To say that Aaron Rodgers is “in the zone” right now might be the understatement of the millenium. I noticed the Packers were 1-1 in preseason, so part of me was hoping he wasn’t quite up to snuff just yet. I checked out his preseason numbers so far and they look like this:
15-20, 171 yds, 75% completions, 2 TDs, 0 Ints, 133.5 QB rating
Good lord those are inflated numbers. Granted it’s not even two games, more like a few quarters worth of work, so the sample size is very small. But we’ve seen Drew Brees’ performance to this point and his numbers look like this:
8-18, 115 yds, 44.4% completions, 0 TDs, 0 Ints, 65.7 QB rating
Again, we’re talking about a very small sample size…
but if you were to ask me which guy is playing better right now the answer would be very easy. Rodgers’ rating more than doubles Brees’. Combine that with how the Saints looked defensively this past weekend and there’s room for serious concern as we approach this game.
The bad news is I think the Packers would seriously obliterate the Saints right now if the two teams were to face off this weekend. The good news is there’s still a couple weeks worth of preparation for the Saints to get ready for this matchup. It’s not going to be easy facing the defending Super Bowl champs in Green Bay when their quarterback is hotter than stainless steel grill in the Louisiana summer, but combine that with the struggles of the Saints’ pass defense and the time it’s taking Drew Brees to regain top form and we could be staring a blowout in the face. We’re going to need to see a lot from the Saints in the next couple of weeks to convince me they can compete on this level right now. I hope I am wrong, but be advised the Saints are walking into a buzzsaw. The Packers are every bit as good if not better than the team that won the Super Bowl in February and trust me when I say that Aaron Rodgers looks as sharp as ever.
The Saints have been banged up fairly consistently with little injuries, so getting healthy is step one in the preparation for this game. If the Saints can get all their guys back and healthy (I’m talking, Aubrayo Franklin, Tracy Porter, Malcolm Jenkins, Carl Nicks, Marques Colston, Chris Ivory, etc etc…) that will be a step in the right direction. The Packers proved last year they can absorb almost any injury, including even perhaps an injury to Rodgers (LSU star Matt Flynn, by the way, has a 131.8 QB rating so far this preseason). The Saints may have to prove something similar at the rate this preseason is going, but more than anything they’ll need to travel to Green Bay much sharper than they travelled into Houston if they want any chance whatsoever at success.
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