exploit in the Saints’ pass coverage — even if Lattimore contains Adams, which is no sure thing.
