Packers RB Aaron Jones is a serious threat to Saints’ 45-game streak
No team has gone longer without allowing a 100-yard rusher than the New Orleans Saints, whose streak is the best in the NFL right now. Including the playoffs, the Saints defense has gone 45 straight games without giving up 100 yards to a single runner, nearly three full years; but Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones could snap that streak.
He’s the NFL’s leading rusher through two weeks with 234 yards on the ground, and Jones is facing the Saints fresh off of a personal-best 168 rushing yards gained against an overmatched Detroit Lions defense (including a 75-yard touchdown run).
And he’s had success against the Saints before. Back in 2017, just a few weeks before this streak started, Jones racked up 131 rushing yards against the Saints (highlighted by a 45-yard touchdown run on the opening drive). That’s hardly encouraging.
However, Jones wasn’t playing against the same Saints defense. In the years since they’ve added stellar run defenders like linebacker Demario Davis (signed in 2018) and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (drafted in 2019). In Week 1, Gardner-Johnson ranked among NFL leaders in run stops, while Davis frequently leads the team in that stat. Their presence has allowed the Saints to remain strong against the run despite playing most of their snaps from lighter nickel personnel.
It’s something they treat as a point of pride.
“It’s important to us and it’s one of our main goals, to win the line of scrimmage,” Davis told Nola.com’s Rod Walker. “That’s the run game and the passing game. It’s important to make teams one dimensional. Just in general, for a good defense you have to have a good run defense. With our defensive line, it makes the work of the linebackers easy.”
We’ll see how they perform against Jones. The Saints could be debuting 2018 first-round pick Marcus Davenport, another talented run defender Jones hasn’t played before, on Sunday night against Green Bay. Davenport and defensive end Trey Hendrickson are both questionable to play with injuries, but their practice participation would suggest they’re close to returning.
