The Green Bay Packers earned their best overall grade of the 2024 season at Pro Football Focus during Monday night’s 34-0 win over the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field.
Matt LaFleur’s team was powered by a dominant run game led by Josh Jacobs and suffocating pass-rush led by Rashan Gary. The Packers led 21-0 at halftime and the Saints — who were down several key contributors — never threatened a comeback attempt.
Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst players from the Packers’ Week 16 win over the Saints:
Top 5 offense
1. RB Josh Jacobs: 90.4
2. RB Emanuel Wilson: 80.9
3. RT Zach Tom: 76.6
4. WR Jayden Reed: 73.1
5. RB Chris Brooks: 73.0
Jacobs forced four missed tackles, produced two runs over 10 yards, gained five first downs or touchdowns and caught all four of his targets out of the backfield. Wilson had one run over 10 yards and two broken tackles. Tom didn’t allow a pressure over 28 pass-blocking snaps and was the team’s high-rated run blocker. Reed caught three passes, including a contested catch, and averaged over 3.0 yards per route run. Brooks forced four missed tackles on only six carries, caught one pass and earned a terrific pass-blocking grade.
Top 5 defense
1. DE Rashan Gary: 90.6
2. DE Brenton Cox: 88.7
3. S Zayne Anderson: 85.2
4. LB Edgerrin Cooper: 81.2
5. CB Eric Stokes: 80.6
Gary played only 23 snaps but produced six hurries on 18 pass-rushing snaps. Cox had five pressures (including a sack and QB hit) on only 17 pass-rushing snaps, and he added a run stop. Anderson intercepted a pass, nearly intercepted a second pass and didn’t give up a completion in coverage. Cooper delivered a team-high four stops and allowed only 14 yards against his coverage. Stokes gave up just one catch on three targets for four yards in coverage.
Bottom 5 offense
1. TE John FitzPatrick: 53.6
2. WR Bo Melton: 56.7
3. WR Christian Watson: 57.9
4. TE Ben Sims: 58.0
5. C Josh Myers: 62.3
FitzPatrick played 19 run-blocking snaps but earned only an average blocking grade. Melton had one run for 14 yards but was only average as a blocker. Watson carried twice for 23 yards but was only targeted once in the passing game. Sims was average as a blocker. Myers gave up two pressures and was only OK as a run blocker.
Bottom 5 defense
1. DL TJ Slaton: 35.5
2. DL Colby Wooden: 40.0
3. DE Kingsley Enagbare: 49.9
4. DL Karl Brooks: 50.1
5. LB Eric Wilson: 51.6
Slaton, Wooden and Brooks all earned poor run defense grades. Enagbare had two pressures on 16 pass-rushing snaps but earned only an average grade overall. Wilson missed two tackles and gave up two completions for 29 yards in coverage.
Special teams
Edgerrin Cooper delivered two more special teams tackles and earned an elite grade. Chris Brooks, Bo Melton, Arron Mosby and Brandon McManus all had tackles, and Melton missed a tackle. Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare had a penalty. McManus made two field goals over 45 yards, including a season-long 55 yarder.
Quarterback play
Jordan Love: 68.7
Love was excellent from clean pockets, completing 13 of 18 passes for 170 yards (72.7 completion percentage, 9.4 yards per attempt) when not pressured. He threw his lone touchdown pass under pressure. Love completed only 1-of-4 passes thrown over 20 yards in the air. He had one “big time throw” on a 37-yarder to Jayden Reed and zero “turnover worthy plays.” Two of his passes were batted down, and three were thrown away. Love wasn’t sacked despite being under pressure on 10 dropbacks.
Stat to know
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler was under pressure on 20 of his 38 dropbacks, good for a pressure percentage of 52.6. The Packers were credited with 30 total pressures, including at least three pressures from five different players — six from Rashan Gary, five from Brenton Cox, four from Lukas Van Ness, three from Devonte Wyatt and three from Karl Brooks. The pass rush has come alive over the last two games.