Packer Central

Weather Could Be Factor for Packers-Saints on Monday Night

The Packers will host New Orleans on Monday night at Lambeau Field. What does Mother Nature have in store for the Saints?

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) catches an 8-yard touchdown pass to help beat the Saints last year.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) catches an 8-yard touchdown pass to help beat the Saints last year. / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – A potentially strong winter storm is descending on Green Bay for Thursday, but what’s the forecast for Monday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field?

According to WBAY-TV, Monday’s forecast is calling for a high of 32 with 1 to 3 inches of snow. For Monday night, the low will be 25 with “scattered snow showers” possible during the game.

So, this probably won’t be a redux of the famous 1985 Snow Bowl in which the Packers buried the Buccaneers in front of less than 20,000 fans, but the weather outside may be at least slightly frightful for the Saints.

Of course, the weather oftentimes is an overrated factor. Recall which team better handled the elements when the Lions won at Lambeau Field in November.

All-time and including the playoffs, the Saints are 6-9 with a kickoff temperature of 32 or colder.

They’ve played one cold-weather game over the last 14 seasons. On Christmas Eve 2022, the Saints won at the Cleveland Browns 17-10. It was 6 degrees at kickoff. Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill ran for touchdowns for the Saints, who won even though quarterback Andy Dalton threw for only 92 yards and finished with a 44.3 passer rating.

There are three paths to the playoffs this week for the Packers (10-4). The simplest to explain: If they win, they’re in.

“I think every game’s a new opportunity and a new challenge,” coach Matt LaFleur said when asked about the pass rush on Tuesday, though his message applies to the team mindset.

“You can’t just rest on what you’ve done. You’ve got to keep digging. This is what I’m talking about in terms of where we need to focus. It’s never going to be perfect. But you’ve got to keep striving for that perfection. It starts with how you attack practice, the energy you come into the building with. So that’s kind of where our focus is.”

With veteran quarterback Derek Carr not expected to play because of a broken left hand, the Saints (5-9) probably will start rookie Spencer Rattler. He was born and raised in Phoenix and played his college ball at Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Not only is Carr injured, but Hill is on injured reserve and Kamara is battling a groin injury.

For the Packers, Jordan Love is 2-0 with a kickoff temperature of 32 or colder, with wins over the Dolphins this year and the Chiefs last year.

LaFleur is 7-4 with a kickoff temperature of 32 or colder – 6-2 in the regular season and 1-2 in the postseason.

The Saints are 1-1 in Green Bay in the cold, but those games predate any player who will be on the field on Monday night.

In 1971, the Saints won 29-21 when it was 30 at kickoff at Milwaukee County Stadium. Dave Hampton had a 90-yard kickoff-return touchdown and Zeke Bratkowski hit Rich McGeorge for a 40-yard touchdown for the Packers, but Bart Starr and Scott Hunter each threw an interception as they finished with six turnovers. In an interesting sidenote, the Saints’ Charlie Durkee made field goals of 12, 12 and 11 yards; remember, the goalposts were at the goal line.

In 1976, the Packers won 32-27 on a 32-degree day in Milwaukee. Willard Harrell’s 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the decisive score. Both teams had a pick-six, with Fred Carr’s 10-yard touchdown giving the Packers a 23-13 lead.

This will mark the fourth game in five years between the teams. The Packers beat the Saints 18-17 at Lambeau Field last year, with a kickoff temperature of 68 for that Week 3 game.

New Orleans led 17-0 after three quarters before Love led a furious comeback that included his 1-yard touchdown run and an 8-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs.

Love finished 22-of-44 passing for 259 yards. He was just 7-of-17 passing in the fourth quarter but threw for 104 yards. He added 22 rushing yards and got 67 yards of pass-interference penalties.

Rashan Gary had a three-sack day, and the Packers survived on a missed field goal.

“There was never a doubt, right?” LaFleur said.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.