Aaron Rodgers threw two interceptions and recorded the fourth-lowest passer rating of his NFL career, while Jameis Winston starred as starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints with five touchdowns to zero interceptions.
Monday 13 September 2021 13:19, UK
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur pulled no punches as he reflected on his side's crushing 38-3 defeat to the New Orleans Saints in the opening game of the season on Sunday.
New starting Saints quarterback Jameis Winston ran riot with five touchdown passes on the night after succeeding the retired Drew Brees, while Aaron Rodgers was intercepted twice as he slumped to the fourth-worst passer rating of his career and the lowest by a reigning MVP in the first game of the subsequent season.
"Give the Saints all the credit in the world," said coach LaFleur post-game. "They came ready to play, absolutely embarrassed us. You can't do that against a well-coached and quality football team. Our guys are going to have to take a long look in the mirror. It starts with myself."
The Packers entered the season under consideration as one of the leading Super Bowl contenders following a 13-3 campaign and second successive trip to the NFC Championship game behind the league's touchdown leader Rodgers.
"I'll let him (LaFleur) use those words and I'll use, 'it's just one game,'" Rodgers said. "We played bad. I played bad. Offensively we didn't execute very well. One game. We've got 16 to go.
"We probably felt like we were going to go up and down the field on whoever they had out there. This is a good kick in the you-know-where to hopefully get us going in the right direction."
With the contest long over, Rodgers was replaced by Jordan Love in the fourth quarter as he finished the night 15 of 28 passing for 133 yards and two picks. His uncharacteristic display followed on from an offseason during which he had seemingly been keen to move on from the organisation as he cited his frustration over decision-making behind the scenes.
The Packers rushing attack was meanwhile limited to just 43 total yards on the ground behind Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon and rookie Kylin Hill in comparison to the Saints' 171, 80 of which came courtesy of Alvin Kamara.
"We didn't run the ball. We didn't even attempt to run the ball enough. That's my fault," LaFleur continued.
"They came out with more intensity than us. They were the hungrier team and that's disappointing."
The game was being played at the Jacksonville Jaguars' TIAA Bank Field in Florida after the Saints were forced to temporarily move away from the Superdome in light of the impact of Hurricane Ida, the Category 4 storm that hit southeast Louisiana at the end of August.
Winston dedicated the performance to the people of New Orleans.
"That was for the city," he said. "We did that for them. We knew how much it would mean to get a great victory for that region. They've been through so much. Hats off to them for their resilience, because they motivated us. They inspired us to come out there and ball."
Green Bay continue their season at home to the Detroit Lions, while the Saints face the Carolina Panthers on the road.
