The New Orleans Saints suffered their first "Sunday Night Football" home loss since 2010, dropping a 37-30 decision to the Green Bay Packers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees and running back Alvin Kamara found a rhythm offensively, but penalties cost the team for the third consecutive week. New Orleans (1-2) committed eight penalties for 83 yards and quarterback Taysom Hill lost a fumble in the second half that proved critical. The Saints committed 100 or more penalty yards in the first two weeks of the season.
Brees completed 29-of-36 passes for 288 yards and three scores. Brees connected with wideout Emmanuel Sanders on a 10-yard touchdown pass with six seconds remaining in the first half to give New Orleans a 17-13 lead at the break. Sanders contributed four receptions for 56 yards and one score.
The Saints knotted things up at 27 with 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Kamara broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown reception, the longest reception of his career. A key block by offensive lineman Erik McCoy paved the way for Kamara to find pay dirt. Kamara notched 197 all-purpose yards and two scores through the air. He now has 16 multi-touchdown games, the most in Saints history passing Marques Colston and Deuce McAllister who both had 15 career multi-touchdown games.
"He's a special football player," Brees said of Kamara in his postgame press conference. "He rattled off that big run early on, and then obviously the checkdown that turned into a 52-yard touchdown. It's nice when you've got a weapon like that that you just get the ball in his hands in space and he's tough to tackle. He's a human highlight reel."
Defensively, safety Malcolm Jenkins led the way with nine tackles. New Orleans' run defense continues to keep opposing rushers in check, holding the Packers' star tailback Aaron Jones to 69 yards, the 45th consecutive game without allowing a 100-yard rusher, which is tied with the 1972-75 Los Angeles Rams for the third-longest streak in NFL history.
"There were parts of the way the game was unfolding that were encouraging early on," Saints Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. "And then I thought we didn't play as well in the second half."
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 21-of-32 passes for 283 and three touchdowns without his top target Davante Adams, who missed the game with a hamstring injury, as Green Bay improved to 3-0. Wide receiver Allen Lazard stepped up in a big way, hauling in six passes for 146 yards and one score.
New Orleans travels to Detroit where it will face the Lions (1-2) next Sunday at noon.
For complete game stats, click here.
