GREEN BAY, Wis. — Points aren’t expected to be in short supply Sunday night at the Superdome when the Green Bay Packers visit the New Orleans Saints.

Not only does the midseason matchup feature two of the NFL’s most prolific quarterbacks this season, but the presence of Aaron Rodgers for the Packers and Drew Brees for the Saints has meant pinball-like action in previous meetings.

The Saints won 51-29 in their dome in 2008, then the Packers prevailed 42-34 in a thrilling 2011 season opener and 28-27 in 2012 at Green Bay.

Yet, with many expecting another shootout in the nationally televised matchup, greater value just might be placed on the early possessions in the game. Especially from the perspective of the Saints, who seem to be treating this as a must-win game in Week 8 mired with an underachieving record of 2-4.

“I would like to think our whole team clearly understands we’re getting ready to go into a hot box down there in New Orleans,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “This is going to be a big-time environment, big-time game. These are the kind of games you love to play in, and everybody wants to go get this one and get to 6-2, especially after where we were four weeks ago.”

After putting fallout from a third straight season of starting 1-2 well behind in the rearview mirror, Green Bay is one of the league’s hottest teams. Its four-game winning streak, which has the Packers in a first-place tie with the Detroit Lions in the NFC North, has been underscored by domination on the scoreboard.

Green Bay has outscored the opposition by a whopping margin of 145-68 the last four games.

The latest trend that has worked splendidly for the Packers has been watching the opponent win the coin toss, defer to the second half and thus put the football in the hands of red-hot quarterback Aaron Rodgers right away.

Rodgers enters Sunday’s game without throwing an interception in the last six games, tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Bart Starr’s 50-year-old team record. What’s more, Rodgers has passed for 18 touchdowns after his only interception of the season came in the Week 1 loss at the Seattle Seahawks.

Two of the touchdowns came in the opening series during the Packers’ 27-24 win at the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 12 and then the 38-17 rout of the Carolina Panthers last Sunday. Rodgers led the offense on 80-yard drives to the end zone in both sequences after the Dolphins and Panthers elected to put their defense on the field first after winning the coin toss.

“That’s going to be a strategy that teams are going to have to look at, like what do you do when a team’s offense is so explosive?” Green Bay veteran linebacker A.J. Hawk said about the predicament future opponents could face if they have to make the first move after the pregame coin toss. “It’s like, all right, pick your poison, really.”

The Packers’ plethora of points in their winning streak has vaulted them to first in the NFC and second in the league with 199 points.

Since Green Bay as the visiting team will make the call of “heads” or “tails” on the toss of the coin on Sunday, the outcome of that flip could set the tone for how the game plays out. The Packers have won the coin toss three times this season and deferred to the second half in two of those outings.

Given what has unfolded at the start the last two weeks, McCarthy might have an easy decision of taking the ball right away if the coin falls his team’s way at midfield on the Superdome turf Sunday night.

“Anytime you’re on the road, the most important thing is starting fast and getting the crowd out of it,” left guard Josh Sitton said.

Meanwhile, Saints coach Sean Payton might have the tough decision of whether to give Rodgers the football first against his banged-up and struggling pass defense and run the risk of having to play catch-up from the start.

“You never know how it’s going to play out,” Rodgers said of the prospect of another Packers-Saints shootout, “but we go in trying to score every possession.”

NOTES: CB Sam Shields (knee) wasn’t cleared to practice Wednesday and remains a big question mark for Sunday night at New Orleans. … SS Morgan Burnett (calf) was limited in practice Wednesday. . . . RB James Starks (ankle) was limited Wednesday.