Packers continue their push toward playoffs as they host the injury-riddled Saints

New Orleans (5-9) at Green Bay (10-4)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. EST, ABC, ESPN

BetMGM NFL Odds: Packers by 13 1/2.

Against the spread: Saints 6-8; Packers 8-6.

Series record: Packers lead 18-10.

Last meeting: Packers won 18-17 at Green Bay on Sept. 24, 2023.

Last week: Saints lost 20-19 at home to the Washington Commanders. Packers won 30-13 at Seattle.

Saints offense: overall (15-T), rush (11), pass (20), scoring (18).

Packers offense: overall (4), rush (4-T), pass (11), scoring (7).

Saints defense: overall (30), rush (27), pass (28), scoring (13-T).

Packers defense: overall (10), rush (9), pass (15), scoring (8).

Turnover differential: Saints plus-1, Packers plus-10.

Saints player to watch

DE Chase Young is coming off a two-sack performance against the Commanders, who selected him out of Ohio State with the second overall pick in the 2020 draft. Green Bay’s offensive line has done a nice job of pass protection this season, but Young is talented enough to cause Packers QB Jordan Love plenty of headaches.

Packers player to watch

LB Edgerrin Cooper was the NFC defensive player of the week for the second time this season after getting eight tackles, picking off a pass and forcing a fumble with a sack against Seattle. The rookie second-round pick from Texas A&M is the first Packer to be the NFC defensive player of the week twice in the same season since Clay Matthews in Green Bay’s 2010 Super Bowl championship season.

Key matchup

Saints offensive line vs. Packers pass rush. Green Bay’s pass rush has been inconsistent, but the Packers are coming off a seven-sack performance against Seattle. Kingsley Enagbare led the way with two sacks. QB Spencer Rattler is expected to start for New Orleans in place of the injured Derek Carr, and the Saints won’t have much of a chance if he doesn’t have time to throw. The Saints are allowing just two sacks per game, putting them in a tie for eighth in the league.

Key injuries

Carr (hand) and RB Alvin Kamara (groin) have been ruled out. This will be the second straight game Carr has missed. Kamara exited the Commanders game after getting hurt. ... The Saints also ruled out WR Bub Means (ankle) and WR Chris Olave (head). Saints WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (chest/illness) is questionable. ... Packers S Javon Bullard will miss a second straight game and Packers LB Quay Walker also has been ruled out due to their respective ankle injuries. ... Packers CB Jaire Alexander (knee), CB Corey Ballentine (knee), TE Luke Musgrave (ankle) and S Evan Williams (quadriceps) are questionable. Alexander has missed four straight games.

Series notes

The Packers rallied from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Saints last season in Love’s first home start. Green Bay made its comeback after Carr left with a shoulder injury. New Orleans’ Blake Grupe missed a 46-yard field goal that would have put the Saints ahead with 1:05 remaining. Green Bay’s Rashan Gary had three sacks in that game. ... This is the first time the Packers and Saints have met at Lambeau Field in December or later. The Packers’ lone December home game against the Saints came in Milwaukee in 1973. …The Packers have won three of their past four home matchups with the Saints. Six of the past seven Packers-Saints matchups at Lambeau Field have been decided by single digits.

Stats and stuff

The Packers have won eight of their past 10 and can clinch a playoff berth before Monday’s game with a loss or tie by the Atlanta Falcons coupled with a loss or tie by either the Los Angeles Rams or Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Even if the Packers don’t get that help on Sunday, they can clinch a playoff spot by beating the Saints. ... Rattler came off the bench and passed for 135 yards and a TD without an interception during the second half of last week’s game and led New Orleans on four straight scoring drives totaling 19 points. ... Rattler went 0-3 as a starter earlier this season. ... Saints QB Jake Haener made his first-career start last week but was replaced after the first half. ... Kamara had his 25th TD receiving last week to become the fourth player in NFL history (joining Marshall Faulk, Lenny Moore and Christian McCaffrey) with at least that many TD receptions and 50 or more TDs rushing (Kamara has 60). Kamara left last week’s game 7 scrimmage yards short of his fourth-career 1,500-yard season. ... Saints WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling had team-high 64 yards receiving last week and has 50 or more yards receiving in four of his past five games. Valdes-Scantling had 123 receptions for 2,153 yards and 13 TDs in 59 games with Green Bay from 2018 to 2021. ... Saints DE Cameron Jordan had two sacks last week, his 25th career multiple sack game. Jordan ranks second among active players with 120 1/2 sacks. ... Saints DE Carl Granderson had a sack last week and has 5 1/2 sacks in 2024. ... Saints DL Bryan Bresee has a sack in three of his past four games. ... LB Demario Davis led the Saints with a season-high 14 tackles and had two tackles for loss and a sack in Week 15. Davis has 104 tackles in 2024, his eighth straight 100-tackle season. ... Saints S Tyrann Mathieu had his seventh career forced fumble last week. ... This is the 32nd straight year the Packers have played on “Monday Night Football.” That represents the longest such streak in “Monday Night Football” history. ... Love has thrown seven touchdown passes without an interception over his past four games. Love was picked off 11 times in his first eight starts of the season. … The Packers have scored at least 30 points in each of their past four games. … Green Bay has allowed only five sacks over its past seven games. That’s the first time the Packers have yielded so few sacks in a seven-game stretch within the same season since 2007. … Packers S Xavier McKinney has seven interceptions to tie Detroit’s Kerby Joseph for the NFL lead. His seven interceptions are the most by a Packer since Hall of Famer Charles Woodson had seven in 2011. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs has rushed for 1,147 yards to rank third in the NFL entering Week 16, behind Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley (1,688) and Baltimore’s Derrick Henry (1,474). … Packers TE Tucker Kraft has seven touchdown catches. The only tight ends with more are Baltimore’s Mark Andrews and San Francisco’s George Kittle, with eight each. … Gary has had a sack in four of his past five games.

Fantasy tip

If your team is desperate to add a running back, New Orleans’ Kendre Miller is probably available on the waiver wire and may be worth picking up. The 2023 third-round pick from TCU had nine carries for 46 yards against the Commanders and figures to lead the Saints rushing attack if Alvin Kamara’s groin injury prevents him from playing.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Associated Press