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The Green Bay Packers are going for their first win of the 2022 NFL preseason when they take on the New Orleans Saints this coming Friday at Lambeau Field. Like the Packers, New Orleans is also looking to rebound with a victory from a loss back in Week 1. With that said, here are four bold predictions for the Packers in their upcoming matchup with visiting Saints.
Green Bay Packers Preseason Week 2 Predictions
4. Turnover Love Set: Jordan Love rebounds, throws for 200+ yards, multiple touchdowns, and records zero turnovers
Aaron Rodgers' top backup had a topsy-turvy outing in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL preseason. Love, who is entering his second year in the pros, started and played in the entire first half of the Packers' game against the San Francisco 49ers at home last week and finished with 176 passing yards and two touchdowns. However, he only connected on just 13 of 24 pass attempts and shot himself — and his team — in the foot repeatedly with his inaccurate throws, none more frustrating than the three interceptions he threw.
It did not help that fellow Year 2 quarterback Trey Lance balled out for the 49ers in that contest, though, on much-limited snap counts. Lance went 4 of 5 for 92 yards and an insane 76-yard bomb to Danny Gray. While Lance has ascended to the top of the quarterback depth chart in San Francisco, Love, on the other hand, understandably remains behind Rodgers. Love can't let the frustration get to him, and it's in this kind of situation where the Packers can really determine just what they have exactly with him.
Rodgers said he felt ‘bad' for Jordan Love during the 49ers game, but also hinted that not all errors under Love's name were completely on the the 23-year-old quarterback.
“I felt really bad for Jordan the other night because, you know, we have a couple of total mental busts for picks,” Rodgers said. “We had a drop for a pick. Two guys running who knows what on the third one. He shouldn’t have thrown the ball there probably, but some of that is veteran stuff, making veteran mistakes.”
Against a stingy New Orleans defense, expect Love to go full Trey Lance and restore the Packers' and the fans' confidence in him.
3. Roaming in the end zone again: Romeo Doubs takes another to the house
The Packers did not use their first two picks in the 2022 NFL Draft on wide receivers, which was notable because they just lost Davante Adams in the offseason. They also split ways with Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Instead, the Packers spent those picks on defensive pieces and opted to shore up their receiving corps via the draft with two of the next three picks on Christian Watson (34th overall) and Romeo Doubs (132nd overall).
Watson has not seen any action yet in the preseason, and might not even be ready for the start of the 2022 NFL regular season after being just activated off the PUP list. But leave it to Doubs to provide the highlight for the rookie wide receivers group in the preseason. He had already started doing that in Week 1 against the Niners when he showed his ability to get behind the defense with a reception in the first period that he took to the end zone for 33 yards.
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4th & 3? No problem.
TOUCHDOWN!@jordan3love ➡️ @RomeoDoubs #SFvsGB | #GoPackGo
📺: #GBvsSF | Packers TV Network + @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/XmGs1MFIlo
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) August 13, 2022
Don't expect Doubs to be feeling to feel too confident following his impressive preseason debut. If anything, he should be going at it harder on the field, especially after some of the lapses he had in practices this week. Take for example this play where Doubs managed to display in one sequence his explosive ability to get away from his defender and the gap he still needs to cover to become fully trusted by Aaron Rodgers.
Romeo Doubs (with the 1s) gets separation on a double move down the sideline but drops a sure-fire 70 yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers. pic.twitter.com/qi7ZMx5bJr
— Ken Ingalls – Packers Cap 💰 (@KenIngalls) August 16, 2022
2. Book it: Green Bay's defense flexes muscle, forces at least 3 turnovers
Ian Book was a disaster for the Saints in their last week's preseason loss to the Houston Texans on the road. Check that. Book has been a disaster in the NFL so far in his career, and he might not have what it takes to succeed in the pros just like many of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterbacks before him. Against the Texans, Book was intercepted once and got taken to the ground a total of five times for a loss of 32 yards.
Assuming he gets to see the field again in Week 2 for an extended time, don't expect the Packers to be any less forgiving to him than the Texans. Although the Packers' stop unit had its own issues in Week 1 versus the 49ers, it seemed to have recovered quickly with glowing reports about its performance in joint practices this week with the (you guessed it) Saints.
1. Packers almost single-handedly get the game hit the Over
And because we are expecting excellence from the Packers on both ends of the field in this upcoming game against New Orleans, we are going to go ahead and predict that Green Bay will score nearly two-thirds of the total scoring output (at least) in this contest. The line is currently around 39.5 for the O/U.
