GREEN BAY – For 15 years and seven meetings, future Hall of Famer Drew Brees was the only Saints quarterback to face the Packers.

From 2006 to 2020, Brees played for New Orleans, going 4-3 against Green Bay, and a high-scoring game was practically a given. In these seven matches, fewer than 55 total points were scored only once, and twice there were more than 75 points on the board at the end of the game.

But with Monday night’s third Packers-Saints game without Brees, it will feature the third different New Orleans quarterback in as many matchups against Green Bay.

In the 2021 season opener, which was played in Jacksonville, the Saints started Jameis Winston. Last year at Lambeau Field, it was Derek Carr who was replaced by Winston after he was injured early in the second half.

Now it’s rookie Spencer Rattler’s turn as the fifth-round pick from South Carolina makes his fourth NFL start in place of the injured Carr and his fifth appearance overall.

Curiously, the best performance of Rattler’s young career was the one he didn’t play last week against Washington. He came off the bench after halftime to replace the ineffective Jake Haener and rallied the Saints to a 17-0 lead, nearly stunning the Commanders.

For an offense that had only managed two first downs in the entire first half with Haener, Rattler suddenly led four consecutive scoring drives – a touchdown, two field goals and another touchdown on the final play of the fourth quarter to put the Saints up 20 to bring -19.

New Orleans interim coach Darren Rizzi opted to go for the win rather than play in overtime, but Rattler’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete and Washington survived the comeback attempt.

Still, the effort caught the Packers’ attention on several fronts. For one thing, it was another example of Rizzi making the Saints play really hard and not giving up despite a significant deficit against a playoff contender.

Second, New Orleans showed it isn’t afraid to pull out all the stops by scoring a TD on a double-pass trick play and ending up playing for the win rather than the tie.

Additionally, Rattler showed some grit by completing 10 of 21 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, a performance that is sure to give him a confidence boost as he makes another start on Monday Night Football, his chance to be in front of a national television audience show what he is I have what it takes to be successful as a quarterback in this league.

“I think he’s a natural thrower,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “He can move around in the pocket. He’s fearless.”

Expect Rattler to continue playing without fear on Monday night.

MNF magic?: The Packers are looking to get back on track on Monday Night Football after an impressive run was wiped out last season.

Before losing Monday night road games to both the Raiders and Giants in 2023, the Packers were 5-0 against MNF under LaFleur and 9-1 since 2014.

The only loss during this stretch came against the Lions at Lambeau Field in 2017, when Brett Hundley played QB in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers, who was sidelined with a broken collarbone.

This brings with it another pretty remarkable run in terms of Monday nights, especially at home. The Packers have a 10-2 record in their last 12 Monday night games at Lambeau Field since the 2008 season opener, Rodgers’ first start as an NFL QB.

The only losses in this stretch were attributable to Rodgers’ collarbones – the aforementioned 2017 Lions game and the 2013 game against the Bears, when Rodgers had his first collarbone broken by a sack by Shea McClellin on the game’s first possession.

The last time the Packers lost a home game on Monday night while their preferred starting QB was able to play was in 2005 with Brett Favre under center, a three-point loss to the Vikings in a dismal 4-12 season , which was Mike Sherman’s last as head coach.