The Green Bay Packers were shut out in the first half of a home opener for the second time in five years after they fell down a 17-0 hole like they did against the Chicago Bears in 2018.
Like that same year, they would rally from that deficit to win in dramatic fashion, this time scoring 18 unanswered fourth quarter points on the New Orleans Saints.
"It's always about how the game ends," said Jordan Love, who orchestrated the comeback and finished 22 of 44 for 259 yards, a passing and rushing touchdown, and an interception. "It felt great at the end. That's all I can say."
It was the fourth start of Love's career and his first at home after he spent the last three years as Aaron Rodgers' backup. The 18 points in which he led the comeback came all in the final 11 minutes of play to win the Packers' 11th straight home opener, the NFL's longest active streak.
The culmination of the comeback came with Love finding Romeo Doubs on a fade route to the right corner of the end zone with 2:56 left in the game.
It didn't appear as if the Packers would capitalize after falling in that 17-point hole, even after Saints quarterback Derek Carr exited the game with a sprained AC joint when he got hit on one of Rashan Gary's three sacks.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Love couldn't connect with fourth string running back Patrick Taylor on a 4th & 2 pass from the Saints' 13. Numerous trips into New Orleans territory were wasted.
Then the rally started, with Love throwing dimes to his receivers against a Saints secondary missing injured cornerback Paulson Adebo and suspended safety Marcus Maye.
Alontae Taylor and Isaac Yiadom were doing everything to help the Saints hold onto the lead, combining for nine pass breakups, five coming from Taylor.
That lead came on touchdowns from Carr's 8-yard pass to Jimmy Graham and Rashid Shaheed's 76-yard punt return touchdown. Rookie kicker Blake Grupe added a 25-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half.
After a 38-yard field goal from Anders Carlson to start the comeback, Love faked a handoff to Taylor on the next drive before moving past Demario Davis on the read option and ran into the end zone on 4th & Goal from the 1. A pass to Samori Toure on the 2-point conversion made it 17-11 with 6:58 left.
After forcing a three-and-out, they took over at their own 20 with 5:23 left. A 24-yard scramble by Love and a 30-yard diving catch by Jayden Reed went on to be the keys to setting up the go-ahead touchdown.
Carr's backup, Jameis Winston, threw several completions to Chris Olave that helped drive the Saints into field goal range before Grupe's 46-yard field goal was pushed wide to the right with 65 seconds left.
The rookie kicker from Arkansas State and Notre Dame had his first career miss in seven attempts.
Green Bay's win marks them the third team in the last 30 years to win after being shut out 17-0 or worse through three quarters, joining the Carolina Panthers on October 21st, 2018, against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans on November 26th, 2006, against the New York Giants.
What makes the win impressive is that the Packers were missing five key contributors. Aaron Jones and Christian Watson missed the game with hamstring injuries, David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins with knee injuries, and Jaire Alexander with a back injury. Jones and Bakhtiari missed their second straight games, while Watson has yet to play this season.
Through three weeks, Love has had seven touchdown passes to one interception, a Rodgers-esque start to the year. His completion percentage, however, isn't on par with it. His 53.1% rate is well below the league average of 65.4%, and ranking 33rd out of 34 qualifying QBs in completion percentage, ahead of just Zach Wilson (52.4%). Not having Jones for the last two games hasn't helped, either.
But in over 100 years of playing football, the Packers only once turned a 17-point fourth quarter deficit into a victory before this game.
Love has struggled to connect on deep balls through three games, and that was shown on back-to-back fourth quarter throws to Dontayvion Wicks and Doubs, but drew back-to-back defensive pass interference calls of 45 and 22.
When love ran it into the end zone for the first touchdown, the celebration was halted abruptly when assistant quarterbacks coach Connor Lewis, the Packers' game management specialist, urged head coach Matt LaFleur to go for two down 8.
The play didn't go as planned, but Love stepped away from the Saints' pressure and his strike to Toure cut the deficit to six.
Between Jones, Watson, Bakhtiari, Jenkins, and Alexander, along with rookie Carrington Valentine and veteran De'Vondre Campbell, who both exited the game with injury, nobody knows if any of them will be back in time for the Thursday Night Football game when the Detroit Lions come to town, but the match showed Love can pull something Rodgers did before him—rallying the Packers to a fourth quarter comeback.
With the Saints, Carr is now said to be out week-to-week, per head coach Dennis Allen. While they didn't rule him out for the Sunday match against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if he can't go, Winston will be under center against his former team.
While the severity of the AC joint sprain is not disclosed, Carr's playing status will be determined by his pain tolerance and the ability to function, and the team will be cautious with his injury situation.
However, the optimism shown after the injury was a huge contrast from the uncertainty in the hours after Carr hit the ground and did not get up. Allen added that the injury won't be made worse by playing through it.
The Saints have started eight different quarterbacks since 2019, enduring injuries to Drew Brees in 2019 and 2020, saw Winston tear his ACL as their starter in 2021, and had Andy Dalton under center after they sat Winston with back and foot injuries last season. And they're prepared to do it again, with Winston likely stepping into the starting role again.
The defense, despite a drop off in the second half, saw Taylor play one of the best games of his career, getting his first career sack and set a career high with pass breakups.
