Green Bay Packers season preview: Will Aaron Rodgers play in Week 1 against the Saints?
In years gone by, an opening-season matchup between the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers and the New Orleans Saints with Drew Brees would have the NFL world salvating. Rodgers v Drew Brees, two Hall of Fame quarterbacks going at it in Week 1.
But this year, with Brees retiring after a stellar career, the glitz and glamor has faded somewhat. Instead, Jameis Winston will be the Saints quarterback tasked with taking down Aaron Rodgers.
Will Rodgers play Week 1?
At the time of writing, Rodgers is slated to play week 1 and you can hear a collective sigh of relief from the entire Packers fanbase. Had Rodgers not been available, then Jordan Love would have been under center against the Saints.
The quarterback matchup is definitely a mismatch in Green Bay's favor. Rodgers is one of the best throwers ever in football and he is fresh off his third NFL MVP season.
Rodgers had a 121.5 passer rating as he threw for 48 touchdowns with just five interceptions. When looking at Winston's numbers, in a four-year span, Rodgers has thrown fewer interceptions (24) than what Jameis did in 2019 where he threw 30 picks to opposing teams.
While the quarterback situation is not ideal, the Saints still have some weapons on both sides of the ball to make Aaron Rodgers' opening game a tough one.
Saints defender Marshon Lattimore will no doubt be tasked with trying to curtail wideout Davante Adams, who himself, like Rodgers, had issues with Packers management during the off-season.
Adams is coming off an incredible 2020 season in which he had 115 receptions for 1,374 yards and 18 touchdowns. He will no doubt be one player that Sean Payton will be targeting on Sunday.
As much as the Packers have a star wide receiver in Adams, the Saints have one who is just as good and that is Michael Thomas. However, Thomas is unavailable for the week one match as he had ankle surgery in June and is still on the PUP list.
With no out-and-out No.1 receivers to worry about, the Packers secondary can have a field day as they will not have to worry about Thomas at all.
Thanks to Hurricane Ida, the match that was due to be played at the SuperDome will now be played in Jacksonville, so any advantage the Saints were looking to get is now not there.
Aaron Rodgers will be looking to build on what was one of his best seasons in 2020 and with the issues regarding the Packers off-field, he will want to start the season in the best possible way, with a convincing win.