It takes the Packers’ offense a little while to warm up, but then look out
By JERRY TAPP
Here are some of the numbers that helped define the Packers 37-30 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night:
• The Packers have gotten off to a relatively slow start in each of their first three games. They have scored only a field goal in the first quarter in each of these contests. While they have only nine points in the first quarter this year, they have tallied 43 in the second quarter, 38 in the third quarter and 32 in the fourth quarter. In fact, the second and third quarters have been where the Packers seem to take control of the game. In the second quarter this year, coach Matt LaFleur’-s team has a 43-13 advantage (+30) and in the third quarter the Packers have a 38-10 advantage (+28).• The Packers hae now won four of their last five games against NFC South opponents. Since 2010, the Packers are 13-7 against NFC South foes.
• Green Bay is now 17-9 all-time versus the Saints. They are now 7-7 against the Saints when they play in New Orleans. Sunday’s win over the Saints in New Orleans was the Packers first victory against the Saints on their home field since December of 1995.
• The Pack is now 14-12 in Sunday Night games since 2010.
• The 3-0 start is the sixth time since 2000 that the Packers started the season 3-0. They did it last year and in 2015, 2011, 2007 and 2001. They made the playoffs in each of those other five seasons.
• Green Bay scored first in the game on a Mason Crosby field goal. The Packers have now won seven straight games when they score first. They are 11-5-1 since the 2018 season in games when they score first.
• Crosby (pictured above) made all three of his field goal attempts. The Pack is 37-8-1 in games when Crosby makes three or more field goals. Since the start of the 2019 season, Crosby has made 29 of 31 field goal attempts.
• On October 7, 2018 in a game versus the Detroit Lions, Crosby missed four field goals in the Packers 31-23 loss to the Lions. Since that game where he went 1-for-5 in field goal attempts, Crosby has made 48 of 52 field goal attempts.
• Allen Lazard had a career-high 146 yards receiving on six catches, also a career-high. The Packers are 10-1 in games when Lazard has three or more catches. They are 7-0 in games when Lazard has at least 45 yards in receptions.
• Defensive Lineman Kingsley Keke had a pair of sacks and a forced fumble. Both were the first of his career.
• The Packers trailed 17-13 at halftime. Since the 2016 season, the Packers have trailed at halftime in 32 games; they won 13 of them. Since the 2016 season they have trailed at halftime on the road 22 times. They have an 8-14 record in those games.
• Aaron Jones had a rushing TD in the game and has scored a TD in six of his last seven games. He has scored a rushing TD in each of the first three games this season. The Packers record for most consecutive games with a rushing TD is seven held by Paul Hornung.
• Alvin Kamara had 197 yards from scrimmage in the game for the Saints. He is the fourth player since the start of the 2018 season that had 190 or more yards from scrimmage against the Packers. The others: Amari Cooper (Dallas, 226 on 10/6/2019), Dalvin Cook (Minnesota, 191 on 9/15/2019) and Todd Gurley (LA Rams, 195 on 10/28/2018).
• The Packers have not committed a turnover in the first three games of the season. That has never happened in team history. The team had only one turnover in the first three games in 2009 and 2015.
• Green Bay has scored 122 points in the first three games of the season. That is the sixth most in NFL history. The 1968 Dallas Cowboys top the list with 132 points scored in the first three games of that season. The 1966 Dallas Cowboys hold the record for most points in the first four weeks of the season with 183. Not sure the Packers will score 62 points against the Falcons this week, but you never know.
• Jace Sternberger had three receptions in the game, the first of his career.
• Fellow tight end Robert Tonyan had a career-high five catches in the contest.
• Aaron Rodgers had three TD passes in the game. In his career, he has 65 games with three or more TD passes. The Packers are 52-13 (.800) in those games.
• Drew Brees had three TD passes and completed 29 of 36 passes (80.6%). He became only the second QB in NFL history to lose two games where he had three or more TD passes and a completion rate of over 80% in a game. The other is Matt Ryan; he did it twice last season.
• This was the third week in a row that the Packers scored 30 or more points in a game. The team record for most consecutive games with 30 or more points is seven. That was accomplished by the 1963 Packers squad. Five Green Bay teams scored 30 or more points in four straight games: 1996, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2016.
• Rodgers had a Passer Rating of 124.9 for the game. The Packers are 37-3 in games when Rodgers has a Passer Rating of 124 or higher.
• The Packers “D” had a fumble recovery and have now had a takeaway in eight straight regular season games. Since 2015, the Pack is 47-16-1 (.742) when they get at least one takeaway; they are 2-17 (.105) if they did not get a takeaway in a game since 2015.
• The game was tied 27-27 going into the fourth quarter. When the Packers are tied with their opponents going into the fourth quarter on the road, they are 5-5 since 2000. They are 7-4 in home games since 2000 when they are tied going into the fourth quarter.
