The Packers had a terrific offense and the Saints were on pace to have the worst defense of all-time. With New Orleans being 0-3, people were thinking one of two things. Either, the Saints were going to play inspired football or they were going to get destroyed. For a bit, it looked like the Packers would run away from the Saints, but New Orleans made it close and nearly pulled it out. Due to Bountygate, the Saints were without coach Sean Payton and they were playing for interim coach Aaron Kromer.
Aaron Rodgers and Co. scored first on a touchdown by James Jones to put the Packers in front 7-0. Jordy Nelson had two catches for 33 yards on the drive, as Rodgers was 4-6 on the drive for 47 yards and the score.
However, the Saints came right back and evened it up. Despite them having an atrocious defense, New Orleans has always had a terrific offense with Drew Brees leading the attack. Brees was surgical in picking apart the Packers defense on the tying drive, going 7-7 for 84 yards and the touchdown to Marques Colston. All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham had 42 yards receiving of Brees’ 84 yards passing on the drive.
Green Bay then went on a long drive to re-capture the lead. It was an 80-yard drive in 11 plays, ending with a Rodgers touchdown toss to Greg Jennings. Rodgers hit five different receivers on his seven completions on the possession.
They used an even longer drive to take the lead by two touchdowns. On the next possession, the Packers went 84 yards in 13 plays. The drive was sparked by a gutsy decision by Mike McCarthy to do a fake punt on fourth down inside his own 20. John Kuhn picked up five yards on the 4th-and-1 and Green Bay kept the drive alive. From that moment on, the Packers did not face another third down until the touchdown from Rodgers to Jones to complete the drive and give the Packers a 21-7 lead. Cedric Benson had 40 combined yards on the drive.
The Saints would drive down the field once more and score right before the half to cut it to 21-14. Darren Sproles had 30 yards receiving, including the touchdown, a 6-yard reception with a half minute to go in the second quarter.
After the Saints started the half with a field goal, Green Bay was poised to take a 28-17 lead. On a third down inside the Saints 5 ended in an incompletion, New Orleans’ Malcolm Jenkins was called for a facemask penalty, which gave the Green and Gold new life. However, when pulling Rodgers’ facemask, Jenkins accidentally poked one of Rodgers’ eyes. It was so bad that he had to come out of the game for a play. Graham Harrell, the backup, came in and he had one job....not turn the ball over. So, of course, what happens? The play was going to be a handoff to Lacy, but Harrell had trouble with the exchange with the center and there was a fumble. New Orleans recovered and thwarted the Packers’ scoring chance.
Four plays later, New Orleans made them pay. After a first down moved the Saints out of the shadow of their own end zone, Brees went for the home run. He launched a deep pass over the middle to a wide open Joseph Morgan, who caught it and broke a tackle and carried a defender into the end zone for an 80-yard score to give the Saints their first lead of the day.
After an interception by Patrick Robinson, it looked like the Saints would get their first win of the season. Green Bay could not stop the New Orleans offense and the Packers all of a sudden were turnover prone. The Saints would use an 11-play drive to move inside the Packers 10, but then the Green Bay defense stood tall and forced a field goal. The Garrett Hartley field goal gave New Orleans a 27-21 lead with a little more than 13 minutes left in the game.
The duo of Nelson and Randall Cobb would finally give the Packers the lead back they would never relinquish. The duo would combine to have 49 yards receiving on the drive that would give them the lead back. The touchdown was scored by Nelson from 11 yards out. The extra point was good and the Packers led 28-27.
On the ensuing kickoff, Sproles ran the kickoff back to the 35, but was hit and the ball was knocked out and the Packers recovered. However, the *real* officials ruled that Sproles was down. Replays showed that the Saints return man was clearly not down when he fumbled, so New Orleans received a break.
On the drive, the Saints would drive into field goal range. Hartley would drill a 43-yard field goal.......but New Orleans was penalized for holding, wiping away the field goal. After an offsides on rookie Mike Daniels gave the Saints five yards back, Hartley would try a 48-yarder to give them the lead back. The kick would sail wide and Green Bay kept the lead.
On a third down on the drive, Green Bay needed to pick up the first down to ice it. The Packers did just that, with Rodgers connecting to Jones for the first down, despite being interfered with. The Packers would take a knee to seal the win and improve to 2-2 on the season.
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