Sunday Night Football Open Thread: Packers v. Saints

Two of the NFL's best quarterbacks are on stage tonight, and this NFC match-up could be even better than you think.

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers roll into New Orleans with a 5-2 record, while Drew Brees and the Saints are sitting at 2-4 on the season.  Aside from the 38-17 blowout by Dallas, the Saints have been narrowly edged out in some very close losses: Detroit beat them by 1 point, Cleveland beat them by 2 points, and Atlanta beat them by 3 points.

NFL.com reports that when asked by the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Brees denies that this is a "must-win" game:

"There's no must-win games until they're must-win games," Brees said Wednesday, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "It's important. It's really important, but nobody needs that kind of pressure."

"There's definitely a sense of urgency, but not a panic mode," Brees said. "We've got a lot of veteran guys on the team -- we do have a lot of young guys -- we have a lot of veteran guys on the team that have been through a lot together. I think we understand that we can just focus on the process, and we can get a little bit better each week, that eventually these wins will come."

The Saints surely do not want to lose to another NFC team and go 2-5, so look for them to battle it out tonight in front of their home crowd.

The Packers lost to Seattle to open the 2014 season and later lost to Detroit in Week 3.  In three of their wins against NFC opponents, Green Bay took care of business with commanding performances: 38-17 over the Bears, 42-10 over the Vikings, and 38-17 over the Panthers.

Notwithstanding their win/loss record, the Saints actually look stronger than the Packers in comparative stats provided by NFL.com:

Grab a cold beverage and your most comfortable chair; the action starts now on Sunday Night Football, and it could go down to the wire tonight!  The comments section is open, and the usual rules apply.