Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. at the Superdome

Coaches: Saints Sean Payton (22-20 in three seasons, all with Saints); Packers Mike McCarthy (26-16 in three seasons, all with Packers)

TV: ESPN, Ch. 6

Radio: 870-AM (and Spanish broadcast on 830-AM)

KEEP AN EYE ON

DEUCE McALLISTER

Saints tailback Reggie Bush is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game tonight while recovering from a left knee injury, so McAllister should see several snaps against Green Bay -- assuming that he isn't slowed too much by his left knee injury.

This could turn into a memorable night for one of the greatest and most beloved Saints of all time.

For starters, he has a chance to make history in front of the home crowd. With 53 career touchdowns, he needs one more to break a tie with Dalton Hilliard for the franchise record.

"That would be great," said McAllister, the Saints' career rushing leader with 5,977 yards. "When you start playing, you look forward to maybe being able to break records, and you set goals. So just to be approaching something of that nature, it would be pretty awesome, obviously, to be able to do it at home."

There is an outside chance that this could be McAllister's final home game in a Saints uniform. That would be the case if he winds up being suspended (for taking a diuretic banned by the NFL) for the final four games of the season and does not return to the team next year.

McAllister, who turns 30 next month, has four years left on his contract, but his cap number next year is $7.3 million -- an amount that likely would have to be restructured to keep him in New Orleans.

The eighth-year veteran, who has become a part-time player this year while recovering from surgeries on both of his knees, said he isn't thinking that far ahead.

"Nah. That won't be an issue that I'll be concerned with or worried about," McAllister said. "Whatever happens is going to happen. It will be out of my control. But I'll just play the game."

Greg Jennings

Your fantasy Football team is probably in good shape if you're counting on a big performance tonight from Green Bay's dynamic receiver. The third-year pro has emerged as one of the NFL's biggest big-play threats. And he's going up against a depleted Saints secondary that had trouble stopping the big play even before its top three cornerbacks went down with injuries.

Jennings (5 feet 11, 197 pounds) leads the NFL with six catches of 40-plus yards and 15 catches of 20-plus yards this season. But he's not just a deep threat. He's also the Packers' go-to guy with 48 receptions for 865 yards and five touchdowns.

"He's not just limited to one thing, like some guys who can just go deep. You've got to play every situation with him," said Saints safety Kevin Kaesviharn, who said both Jennings and veteran receiver Donald Driver present serious challenges. "They both have the ability to run after the catch. They both catch the deep ball. So we're going to have our work cut out for us."

KEY MATCHUP

Saints QB Drew Brees VS. THE Packers' SECONDARY

Brees has been as locked in as any quarterback, but tonight he'll face the league's most disruptive secondary.

The Packers lead the NFL with 16 interceptions -- six returned for touchdowns (three by safety Nick Collins, two by cornerback Charles Woodson and one by safety Aaron Rouse). They play man-to-man, bump-and-run coverage almost exclusively. Brees said that can give offenses an opportunity to make big plays, but it forces quarterbacks to be accurate.

"I think more so than anything, all of their guys have very good ball skills," said Brees, who has thrown for a league-best 3,251 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. "So if a ball is up in the air and touches their hands, they have a good chance of coming down with it. They have pretty good athletes on that side of the ball."

When told this game was being billed as the NFL's No. 1 passing offense vs. the league's best secondary, Green Bay cornerback Al Harris said, "Nice. That's got a nice ring to it."

But Collins made an effort to downplay the showdown.

"It's going to come down to whoever makes the most plays," said Collins, who is having a breakout year in his fourth season. "Don't get me wrong. It's going to be a great challenge for us. But we ain't going to try to hype it up. We're just going to play Football."

GAME PLAN

The Saints' pass rushers have alternated between disruptive and nonexistent performances, but a lot of that can be attributed to the style of quarterback they're facing. Many opposing QBs have had a knack for getting rid of the ball quickly (Denver's Jay Cutler, San Diego's Philip Rivers, Atlanta's Matt Ryan, Tampa Bay's Jeff Garcia and Carolina's Jake Delhomme).

Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, in his first full season as a starter, does tend to stand back in the pocket, looking for big plays to develop down the field. The good news is that the Saints' front four will have a chance to get some pressure on him -- Rodgers has been sacked 21 times this season. The bad news is that Rodgers has hit on a lot of those big plays to Jennings and Driver.

New Orleans' defense will try to put pressure on Rodgers by shutting down the Packers' run game and making them one-dimensional. Green Bay tailback Ryan Grant got off to a slow start, partly because of a hamstring injury, but he has shown improvement, especially with his season-high 145 yards last week against Chicago.

BY THE NUMBERS

The Saints are 8-17 all-time on "Monday Night Football," including a 30-27 loss this season to Minnesota at the Superdome. . . . Green Bay leads the all-time series 14-6, though the Saints won the last meeting 34-27 at Green Bay in 2006. . . . Both teams are treading water at 5-5, but neither the Saints nor the Packers has lost to a team with a losing record. Green Bay's past three losses came by a combined seven points (vs. Atlanta, at Tennessee and at Minnesota). . . . The Saints will play their first game at the Superdome tonight in 43 days. The previous five weeks included a game at Carolina, a "home game" in London against San Diego, a bye week, and games at Atlanta and at Kansas City.

Compiled by Mike Triplett