Week 7 Preview: Packers, Hundley Prepare for Saints
It’s been four years since the Packers last suited up for a game without Aaron Rodgers under center.
Seneca Wallace was the first player to get the call the last time they had to do it, and he bowed out after just one drive, the victim of a groin injury that ended his time with the Packers and his career in the NFL.
After his injury, Scott Tolzien took over and promptly guided the Packers to two resounding losses before giving way to Matt Flynn midway through his first start. Flynn fared a bit better, keeping the seat just warm enough to let the Packers stay in contention for the NFC North crown, which Aaron Rodgers was happy to claim with a legendary performance in Week 17 against the Bears.
Now, Brett Hundley takes the reins, three years after he was drafted in large part because of the 2013 quarterback debacle.
The Packers traded up for Hundley for reasons clearly articulated by personnel man Eliot Wolf on the day the pick was made: “Big, athletic guy. Strong arm. A lot of upside.”
Now upside meets reality. Mike McCarthy and his staff have devoted three years to Hundley’s development, and if the Packers are to maintain their goal of an NFC North title, a playoff berth, and another trip to the Super Bowl, it’s up to Hundley to show that all of this has not been in vain.
Five Things to Think About During Sunday’s Game
1 - Expect a high scoring game. Each of the last five Packers/Saints contests has seen both teams score more than 20 points, including the last time the Saints were in Wisconsin, a 28-27 Packers win. Even if the game ends up being one sided, scoring is a fair expectation. In seven of the last eight Packers/Saints games, at least one team has scored 30 or more points.
2 - Dating back to 2006, the Packers have recorded 53 interceptions in the month of October, good for third in the NFL. They’ve recorded four so far this season, but they’ll have a tough task ahead of them if they hope to add to that number; Drew Brees has thrown just two interceptions this year.
3 - A fast start could be a big help to a Packers team with a shaky defense and a quarterback making his first start, but so far this season fast starts have been their specialty. The Packers are seventh in the league with a +14 point differential in the first quarter and they have yet to allow a passing touchdown in the first half.
4 - Much is always made of how a team comes out of their bye week, but it’s often just as important to head into the bye on a high note. The Packers have the opportunity to do just that this week, and they’ve been fairly good about getting wins before their week off in the Mike McCarthy era, sporting a record of 7-4 in eleven tries.
5 - The Packers have had plenty of injury related concerns this year, but aside from a particularly notable injury to a certain quarterback, they may not get much sympathy from the Saints. New Orleans currently has 13 players on injured reserve, including two players battling heart conditions.
Who Could Be An X-Factor in Sunday’s Game?
Brett Hundley is the easy answer, and in a way he’ll be an x-factor in every game he starts in relief of Aaron Rodgers. But an easy way to take pressure off the quarterback is to run the ball effectively. So far this season, Aaron Jones has shown pretty decisively that he’s the most effective runner on the Packers. If Green Bay hopes to make Hundley’s life easier, figuring out ways to get Jones involved would be a good first step.
What happened the last time the Packers and Saints played?
Aside from a somewhat notable season ending loss somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, the Packers did not have a lot of down moments during the 2014 season. Their Week 8 loss at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, though, certainly was one.
Playing the week before their bye, the Packers laid an egg on the road. Despite a banged up offensive line, Green Bay did manage to keep pace with New Orleans, sending the game to the half tied 16-16.
But the wheels came off in the third quarter. An Aaron Rodgers pass was intercepted deep in the red zone, and the Saints took just four plays to blast down the field for a touchdown. After failing to pick up a first down on a 4th and 1 try on their own 40-yard line, the Saints posted their second touchdown in just over two and a half minutes to go up 30-16. Another interception from Rodgers on the next possession ensured the proceedings were largely academic from there and the Saints cruised to a 44-23 win.
Who’s going to win on Sunday?
I firmly believe Brett Hundley can be a solution for the Packers at quarterback. He is not Aaron Rodgers now and might never approach anything resembling Rodgers’ brilliance, but he should at least be good enough to put the Packers in a position to win.
However, I think with the Packers as injured as they are and the Saints playing the way they are, Hundley is not going to be established enough to make much of a difference. The Packers’ defense is too beat up and there are too many pieces missing on offense to protect a relatively inexperienced quarterback, and for that reason I think the Saints will handle the Packers fairly easily at Lambeau on Sunday.
Further Listening
We devoted this week’s episode of Blue 58 to the Packers’ quarterback situation and their upcoming battle with the Saints, including a few Packers/Saints nuggets you’re not going to get anywhere else. Give it a listen!