At long last, the NFL has a shutout in 2024. On Monday night, the Green Bay Packers blanked the New Orleans Saints, 34-0, en route to a victory to wrap up Week 16. On top of this win, during which Green Bay improved to 11-4 and clinched a playoff spot, it proved to be the first shutout of the entire NFL season.
There has never been a season in league history with zero shutouts, and this proved to be the latest the first shutout has ever occurred. Those previous initial shutouts happened no later than Week 8, so waiting until Week 16 to see one in 2024 was quite the leap. The fewest shutouts in a single season is two, which has been done five times (most recently in 2015).
As you might expect in a shutout, it was totally one-sided and quite the effort from the Packers, led by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Every which way, Green Bay made stops. It forced punts on the opening two drives and then recorded a fumble on New Orleans’ third possession on the night.
That was arguably the best opportunity for the Saints to get points on the board as they moved the ball to the Green Bay 29-yard line. However, that was when cornerback Keisean Nixon came blitzing off the edge and strip-sacked Spencer Rattler, with defensive end Rashan Gary scooping up the turnover.
It was more of the same in the second half, which included an interception from safety Zayne Anderson. Green Bay held the Saints to just four third-down conversions on 11 attempts, and New Orleans turned the ball over on downs on both of its fourth-down tries as well. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi’s team was also held to just 3.7 yards per play.
On top of this being the first shutout of the season, it’s also tied for the second-largest shutout win for the Packers in the Super Bowl era (since 1966). The largest came back in 2001 when they shut out Washington, 37-0.
Meanwhile, New Orleans was shut out just once in the last 369 games entering this matchup (2022 vs. 49ers).
