Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The only problem the Green Bay Packers faced on the night they earned their first shutout win of the NFL season and clinched their second straight playoff berth was wide receiver Christian Watson’s knee injury. .
The injury occurred near the second quarter of Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field, during a 14-yard gain on the end. Two New Orleans defensive backs, Arontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry, landed on Watson’s left knee as he ran wide at the Saints’ 6-yard line.
“There’s definitely some concern,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after Monday’s game. “We’re going to do more testing tomorrow. I think we’ll have an answer tomorrow.”
Watson returned and played seven snaps, including four in the third quarter, before leaving the game for good. He remained on the Packers’ sideline for the remainder of the game.
“It definitely hurt right away, but I felt like I had enough to put it back on, so I put it back on and I felt okay,” Watson said. “But it dragged on a little bit and I wasn’t able to play the type of football that I wanted to play, so I had to stop it.”
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Watson had no catches, but had two rushes for 23 yards. Barring Watson’s injury, it was a memorable night for the Packers.
It was their first shutout since the 2021 season, and they qualified for the playoffs with two games left in the regular season. The Packers (11-4) can’t win the NFC North, but they can earn the top wild-card seed. They close out with two district games, Sunday against Minnesota (13-2) and Week 18 at home against the Bears (4-11).
According to ESPN Research, there has never been a season without a shutout in league history, and this is the most recent shutout in a season.
“The defense played the ball,” said Packers cornerback Keyshawn Nixon, who was strip-sacked in the second quarter. “Getting a shutout is the hardest thing to do in the NFL, but it’s even tougher to get it in prime time. It’s a hell of a deal to get that and qualify for the playoffs.”
This is Jordan Love’s second playoff berth in as many seasons as the Packers’ starting QB. This is the fifth time in six seasons that LaFleur’s team has made the playoffs.
For veteran free agent additions Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs, who each played just one game in the playoffs before signing with the Packers this offseason, this is what they came to Green Bay for.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Jacobs said. Jacobs ran for 69 yards and a touchdown, and the Packers held a comfortable lead for much of the second half. “That’s the main reason I came here.”
“That’s what I said to (Nixon) … before we had to claw our way to the playoffs,” McKinney said.
Nixon interrupted and said, “Welcome to Green Bay.”
The Saints are 5-10 and Spencer Rattler, who started at quarterback in place of the injured Derek Carr, suffered a shutout loss for the second time since 2002, but interim Saints manager Darren Rizzi I didn’t think it was due to lack of effort.
“The day I took over, we were on a seven-game losing streak,” Rizzi said. “For a lot of players, especially veteran players, it would have been easier and easier to check out, but I never felt that. I didn’t feel that today. I’ll be honest. I thought, “I think we had a great week of preparation and we had a great game last night. It happens sometimes in this league that we didn’t do well.
“We didn’t perform very well. I’ve never felt like our players were down and not trying because of our playoff status. In all my time as coach, I’ve never felt like our players were down and not working hard. I’ve never felt like that.” I don’t feel like that tonight, I feel like we’ve been kicked out and kicked out. ”
ESPN’s Katherine Terrell contributed to this report.
