With a dominant defense leading the way, the Green Bay Packers clinched a playoff berth by producing their most lopsided win in a decade. Josh Jacobs gained 107 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown for a sixth straight game as the Packers recorded the first shutout of the NFL season, 34-0 over the hapless New Orleans Saints on Monday night.
“Obviously the goal is Super Bowl,” said quarterback Jordan Love, who went 16 of 28 for 182 yards and a touchdown. “That’s the first step right here, to make the playoffs. Obviously this was a big-time game, to clinch that spot. I’m proud of the way we came out there and handled business.”.
Green Bay (11-4) secured their fifth postseason appearance in six years with its first shutout since beating Seattle 17-0 on 14 November 2021. The Saints (5-10) were blanked for the first time since falling 13-0 to San Francisco on 27 November 2022. New Orleans played without injured quarterback Derek Carr and running back Alvin Kamara. Rookie Spencer Rattler started at quarterback and went 15 of 30 for 153 yards with an interception and a fumble.
“We dressed the 48 guys that we dressed,” Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi said. “We’re not going to make excuses. You guys know me well enough by now. I’m not going to make excuses about that. We didn’t perform well enough.”. Green Bay’s margin of victory was their largest since a 55-14 blowout of the Chicago Bears on 9 November 2014.
