Welcome to the Aaron Rodgers Show, Packers Improve to 4-0

Aaron Rodgers seems to be playing on a different planet for the first four games of the 2011 season.  On Sunday against the Broncos, Rodgers was at his best in a 49 to 23 win.  For the first time in his career as a starting quarterback Rodgers is 4-0 and is on an MVP pace.  Rodgers was 29 of 38 for 408 yards and 4 touchdowns.  He also had 36 yards rushing with 2 rushing touchdowns.  That was the first time in Packers history that a quarterback threw for 4 touchdowns and ran for 2 more.  His pin-point accuracy was on full display all afternoon and he was on the top of his game.  With all of those good numbers the first thing Rodgers will tell you about is the one interception he threw in the third quarter.  The Broncos were without starting cornerback Champ Bailey and that opened up Greg Jennings for a 7 catch and 103 yard day.


The Broncos got the lead first with 5:22 to go in the first quarter on a 27 yard field goal by Matt Prater.  The Packers came back with 21 unanswered points which included a 50 yard touchdown completion to Jordy Nelson, an interception return for a touchdown by Charles Woodson, and an 11 yard touchdown run by Rodgers.  He was on fire with his receivers and checked into the right play all night.  The Broncos made a game out of it, producing back to back touchdown drives that brought the score to 21 to 17 but were outmatched the rest of the game.  Turnovers doomed the Broncos, as well as their defenses inability to stop Rodgers and the Packers offense.


Rodgers displayed his leadership fully on two drives for the Packers.  The first was the final drive of the first half.  The Packers were on top, but only by 4, 21-17, and had the ball at their own 20.  Rodgers led a methodical drive down the field, slicing the Broncos defense apart and keeping them off balance with the hurry-up offense.  Rodgers capped off the drive with a 17 yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings with 21 seconds to go in the half.  The sign of a good team is scoring inside of 2 minutes of the half and at the end of a game, and Rodgers made it look easy.  The second drive of leadership for Rodgers was the first drive of the second half.  It was the kill shot.  The Pack had their foot on the Broncos throat and looked to put them away.  Rodgers lead a brilliant 12 play 80 yard drive that took 6:34 off the clock, culminating in an 8 yard touchdown run by Rodgers.  Rodgers finished with 4 passing touchdowns to four different receivers (Nelson, Jennings, Jones, and Driver) and a quarterback rating of 134.5.
The really encouraging thing for Packers fans is that Rodgers looked comfortable with guys in his face.  The Pack were playing without starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga and had second year pro Marshall Newhouse starting in his place.  Newhouse played alright but gave up pressure and two sacks to rookie linebacker Von Miller(pictured below with Aaron Rodgers).  On the other side of the line, Pro Bowler Chad Clifton was having trouble with Elvis Dumervill.  Rodgers stood in the pocket all afternoon and took all the hits and delivered great passes to all of his mates.  James Starks had a bounce back game after last week’s pedestrian numbers.  Starks had 16 carries for 63 yards and also 5 catches for 38 yards.  The Packers rushed for 111 yards as a team, their fourth straight game over 100 yards on the ground.


The Packers defense struggled on the other side of the ball.  They have given up a ton of big plays and that continued yesterday.  Green Bay’s defense can hang their hat on the fact that they caused 4 turnovers and only allowed 6 second half points to the Broncos.  They are just not generating enough pass rush and are giving the opposing teams quarterbacks way too much time to throw the ball.  They are able to get away with giving up big chunks of yards to teams like the Broncos and Panthers because they can take the ball away from those teams.  Against good teams the Packers defense may not be able to get those takeaways.  Clay Matthews continues to get double and triple teamed on the outside.  The Packers need someone to step up opposite of Matthews to generate some pass rush.  The defensive line should be able to get more pressure on the quarterback once Mike Neal recovers from knee surgery.  Neal should be ready to go in 4 weeks.

The Packers end the first quarter of their season undefeated at 4-0.  They are an offensive juggernaut that looks unstoppable.  Their defense needs some work but will get healthy soon with the additions of Neal and linebacker Frank Zombo.  They have not come close to playing a perfect game but are still 4-0 and tied with the surprising 4-0 Detroit Lions.  This victory was sweet but now the attention is on to their week five showdown in Atlanta with the Falcons.  This will be a huge test and a battle of two of the NFC’s top tier teams.

Matt