Grading Green Bay Packers’ Victory Over New Orleans Saints

Jordan Love got a loud ovation before the game started. He got a louder ovation as the game ended, as he led his team from 17 points behind to steal a win from New Orleans

Through three quarters, all hope looked lost at Lambeau Field. The Green Bay Packers trailed 17-0 going into the fourth quarter and had nothing going well for them on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

That was when the offense came to life. 

Jordan Love scored two touchdowns and converted a two-point play in the fourth quarter to lead the Packers to 18 unanswered points to steal a game they had no business winning. 

Here are our grades from the Packers' win against New Orleans to get to 2-1. 

Pass Offense

From an optics standpoint, the game started about as well as the team could have hoped.

The Packers’ fanbase gave its new quarterback a rousing ovation before his first start at Lambeau Field.

"It's special. That's a moment I've been waiting for for a while." Love said. "To be able to do that was special. I couldn't really hear the crowd coming out. That was a real moment, kind of a blackout. It was real exciting, I could feel the energy. It was special."

That was the last time anything was going to be special for a while for the Packers' offense. The first half was met with a litany of mistakes and lack of production. The Packers were shut out for the first three quarters.

They trailed 17-0 as the fourth quarter started. A 17-point deficit felt insurmountable against a Saints defense that extended its streak of not allowing more than 20 points to 11 games, tied for the longest streak in 25 years.

Packers receiver Jayden Reed makes a superb catch for 30 yards :: Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images

Then the fourth quarter started, and the Packers’ offense transformed.

Love led three scoring drives. Two touchdowns and a field goal led to 18 points.

Love's first game-winning touchdown pass was thrown to Romeo Doubs with 2:59 left in the game.

The Packers' defense held, thanks in part to a 46-yard field goal from Blake Grupe sailing wide to the right.

Love's first start at Lambeau gave him a chance to run back into the tunnel with his first win at home, as well.

"Coming in after the game was another special moment after a win," he said.

The fourth quarter saved what had otherwise been a dreadful day at the office.

This week was a complete 180 from last week's game. Love and the offense were abysmal for three quarters, but great for one.

That's all it took, but they'll need to be more consistent as the season trudges forward.

Grade: C+ 

Rush Offense

The best runs of the day came from Love.

While the Packers will take the production, it's hard to feel good about the team's run game, which was supposed to help carry the offense early in the season.

Yes, Aaron Jones has missed the last two games, but the Packers have called AJ Dillon a premier back on more than one occasion.

Love rushed for 39 yards, including an impressive 24-yard scamper in which he skirted the sideline on the team's final touchdown drive.

Otherwise, Dillon, Patrick Taylor and Emanuel Wilson combined for 16 carries for 45 yards.

That's not good enough. The run game has not been good enough to start the season.

The Packers have yet to crack 100 rushing yards in a game this season. They're putting too much pressure on a young passing offense that is still finding its way.

They need to be better than they have been. Sunday's game was not good.

Grade: D

Pass Defense

Rashan Gary and the pass rush came to play. 

Derek Carr was only able to put together one touchdown-scoring drive before he exited the game with a shoulder injury. 

Gary sacked the quarterback three times, a first in his career.

"The most important thing is making an impact to the team. I'm happy I was able to do that for the team." Gary said after the game. 

"I always tell the guys, I just gotta keep rushing, the rest will take care of itself."  

Kenny Clark added a sack early in the game to give the Packers four on the day. 

.@RashanAGary in on a mission 😤

Gary's first three-sack game of his career.#NOvsGB | #GoPackGo

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/invjEIRutn

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 24, 2023

Chris Olave made one big play against Carrington Valentine, an incredible one-handed catch, but was relatively quiet. Michael Thomas didn't have much success, either.

Considering the cornerback situation, with Jaire Alexander sidelined with a back injury and Valentine sitting out the second half with a bicep injury, there isn't much more that could be asked of Joe Barry's crew in the passing game. 

A much stiffer test awaits them on Thursday night with Detroit's prolific passing game coming to Lambeau Field.

Grade: B+

Rush Defense

The run defense was under fire after an abysmal showing against the Atlanta Falcons.

After giving up more than 200 yards on the ground last week, the Packers held the Saints to 77 yards on 22 carries. That's 3.5 yards per carry.

Their ability to slow down the Saints' run game allowed them to stay in the game. Had they trailed 17-0 with the way they defended the run last week, the game would have been over in blowout fashion.

Instead, the defense got better this week. They get a positive mark for keeping the team in the game.

Grade: B+

Special Teams

Rashid Shaeed returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown on a play in which he wasn't touched. 

Jonathan Owens had a holding penalty that cost the Packers 10 yards on one of their own punt returns, which kept up with the theme of the day of mistakes by the Packers giving the Saints life. 

Rasul Douglas and Kingsley Enagbare were guilty of holding penalties, as well.

For a team with a highly decorated special teams coordinator, there are far too many mistakes being made by this unit.

At least the field-goal operation delivered when it mattered, and Darnell Savage tackled Shaheed at the 17 on the second-to-last kickoff.

Grade: D- 

Coaching

The biggest decision of the day came after Jordan Love’s fourth-and-1 touchdown run made the score 17-9.

Instead of kicking the extra point, coach Matt LaFleur went for two.

"I think that's just Matt trusting that we're going to go make a play. Turned out to be huge for us being able to go for that and convert it," quarterback Jordan Love said.

LaFleur's decision was aggressive. If the Packers were successful, a defensive stop would give them a chance to win the game.

LaFleur gets a positive grade for that decision alone.

"I didn't feel great about the play call. The execution was not how we practiced it, but I had a lot of belief in the way our quarterback was playing," LaFleur said of Love finding Samori Toure for the 2.

LaFleur and the coaching staff get positive marks for the team not going into the tank as they trailed 17-0. It'd be easy for a young team, down several key players, to get down on themselves as the game began to snowball.

Instead, the team kept its head above water. Moreover, it won the game.

That could be the first sign of a young team learning how to win. The coaching staff gets credit for that today.

Grade: A

More Green Bay Packers News

Aaron Rodgers' comeback against the Bears in 2018 is immortalized in a series of photos by the #Packers' locker room.

Who knows, maybe Jordan Love's comeback against the Saints on Sunday will be someday, as well.https://t.co/7MpATGkOlQ

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 25, 2023

Watch: Game highlights … Watch: Must-see play

Jordan Love delivers signature moment

Grading the Packers’ victory over the Saints

Sunday Six-Pack: Game ball, lame ball and more