The Saints are just a damn good offense and as the season continues, we'll see where the Packers' D stands among their opponents having given up 27 points to their O. And I give Newton credit - for the most part he looked very good. But Packerfury is right - losing Tramon not only meant they were minus their best cover CB, it also took away Woodson's ability to apply pressure on the QB. But injuries can't be an excuse, right?
Another factor IMO is the lockout gave every team in the league, and particularly the Packers' opponents this season, time to study what Dom was doing last year. So in addition to the automatic motivation of beating the reigning champs, offensive coaching staffs had more time than usual to study Capers' schemes on D and to come up with ways to attack them.
I think another factor yesterday was the Packers played zone coverage more than usual because they were facing a mobile QB - you don't want the DBs with their backs to the LOS when the QB can take off running. Capers' likes to play man-to-man coverage because he has the DBs to do it and because it frees up blitzers to harass the QB. Not having Tramon and "having" to play more zone was a double wammy.
As for Capers getting out coached, yes they've surrendered a lot of yards but in two games they've allowed 3 TDs in 11 red zone possessions - about 27% and that's very good. And here's an excerpt from a jsonline story today quoting Ron Rivera, who knows something about defense:
"You've got to give them credit," said Carolina coach Ron Rivera, a defensive coordinator by trade. "They're a hell of a football team, and they're a very well-coached football team. You look at the red zone, and their play was outstanding as a defense. That speaks very well of what they did as a defensive staff."
BTW, in spite of their performance yesterday, I expect the Bears' O to play better against the Packers than they did last season just because it's the second year in the Martz offense and the Bears are always motivated playing the Packers. After their beat-down in New Orleans and after losing to the Packers at home in the NFC Championship game they'll be sky high. So the Packers offense better be prepared to score more points against the Bears than they did last season.