With a dominant defense at the helm, the Green Bay Packers secured a playoff spot by picking up their most lopsided win in a decade.

Josh Jacobs gained 107 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown for the sixth straight game as the Packers recorded their first shutout of the NFL season with a 34-0 victory over the hapless New Orleans Saints on Monday night.

“Obviously the goal is the Super Bowl,” said quarterback Jordan Love, who went 16 of 28 for 182 yards and a touchdown. “This is the first step here to get into the playoffs. Obviously it was a big game to secure that spot. I’m proud of the way we came out of there and conducted our business.”

Green Bay (11-4) secured its fifth postseason appearance in six years with its first shutout since beating Seattle 17-0 on November 14, 2021. The Saints (5-10) were blanked for the first time since a 13-0 loss to San Francisco on November 27, 2022.

New Orleans played without injured quarterback Derek Carr and running back Alvin Kamara. Rookie Spencer Rattler started at quarterback and went 15 of 30 for 153 yards with an interception and a fumble.

“We attracted the 48 guys we did,” Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi said. “We will not make excuses. You know me well enough by now. I won’t apologize for this. We didn’t play well enough.”

Green Bay’s winning margin was its largest since a 55-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on November 9, 2014.

“A shutout in the NFL is the hardest thing to do, and doing it in prime time is even harder,” Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon said. “To get a spot in the playoffs through this is a heck of a deal.”

The Packers have won nine of their last 11 games, with their only losses during that period coming against the NFC North rival Detroit Lions. They will enter the playoffs as a wild card after being eliminated from the NFC North title game on Sunday.

Jacobs ran for 69 yards and a two-yard touchdown on 13 carries, leading Green Bay’s 188-yard rushing attack. He also caught four passes for 38 yards.

Chris Brooks and Emanuel Wilson had one-yard touchdown runs, Dontayvion Wicks had a two-yard TD catch and Brandon McManus hit field goals of 55 and 46 yards.

Green Bay’s defense made for a miserable night for Rattler while missing four starters due to injury: linebacker and leading tackler Quay Walker, cornerback Jaire Alexander and safeties Evan Williams and Javon Bullard. Safety Zayne Anderson had an interception in his first career start.

“What’s really cool is we’re getting contributions from a lot of different people,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think that’s usually the sign of a good team.”

The Packers scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions.

Love found Wicks on third-and-goal, capping the opening drive of the game. Wicks’ touchdown was his fifth of the season and first since Oct. 20 against Houston.

Jacobs’ touchdown capped a 17-play, 96-yard drive that lasted 8:55. In terms of plays and time, it was the Packers’ longest possession of the season. The Packers also had a 96-yard rush in their 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

The drive included two fourth-down conversions. Love had a two-yard sneak on fourth-and-1 from the New Orleans 45 to open the second quarter. Love then threw a 14-yard completion to Tucker Kraft on fourth-and-2 in the 35th minute.

Jacobs has scored a touchdown in six consecutive games, one shy of the longest such streak in Packers history. Paul Hornung had a touchdown run in seven consecutive games in 1960.

Brooks’ first career touchdown made the score 21-0 with 6:28 left in the second quarter. McManus kicked both field goals in the second half.

Wilson capped the score with 2:41 left on a drive orchestrated by backup quarterback Malik Willis.

“We finally put together a complete game,” Jacobs said. “This is something we have been chasing since the beginning of the season. It just feels like our ceiling keeps rising.”