The Saints completely outplayed the Packers, yet still managed to lose
thanks to turnovers and a crucial breakdown in the secondary.  The offense
moved the ball this week, but still suffered from the same old turnover
bugaboo.  The loss means that the Saints enter their Monday night matchup
with the 49ers tied for the lead in the NFC West.


The Saints moved the ball down to the GB 40 on the first drive of the game
but could go no further and had to punt.  A 3 & punt Packer series gave the
ball back to the Saints, who reached the Green Bay 33 before a pass deflected
off of Eric Martin's hands and into those of a Packer defender.  Green Bay
eventually converted the turnover into a 38 yard FG.

A holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff (an all too common occurrence) gave
the Saints poor starting field position, but Derek Brown remedied that with
a burst through the middle that went all the way to the Packer 30.  Wilson
ended the drive by finding his favorite TD target (Quinn Early) for a 24 yard
score.

The Saints forced another GB punt, but gave the ball back to the Pack at the
NO 22 when Marcus Dowdell fumbled after catching a pass.  Green Bay finished
a short drive with a 1 yard TD toss.

The Saints converted three straight 3rd down situations to give Morten a shot
at a 53 yarder, but he kicked it barely wide.  The Saints got the ball back on
the next play, however, when Rickey Jackson forced Favre to fumble the ball to
Wayne Martin at the 26 yard line.  Marcus Dowdell atoned for his earlier 
mistake by catching an 11 yard TD pass just before the end of the first half.

Green Bay started the second half with more good field position by returning
the kickoff to the NO 49.  Despite achieving a first and goal from the Saint 2,
the Packers were unable to get into the endzone and settled for a 21 yard FG.

An out-of-bounds kickoff gave the Saints the ball at the 35, but they couldn't
pick up a first down and had to kick to the Pack, who returned the ball to the
NO 48.  They fared no better than the Saints, though, and punted the ball back
to the home team.

The Saints were threatening again when Wilson fumbled the ball at the GB 42.
The defense stiffened once more and forced a Green Bay 3 & punt series as
the third quarter ended.

An offensive mistake gave the Pack yet another chance when a pass was thrown
somewhat behind Dowdell, who tipped the ball into the hands of a Packer at the
NO 30.  Green Bay converted the turnover into a 44 yard FG with 8 minutes left
on the clock.

Fred McAfee provided a big play by returning the kickoff to the GB 37.  A 
couple of big first downs by Eric Martin and Derek Brown allowed Andersen to
make a chip-shot 27 yard FG with 3:38 left.

Rickey Jackson's third sack of the day killed Green Bay's drive and gave the
ball back to the Saints with only 2 minutes left.  Although a first down
was all that was required to seal the win, the Saints offense couldn't provide
one.  Green Bay got the ball back at their own 26 with 1:37 left and no
timeouts.

After Reginald Jones narrowly missed an interception on 3rd down, Green Bay
converted a 4th & 3 situation to keep their drive alive.  The secondary
then made a huge mistake, allowing Sterling Sharpe to run wide open down the
field and catch a 55 yard pass down to the NO 19.  GB hit a 36 yard FG with
less than ten seconds remaining to win the game.


Green Bay really had no business being in this game.  Even with the long
completion to Sharpe, they had less than 200 yards of total offense.  An
otherwise solid effort was wasted because of the turnovers and the blown
coverage at the end.


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Frank Serpas III