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There's always something beautiful about turning on the television and watching Monday Night Football, and with a Green Bay Packers Week 16 game scheduled against the New Orleans Saints, fans will have plenty to tune in to see. Ahead of this Packers-Saints game, we'll be making our Packers Week 16 predictions.
This is an important game for the 10-4 Packers, who will be playing their first game at Lambeau Field since Thanksgiving. The Packers are coming off a big, 30-13, win over the Seattle Seahawks on the road, but they'll need to prove that they can keep that momentum going and get hot at the most important time of the season. The Saints are coming into this contest with a 5-9 record, and earlier this season, they lost seven in a row.
That doesn't mean this Saints team won't be dangerous to the Pack, though, because interim head coach Darren Rizzi's team has nothing to lose. The Saints would love nothing more than to play spoiler to the Packers on a national stage. Meanwhile, there's pressure on the Packers to take care of business in this one because they can clinch their spot in the playoffs with a win.
With all that said, let's move on to our Packers Week 16 predictions.
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Jordan Love will throw another clean game for the Packers
Jordan Love has proven to be able to step up when it matters most. Last season, when the Packers were staring at a disappointing 3-6 record, Love transcended into a star and played MVP-like football. He led the Packers to the playoffs off the strength of an 18-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He seems to be repeating the same cycle in 2024.
Love struggled earlier this season and at one time had a 14-to-11 touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio. He's played clean ball four games in a row now, and his ratio has ballooned up to 23-to-11.
He's getting hot and making some incredible throws, but with the run game and defense churning like it is at the moment, all the Packers really need is for Love to take care of the football. Throws like this or this? Well, that's just icing on the cake for the Packers.
The Saints have a bottom-five passing defense, giving up 242.2 yards per game through the air. Love will have another big game, but more importantly, he'll stay away from turnovers yet again.
Josh Jacobs will keep up his touchdown streak
To put Josh Jacob's current level of play into perspective, you have to look at the two running backs he's competing with at the top of the league's statistical standings. He's rushed for 1,147 yards and 12 touchdowns in 14 games for the Packers. Saquon Barkley has rushed for more yards with 1,688, but he has one less rushing touchdown than Jacobs. Derrick Henry has rushed for one more touchdown, but he's not that far ahead in yards with 1,474.
The point is both Barkley and Henry are considered MVP candidates, so there's good reason to put Jacobs in that camp as well. The one thing that neither Barkley nor Henry have is the touchdown streak. Neither has scored a rushing touchdown in the past two weeks, and for Henry, it has been three weeks.
Meanwhile, Jacobs has now scored a rushing touchdown in five straight games, and he'll add another game to that streak against the Saints on Monday Night Football.
Rookie Edgerrin Cooper will start a streak of his own
Edgerrin Cooper is a do-everything linebacker for the Packers, which is incredible to say when you consider that he's only a rookie. He has the awareness and playmaking ability of a veteran linebacker, and that was on display in Week 15 against the Seahawks. Cooper led the team in tackles with seven (six solo), but he also notched a sack, two passes defended, and an interception.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Cooper's night was the fact that he had missed the last three games with a hamstring injury. Most young players would try to ease back into the game, and frankly, most would need a week or two in order to do so. That wasn't the case for Cooper, though. He came in with the mindset to play loose and free.
“I had no idea (what my role would be), but I just prepare to go out there and make plays,” Cooper said via the team website. “My plan was just to go out there and have fun. I've been doing this for a long time. It's just football at the end of the day. Go out there, do what I need to do.”
That's the type of confidence that stars have, and Cooper is quickly becoming one for the Packers. The only thing that would help his star rise higher would be an interception streak of two games, and he'll secure just that against the Saints.
