Packers bottle up Saints, 34-0
12/23/2024
By Ross Jackson
That was embarrassing.
For the first time in New Orleans Saints franchise history, the team was shut out on Monday Night Football. And it was done so in an absolute blowout from start to finish. The result? A 34-0 whipping at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.
Everything the Saints had to play for in this game, they failed to achieve. Being eliminated from the playoffs, this was a chance to evaluate young talent. The young talent disappointed and looked completely unprepared.
This was a chance for the Saints to showcase what they had to offer to their next potential head coach. What they showed may send the top candidates running away.
This was a chance for New Orleans to see what they had in-house with interim head coach Darren Rizzi. The coach’s team looked completely outclassed against one of the NFC’s best teams – where the organization wants their team to be competing.
Save a couple of splashy plays here and there, the Saints will leave Green Bay with nothing to show for itself outside of a top-ten draft pick that will not even see an advancement in position because the team’s record of 5-10 leaves them standing alone above a trio of 3-11 clubs.
They leave with nothing more than making history and doing so on the wrong side of it all. The offseason can’t get here soon enough for a team that looks like it needs help at just about every position on the field. Sure, the team was without several key contributors due to injury.
But it’s hard to see how any one of those players would have made a mostly healthy defense better or a predictable and non-threatening offense more successful. This was an absolute embarrassment for the Saints who will look to urn the page and try to forget this one as quickly as possible.
But like all bad nightmares, this loss is sure to linger.
The Stats:
- Rattler completed 15 of his 30 passes for 153 passing yards and an interception. He also lost one fumble on one of his three sacks.
- Running back Kendre Miller carried the ball just 8 times for 15 rushing yards, a 1.9 yard per carry average.
- The Saints’ defense allowed 4.8 yards per carry and 188 total rushing yards. There were five ball-carriers for the Packers that averaged more than 4.5 rushing yards per attempt.
- New Orleans lost time of possession by nearly an entire quarter. Green Bay held on to the ball for 37:13 while the Saints only possessed the football for 22:47.
- The Saints failed to generate a takeaway for the fourth game in the last six weeks.
The Plays:
Dime.
📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/lWfYKXgO2I
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 24, 2024
Strong run by Kendre Miller for the first down pic.twitter.com/6iowHWVoWd
— Saints Film Room (@SaintsFilmRoom) December 24, 2024
Really nice jump pass from Spencer Rattler here pic.twitter.com/iqbOOV2A9W
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 24, 2024
The injuries:
- Center Erik McCoy (elbow) left with injury during the Saints’ opening drive and was replaced by offensive lineman Shane Lemieux. He tried to return to the game for a short while but eventually left again and remained on the sideline for the remainder of the game.
- Left guard Lucas Patrick was down on the ground in a lot of pain after suffering what looked like a left knee injury with just 1:18 left in the game. He was able to walk off of the field, but was replaced by lineman Landon Young.
