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Rod Walker: Underdog Saints hoping to pull off what would be Christmas week miracle at Lambeau

By Rod Walker
From The Advocate

Rod Walker: Underdog Saints hoping to pull off what would be Christmas week miracle at Lambeau

Any given Sunday.

Well, except this one isn't on a Sunday.

The New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers play on a Monday.

At Night.

At Lambeau Field.

In freezing temperatures that could have both teams dashing through the snow.

And if that's not enough to tell you why this one will be difficult for the Saints, there is also this:

The Saints will be without their best five skill position players.

No Alvin Kamara. No Taysom Hill. No Derek Carr. No Chris Olave. And no Rashid Shaheed.

There's a reason the Saints are as big of an underdog (13½ points as of Friday) as they've been since before Spencer Rattler was born.

Not since Nov. 26, 2000, has Vegas had a team favored by this much over the Saints. The Saints proved the oddsmakers wrong then, going on the road and stunning the then-St. Louis Rams 31-24. That one was three days after Thanksgiving. This one is two days before Christmas and would be a Christmas Miracle just as jaw-dropping as Kamara's six-touchdown performance on Christmas Day four years ago against the Minnesota Vikings.

(If the betting line moves to 14, you have to go back before Rattler was born, to the 1999 season, to find a team favored by a full two touchdowns over the Saints.)

If the Saints can somehow pull this one off, Mickey Loomis should just halt the coaching search and strip the interim tag off Darren Rizzi's name and give him the job right there in the visitor's locker room at Lambeau. It would put new meaning to the phrase "Merry Rizzmas."

This would be Rizzi's most impressive win, one that would improve his record to 4-2 since filling in as the substitute for the fired Dennis Allen.

It would also be one of those signature wins that eluded Allen during his time running the show.

None of the Saints' five wins this season have come against a team with a record above. .500.

That would change with a victory over the Packers (10-4), one of the hottest teams in the league. The Packers have won four of their last five games, including a 30-13 thumping of the Seahawks in Seattle last week.

"You look at their team and there are not a lot of holes, not a lot of weaknesses," Rizzi said. "They've put together a heckuva roster, and it's going to be a challenge. ... They are a confident group. They really have it going offensively."

The question is can the Saints get it going offensively with so many of their weapons not suiting up.

Rattler will be making just his fourth NFL start and first since an Oct. 27 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He's hoping to bottle up some of the momentum from last week when he replaced Jake Haener in the second half and helped the Saints rally from a 17-0 deficit before eventually losing 20-19. The rookie has played under the bright lights with the entire country watching before. Rattler started the Thursday night game against the Denver Broncos, a 33-10 loss. He completed 25 of 35 passes for 172 yards on a night the Saints were without center Erik McCoy and guard Cesar Ruiz.

Injuries like that have been the norm this season for the Saints. It's a big reason the Saints are such huge underdogs.

Rizzi isn't allowing his team to use the injuries as a crutch.

"I've just tried not to make any excuses about it," Rizzi said. "The best teams in the league are the teams that are able to overcome those."

The Packers are jockeying for playoff position. The Saints are just playing for pride.

Rizzi's message to his team this week is the same one he's preached since taking over.

"No excuses. Accountability. And doing your job," Rizzi said. "There's nobody stopping you from having your best performance of your lifetime except you."

And for the Saints to win this one, it'll take a performance of a lifetime.

Or a Christmas Miracle.

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