The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers face off on Friday in a Week 2 NFL preseason game at Lambeau Field. When these two teams faced off in September of 2021 it was the Saints that won 38-3. The Saints and Packers had joint practices this week, and sometimes that leads to extra fireworks on the field.
The Saints 2021 season was a disappointing one finishing with a 9-8 record. The team played well early in the season but Jameis Winston suffered an ACL injury, and the season went off the rails after that. Jameis Winston is healthy and ready for the season, but he isn’t going to play in this game. In the first preseason game the Saints faced off against the Houston Texans, and they were defeated 17-13. Ian Book completed 15 of his 22 passes for 121 yards and an interception. Book had issues with interceptions last season so it was a bit discouraging that happened again in the last game. Andy Dalton completed all five of his passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. Dwayne Washington had three catches for 18 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of this matchup is the Packers who had a strong regular season again last season, but were again bounced from the playoffs and failed to get Aaron Rodgers his second Super Bowl. This offseason the biggest loss was Devante Adams who was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders. This is now a very young receiving corps, and Rodgers had made it clear during the preseason that he isn’t very happy with them. In the first preseason game, the Packers were defeated 28-21 by the San Francisco 49ers. Jordan Love completed 13 of his 24 passes for 176 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Love at some point is expected to be the future under center for this team, and he needs to clean up the interceptions. B.J. Baylor had a big game catching two passes for 75 yards.
The over is 8-2 in the last ten meetings. The Saints are 4-1 against the spread in their last five meetings against the Packers. The over is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Green Bay.
Even without Winston playing, I expect the Saints are going to keep this game close. The interceptions are still an issue for Love, and although he might not throw three again in this game, I expect he throws one or two. The turnovers are going to allow the Saints to stay in this game, and cover the spread.