Saints Down Packers in Hundley’s Debut

Game: Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints

Game Result: New Orleans Saints 26, Green Bay Packers 17

Coming into this game, Brett Hundley was going to need help from the defense and the skill players around. The Packers first drive took five plays to go 75 yards, and was capped off by a 46 yard run by Aaron Jones where he was completely untouched. On this drive, was a move that Packer fans have come to know and love from Aaron Rodgers, Brett Hundley drew an offsides penalty for a free play. This was a veteran move by Hundley to show that maybe the Packers season wasn’t sunk after all. The defense proceeded to pick off Drew Brees on the next two Saints possessions. However, the Packers offense didn’t do anything with either of the turnovers quickly sending the defense back out onto the field.

The Saints offense would not be denied for long. They took advantage of a short punt by Justin Vogel and went 53 yards for a touchdown, which the Packers promptly answered with a 75 yard touchdown drive of their own. The rest of the first half was a series of punts and a bizarre offensive pass interference penalty on Tight End Richard Rodgers that pushed the Packers back 10 yards and out of field goal range for kicker Mason Crosby.

The Saints offense came out firing in the second half gaining big chunk plays scoring a touchdown on their first drive and scoring on every drive in the second half not including the final drive where they were just attempting to run out the clock by kneeling down. The Packers offense sputtered for the majority of the second half, with Hundley frequently having throws that weren’t quite on the mark, as he finished the day with a completion percentage under 50%. Drew Brees made some questionable throws on the day, but his defense and poor throws by Brett Hundley ultimately bailed him out, which allowed the Saints to spoil Hundley’s debut. Aaron Jones had a very impressive day averaging 7.7 yards per carry, while rushing for a total of 131 yards and a touchdown. Ty Montgomery had a less impressive 4 carries for 6 yards, which suggests that the team may be transitioning to the more standard running back in Jones, and would leave Montgomery as primarily a 3^rd down back due to his receiving skills.

The Packers head into their bye week 4-3 at just the right time. Reeling after two consecutive losses and unspectacular play by now starter Brett Hundley, they need to spend these two weeks getting more in sync in the offense they are now running, while also getting healthy before they play the Detroit Lions in a primetime matchup on Monday Night Football. The Saints, meanwhile, are riding a four game winning streak and face an upstart Chicago Bears team looking to build on a dominating defensive performance over the Carolina Panthers.

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