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Rod Walker: 4 burning questions as Saints prepare for Monday night game vs. Green Bay Packers

By Rod Walker

Rod Walker: 4 burning questions as Saints prepare for Monday night game vs. Green Bay Packers

The Saints (5-9) make the trip to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers (10-4) on Monday night. Here are this week's four burning questions heading into the game.

Can Rattler pick up where he left off?

Rookie Spencer Rattler is expected to make his fourth start of the season. Last week, he replaced Jake Haener in the second half of the loss to the Washington Commanders. Trailing 17-0, Rattler led the Saints to scoring drives on all four possessions and was a 2-point conversion away from pulling off the upset. Rattler will need to keep that momentum going for the Saints to have any chance of winning. With Alvin Kamara now out, the Saints are without their top four offensive weapons (Kamara, Taysom Hill, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed). This a tall task for Rattler.

Is it Miller time?

It better be. As mentioned above, the Saints' offensive cupboard is almost empty. Kendre Miller will need to pick up the slack in the running game. As we've seen all season, the Saints are only as good as their running game. Miller has dealt with plenty of injuries since the Saints drafted him in 2023, but when he plays he shows he's more than capable of being the guy. He rushed for a team-best 46 yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry last week. The Packers are one of the stingier run defenses in the league, allowing just 105 yards per game (9th in the league). This is Miller's time to show what he can do against a solid run defense.

Can defense shine?

The Saints haven't given up more than 21 points since Darren Rizzi took over as interim coach. Coming off an 8-sack performance should boost the Saints confidence. The Saints are giving up 134.4 rushing yards per game, which ranks 27th in the league. They get their stiffest test since Week 3 when they faced Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. The Packers' offense features Josh Jacobs, whose 1,147 yards puts him third in the league behind Barkley and Baltimore's Derrick Henry. The good news for the Saints is Packers' quarterback Jordan Love doesn't run often, so that's one less thing to stress about. But the run sets up their passing attack.

Can Saints handle the hype?

It's Lambeau Field on a Monday night. It's going to be frigid. The Saints haven't been this big of an underdog (13.5 points as of Friday) in 20 years. Now throw in the fact that the Saints will be without their starting quarterback and a slew of playmakers. On paper, this doesn't look good for Rizzi's team. Their best chance for success is to somehow win the turnover battle. The Packers are pretty invincible at home when they win the turnover margin. Getting an early lead might help, although it didn't last year at Lambeau when the Saints led 17-0 heading into the fourth quarter but couldn't hang on.

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