With a dominant defense leading the way, the Green Bay Packers clinched a playoff berth by earning 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 posted the first shutout of the NFL season, 34-0 against 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 here, to make the playoffs. It was clearly a big competition to get that spot. I’m proud of the way we came out and handled things.”
Green Bay (11-4) secured their fifth postseason appearance in six years with their first shutout since beating Seattle 17-0 on Nov. 14, 2021. The Saints (5-10) were shutout for the first time since a 13-0 defeat to San. Francisco on November 27, 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 have dressed the 48 guys we have,” Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi said. “We’re not going to make excuses. You know me well enough by now. I’m not going to make excuses for that. We didn’t perform well enough.”
Green Bay’s margin of victory was its largest since a 55–14 blowout against the Chicago Bears on November 9, 2014.
“A shutout in the NFL is the hardest thing you can do, and doing it in prime time is even harder,” Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon said. “To get a place in the play-offs like that is a great deal.”
The Packers have won nine of their last 11 games, with the only losses during that stretch coming to the NFC North rival Detroit Lions. They enter the playoffs as a wild card after being eliminated from the NFC North title game on Sunday.
Jacobs ran for 69 yards and a two-yard touchdown on 13 carries to lead Green Bay’s 188-yard rushing attack. He also caught four passes for 38 yards.
Chris Brooks and Emanuel Wilson had one-yard touchdown runs, Dontayvion Wicks had a two-yard touchdown catch and Brandon McManus kicked field goals from 55 and 46 yards.
Green Bay’s defense made it a miserable night for Rattler, while missing four starters due to injuries: linebacker and leading tackler Quay Walker, cornerback Jaire Alexander and safeties Evan Williams and Javon Bullard. Safety Zayne Anderson had an interception in his first career start.
“What’s really cool is we’re getting contributions from a lot of different people,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think that’s usually the mark of a good team.”
The Packers scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions.
Love found Wicks on third and goal to end the game’s opening drive. Wicks’ touchdown was his fifth of the season and first since Oct. 20 against Houston.
Jacobs’ touchdown capped a 17-play, 96-yard drive that lasted 8:55. It was the Packers’ longest possession of the season in terms of plays and time. The Packers also had a 96-yard march in their 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
The drive included two fourth-down conversions. Love had a two-yard sneak on fourth-and-1 from the New Orleans 45 to open the second quarter. Love then threw a 14-yard completion to Tucker Kraft on fourth-and-2 from the 35.
Jacobs has rushed for a touchdown in six straight games, putting him one shy of the longest streak in Packers history. Paul Hornung had a touchdown run in seven straight games in 1960.
Brooks’ first career touchdown made it 21-0 with 6:28 left in the second quarter. McManus made both of his field goals in the second half.
Wilson closed out the scoring with 2:41 left on a drive engineered by backup quarterback Malik Willis.
“We finally put together a complete game,” Jacobs said. “That’s something we’ve been chasing since the beginning of the season. It just feels like our ceiling just keeps rising.”