However, the big concern is the offensive line, and even though they weren't responsible for the play that injured Carr, they haven't meshed in the way they were hoping. They posted a 33.3% pass block win rate and a 38.5% pass rush win rate against the Packers. Cesar Ruiz also left the game early with a concussion, which doesn't help.
The line also allowed 12 sacks this season. While it's not all on them, this is a problem that needs to be addressed going forward.
Scoring
New Orleans, 6:40 1st: Jimmy Graham 8-yard TD pass from Derek Carr (Blake Grupe kick); 7-0 New Orleans
New Orleans, 10:30 2nd: Rashid Shaheed 76-yard punt return TD (Blake Grupe kick); 14-0 New Orleans
New Orleans, 0:06 2nd: Blake Grupe 25-yard field goal; 17-0 New Orleans
Green Bay, 11:00 4th: Anders Carlson 38-yard field goal; 17-3 New Orleans
Green Bay, 6:58 4th: Jordan Love 1-yard TD run (Samori Toure 2-PT pass from Jordan Love); 17-11 New Orleans
Green Bay, 2;56 4th: Romeo Doubs 8-yard TD pass from Jordan Love (Anders Carlson kick); 18-17 Green Bay
Passing
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Derek Carr: 13/18, 103 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 3 sacks, 104.6 passer rating
Jameis Winston: 10/16, 101 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 1 sack, 80.5 passer rating
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Jordan Love: 22/44, 259 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 sack, 66.4 passer rating
Rushing
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Kendre Miller: 9 attempts, 34 yards, 0 TD
Tony Jones Jr.: 8 attempts, 31 yards, 0 TD
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Jordan Love: 9 attempts, 39 yards, 1 TD
A.J. Dillon: 11 attempts, 33 yards, 0 TD
Receiving
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Chris Olave: 8 receptions, 104 yards, 0 TD
Michael Thomas: 6 receptions, 50 yards, 0 TD
Tony Jones Jr.: 4 receptions, 21 yards, 0 TD
Jimmy Graham: 1 reception, 8 yards, 1 TD
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Romeo Doubs: 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 TD
Jayden Reed: 3 receptions, 63 yards, 0 TD
Luke Musgrave: 6 receptions, 49 yards, 0 TD
Dontayvion Wicks: 4 receptions, 45 yards, 0 TD
Defensive
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Pete Werner: 11 tackles (7 solo)
Marshon Lattimore: 7 tackles (4 solo), 1 pass defensed
Alontae Taylor: 5 tackles (5 solo), 2 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 sack, 5 passes defensed
Isaac Yiadom: 5 tackles (3 solo), 4 passes defensed
Khalen Saunders: 4 tackles (0 solo), 1 QB hit
Lonnie Johnson Jr.: 1 tackle (0 solo), 1 pass defensed, 1 interception
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Rudy Ford: 7 tackles (6 solo), 2 passes defensed
Darnell Savage Jr.: 7 tackles (6 solo)
Quay Walker: 7 tackles (3 solo)
Corey Ballentine: 4 tackles (4 solo), 1 pass defensed
Kenny Clark: 4 tackles (3 solo), 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 sack
Kingsley Enagbare: 4 tackles (3 solo), 1 TFL, 1 QB hit
Rashan Gary: 3 tackles (3 solo), 3 TFL, 4 QB hits, 3 sacks
Team Stats
First Downs: Saints 15, Packers 21
Passing First Downs: Saints 9, Packers 13
Rushing First Downs: Saints 5, Packers 5
First Downs from Penalties: Saints 1, Packers 3
3rd Downs: Saints 4/14, Packers 8/18
4th Downs: Saints 1/1, Packers 1/3
Total Yards: Saints 252, Packers 343
Yards Per Play: Saints 4.2, Packers 4.8
Passing Yards: Saints 175, Packers 245
Team Passing: Saints 23/34, Packers 22/44
Yards Per Pass: Saints 4.6, Packers 5.4
Sacks—Yards Lost: Saints 4—29 yards, Packers 1—14 yards
Rushing Yards: Saints 77, Packers 95
Rushing Attempts: Saints 22, Packers 26
Yards Per Rush: Saints 3.5, Packers 3.7
Red Zone: Saints 1/2, Packers 2/3
Penalties: Saints 7—102 yards, Packers 11—90 yards
Turnovers: Saints 0, Packers 1
Fumbles Lost: Saints 0, Packers 0
Interceptions Thrown: Saints 0, Packers 1
Possession: Saints 27:25, Packers 32:35
Miscellaneous
Venue: Lambeau Field
Location: Green Bay, WI
Attendance: 78,043 (Capacity: 81,041)
Weather: Cloudy, 68°F
Winds: SE 11 mph (gusts 19 mph)
Broadcast: FOX/FOX Sports App
Commentators: Kenny Albert (PxP), Jonathan Vilma (color), Shannon Spake (reporter), Dean Blandino (rules analyst)
Officiating crew: Brad Rogers (referee), Ramon George (umpire), Kent Payne (down judge), Kevin Codey (line judge), Aaron Santi (field judge), Anthony Jeffries (side judge), Tyree Walton (back judge)
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