The Green Bay Packers cruised past the short-handed New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field on Monday night, clinching a playoff spot in the NFC postseason with a 34-0 win.
The Packers are now 11-4 entering the final two weeks and will play in the postseason for the fifth time in six years under coach Matt LaFleur. The Packers are playoff bound for the second time in as many years to start the Jordan Love era.
The Packers got touchdowns from Dontayvion Wicks, Josh Jacobs and Chris Brooks to build a 21-0 lead at the half, and a dominant defensive effort and a couple of field goals from Brandon McManus ensured a comfortable win at home over a Saints team missing Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave and Taysom Hill, among others.
The shutout from the Packers was the first in the NFL this season.
Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler turned the ball over twice in Green Bay territory — once on a strip sack from Keisean Nixon and another on an interception from Zayne Anderson.
Jordan Love hit Wicks for a touchdown on the opening drive and found Tucker Kraft and Jayden Reed for completions of 30 or more yards, but he finished 16 of 28 passing for 182 yards and a passer rating of 88.7, snapping his five-game streak with a passer rating over 100.0.
Brooks scored his first career touchdown, while Anderson grabbed his first career interception in his first career start.
Backup Malik Willis led a touchdown drive after replacing Love in the fourth quarter. Emanuel Wilson finished it off with a short touchdown run that put the Packers up 34-0.
The Packers remain the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff field. LaFleur’s team will go to Minnesota to play the 13-2 Minnesota Vikings next Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium before finishing the regular season at home against the Chicago Bears. While the NFC North title is no longer in play, the Packers can still finish 13-4 and secure the No. 5 seed with the right results over the final two weeks.
