By David Hollinshead against the year-before-champs the New Orleans Saints in an explosive game that was second in ratings in NFL kick-off history. The Packers, who many expect to repeat as champions, came in as a team that most expect to easily win the division and have a deep playoff run. The Saints are a complete contrast as they play in one of the most difficult divisions to win on top of not being able to lose more than five games if they want to make the wildcard (and that’s being generous). In the first quarter, Green Bay’s first possession had QB Aaron Rodgers finding WR Greg Jennings from seven yards T= defending champion Green Bay Packers faced off out to give the Pack a 7-0 lead. The Saints, trying to answer, looked sloppy on a Marques Colston fumble, giving the ball, and a short field, right back to the dangerous Packers offence. That led to a Jordy Nelson four yard touchdown, Rodgers second passing TD of the night, giving the Pack a 14-0 lead. New Orleans would finally find their stride though with QB Drew Brees finding RB Darren Sproles on a play that went 33 yards. Brees would land another big play in finding WR Robert Meachem for a 30 yard touchdown pass. That put the Saints behind by a touchdown at 14-7. The next drive though, still in the first quarter, Aaron Rodgers would find rookie Randall Cobb on a 15 yard pass that Cobb would end up taking all the way for a touchdown. The first quarter ended 21-7. After a Saints field goal, Darren Sproles would take a punt back 72 yards for a major. And with that, the Saints were back in the game down 21-17. As expected, the Packers would answer on a 14 play drive that was capped off with a 17 yard James Starks run for a touchdown. Then, after a Saints field goal, the Packers continued their dominance as Randall Cobb took the ensuing kickoff 108 yards for another Green Bay touchdown, giving them a 35-20 lead. It would take New Orleans a 58 yard kick-off return by Sproles and three plays for Drew Brees to answer (finding WR Devry Henderson for another touchdown). On the Packers 20, the Saints decided to go for it ended up losing the ball on downs. Another methodical, dominant Packers drive after would leave them with a 42-27 lead. The Saints weren’t done yet though as Drew Brees showed why he’s considered one of the best in the league, making an excellent pass down field and finding TE Jimmy Graham from 10 yards out to put the Saints within eight. With no time on the clock and one last play, Drew Brees threw to the end zone for Darren Sproles, the pass was deflected by A.J. Hawk who was called for pass interference on the play. The Saints at the one yard line handed the ball off to rookie Mark Ingram who was stuffed at the goal line. The Packers won 42-34. Aaron Rodgers finished 27/35 with 312 yards and three touchdowns while Drew Brees finished 32 of 49 for a whopping 419 yards and three touchdowns. In other news, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning could be out for the season after neck surgery left the quarterback unable to play. Nerves in the neck take a long time to heal, and this was after the Colts shelled out 100 million dollars to keep him around. The Colts are planning to start veteran QB Kerry Collins who was pulled out of retirement to replace Manning. This hurts the chances of the Colts making the play offs as the team’s success depended mostly on how Manning performed. 15