Welcome to our new Tuesday in-season NFL column, ever so creatively named “X Things to Know After Week X.” Some weeks there might be only one development that matters; other weeks, like this one, a lot has taken place that we’ll do our best to decipher. And because the feedback from our wonderful listeners on podcast has been so great, feel free to keep sending in questions, thoughts and Conor Orr burns to [email protected] that we may be able to answer and discuss in this space. Now, on to the eight things to know after the league’s opening week …
1. The Saints' defense is really good. Of course the QB stat lines stole the headlines in New Orleans’s 38–3 win over the Packers, because the QB in this game with five touchdowns and no turnovers was Jameis Winston, not Aaron Rodgers. But while it would be imprudent based on this sample size to say that Winston has been fixed and Rodgers should be traded, what we can say with confidence is that the Saints' defense is really, really good. And that its performance, as was the case against Green Bay, will certainly ease the post–Drew Brees transition. The unit had the reigning MVP frustrated from the Packers’ first possession, stuffing their first run play for a loss, then getting to Rodgers on third down with a four-man rush. The game got out of hand after two interceptions on the normally turnover-averse Rodgers, the first after pressure from Cam Jordan forced a throw from Rodgers that was behind Davante Adams, and the second on instinctive play from Marcus Williams, who was assigned to help on Adams but saw Rodgers was trying a deep shot to Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the other half of the field. And the game was essentially over after Green Bay's desperation fourth-and-2 in their own territory failed, thanks to pressure from Jordan and a PBU from Marshon Lattimore. NFL Network reported that Marcus Davenport, who also had a tremendous performance Sunday, may miss some time with a pectoral strain. But in a year when the defense may have to carry more of the load, it certainly looked primed to do so based on its performance against last season’s top seed in the NFC.
