Winston, Saints overcome displacement, pound Packers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jameis Winston and the hurricane-displaced Saints looked right at home in northeast Florida against Green Bay with a 38-3 victory — no doubt to the delight of fans rebuilding homes and lives back in New Orleans.

Winston passed for five touchdowns, New Orleans intercepted reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers twice, and the Saints kicked off the post-Drew Brees era with a strikingly dominant opening victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

The game, originally scheduled for the Superdome, was moved while the New Orleans area continues to clean up wreckage left by Hurricane Ida, which struck southeast Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 29, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastat

devastated the same region.

After canceling their final preseason game and practicing two weeks in the Dallas area, the Saints looked as sharp and inspired as any club with such distractions could have hoped.

FAST START

The Saints did not punt in the first half.

New Orleans took the opening kickoff for a field goal and led 10-0 after Alvin Kamara took a short forward pitch from Winston as he crossed behind the offensive line, then slipped multiple tackle attempts to squirm into the end zone from 3 yards. That officially went down as Winston’s first regular-season TD pass as a Saint, and he helped set it up with a 10-yard scramble on third-and-8.

INJURIES

Packers tight end Josiah Deguara appeared to be knocked unconscious when he took a knee to the head from Saints DE Marcus Davenport while attempting a block on the first series of the third quarter. He left with concussion symptoms. … Savage left in the second half with a shoulder injury.

Saints center Erik McCoy left in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury.

UP NEXT

Green Bay hosts Detroit in a Monday night game on Sept. 20.

New Orleans visits Carolina next Sunday.