Green Bay Packers get ready to take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night on NBC. The big game to finish the full day of football. There is not much better than getting the Sunday night spot. Al and Cris talking about your team in hopefully a good manner. Packers-Saints have a lot to live up to as the sequel to what we saw last week on Sunday night between New England and Seattle. Packers and Saints haven’t met much and somehow despite both teams’ success, they’ve never met in the postseason. This game could have implications for the postseason and beyond.

STORYLINES TO WATCH
1. Packers’ first real running back test – Alvin Kamara is going to have some moments. To me, Kamara will tell us what we want to know about Mike Pettine’s run defense. While Dalvin Cook is a good running back, Kamara is another level especially with his ability as a pass-catcher. Who takes the task of handling Kamara in the passing game? Not sure honestly. My first guess is Darnell Savage. My second guess is Raven Greene. No matter who takes the task on they’re going to have a helluva time.

2. Will Davante Adams be at full strength? – Davante Adams has not practiced this week. Is it a cause for concern? I don’t think so. Adams doesn’t need practice and if that helps him out with Sunday, let’s roll. Marshon Lattimore will occupy his time with Adams and that is a tough matchup as is for the Packers star wideout then add the hamstring problems. If anything, let’s hope Adams can get out there and be somewhat of a factor. I’m sure will know more about Adams’ status as gametime gets closer.

3. The return of Kenny Clark – It is good to see that Kenny Clark’s injury was only a one-week thing. He went full pads on Thursday, and he will be playing on Sunday. That’s a major lift for the Packers’ defense. The absence of Clark was noticeable last Sunday against Detroit early on. They slashed through everything in the middle of the field. Mike Pettine adjusted in the second half plus the large deficit meant that they couldn’t run the ball. Clark being back and seemingly healthy is a great sign.

4. Rodgers vs. Brees – This is a secondary headline for me. Nationally, this is what they all care about. What I’m more interested in between these two quarterbacks is will the same narratives be there after the game? If Rodgers lights it up again, there is legit MVP buzz for him and the Packers for the Super Bowl. If he struggles, it is ‘Well, Lions and Vikings weren’t obviously that good.’ For Brees, it will be that he is washed up if New Orleans falters again, or if he succeeds, many will laugh at those that doubted him.

5. Cam Jordan versus David Bakhtiari – Is this one of the best matchups of the year between offensive and defensive lineman? Feels like it, right? This should be a slobber knocker. The reason why this game is so awesome is the number of individual matchups that are all over the place with Rodgers/Brees, Lattimore/Adams, Sean Payton/Masks, this one, it’s going to be great.

Prediction: Packers have not won in New Orleans since 1995. That’s a long time. It’s about time to break that streak. I like the Packers here. They’re playing solid football, and this is the right time to be catching New Orleans. They need to figure out what this version of their team is, and they’re not there yet. Packers 37 Saints 30

Charlie.