Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (No 12) scrambles between Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson (L) and linebacker Tamba Hali (R) in the first quarter at Lambeau Field. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
By Bob McGinn/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Game after game after game in the Mike McCarthy-Aaron Rodgers partnership, the Green Bay Packers established such command in the first half that the second half was purely academic.
That was the familiar scenario Monday night when the quick-starting Packers blistered the Kansas City Chiefs early before posting a comfy 38-28 victory at rainy Lambeau Field.
As dominant on defense as they were on offense during the first 30 minutes, the Packers became the seventh of the 32 NFL teams to start the season with a 3-0 record.
“We’ve improved each and every week,” McCarthy said. “Offensively, it starts with Aaron Rodgers ... the production in the red area, the extended plays.
“Defensively, we played very well. The focus was stopping the run. And the special teams were good.”
Rodgers, as usual, continues to dominate defenses with his brain and craftiness as well as with his arm and legs.
Time and time, Rodgers caught the Chiefs either offside or with too many defenders on the field, and given extra possessions or free plays a quarterback as brilliant as Rodgers probably won’t be stopped.
Helped immeasurably by a pass-protection unit that held the fort against one of the league’s finest pass rushes, Rodgers tossed five touchdown passes and finished with a passer rating of 138.5.
“He’s playing great football,” McCarthy said. “Aaron was phenomenal. Yes, he’s playing at a very, very high level.
“His ability to process information is the best I’ve ever been around. He watches their sidelines, picks up things. He just puts us in excellent plays. Randall (Cobb) was the benefit of that.”
This was just the seventh time in the 48 post-Lombardi seasons that the Packers have started 3-0. They maintained a game lead in the NFC North over Minnesota, and tied Arizona, Atlanta and Carolina for primacy in the NFC.
“It starts up front,” Rodgers said. “To hold those two edge guys to one sack, when I held the ball for a long time, that’s pretty impressive. Those guys keep blocking like that, we’ll be tough to beat.”
Kansas City fell to 1-2, its chances dashed from the beginning because of penalties, what appeared to be lack of purpose and fire, and overall ineptitude in a secondary that sorely missed suspended cornerback Sean Smith, its No. 1 cover man.
Victory, however, came at a price for Green Bay.
Wide receiver Davante Adams (ankle), tight end Andrew Quarless (knee), defensive end Datone Jones (possible concussion) and linebacker Jake Ryan (hamstring) all left early.
Jamaal Charles scored three touchdowns but was held to 49 yards in 11 carries.
The Packers amassed seven sacks, including two by Clay Matthews and 1{ by Mike Daniels.
“The pressure from the front is what you’re looking for,” McCarthy said. “We’re doing a much better job in the run game and it sets up those pass rushers.”
The first half featured a cat-and-mouse game between Rodgers and Bob Sutton, the Chiefs’ 64-year-old defensive coordinator. It was a game that the quarterback easily won.
On the Packers’ second possession, the Chiefs appeared to have the Packers halted when a third-and-1 pass sailed incomplete to Cobb. However, Rodgers had rushed the team to the line with a quick count, and defensive lineman Jaye Howard was a yard late getting off the field for a 5-yard penalty.
Kansas City was penalized three times on the back-breaking 10-play, 89-yard drive. A holding penalty on Marcus Cooper led to a first down, and an illegal contact penalty on safety Eric Berry gave Green Bay another first down.
The drive ended when Cobb beat Tyvon Branch off a quick two-man crossing route for a 3-yard touchdown.
Branch, a former starting safety for Oakland, was pressed into duty in the slot when Phillip Gaines suffered a knee injury late in the first quarter. Rodgers and play-caller Tom Clements picked on Branch without mercy.
The Packers opened the scoring on their second possession. After starting with an incompletion, the gains — 12, 11, 12, 26 and the final 8 on a pass to Ty Montgomery — came in machine gun-like fashion.
Coach Andy Reid benched Jamell Fleming as the right cornerback in his nickel defense after his dreadful showing 11 days earlier against Denver. He inserted Marcus Cooper, a part-time starter the past two years.
Cooper had good position against Montgomery but failed to sustain it when the rookie broke back outside for the touchdown.
In the first quarter, the Chiefs ran nine plays, gained 4 yards and punted three times without picking up a first down.
Casey Hayward made a heady deflection on a third-and-3 pass to force the first punt.
The second punt followed two runs by Charles for minus-3 and a third-down break-up by Chris Banjo of a long corner route to Jeremy Maclin.
Dustin Colquitt punted on the third series after Palmer made an excellent play holding Charles to 1 on a screen, Daniels hurried Alex Smith into an incompletion and Joe Thomas, in as the dime linebacker for the first time, gained a 2-yard sack after a flush by Julius Peppers.
Rodgers wasn’t touched by the Chiefs until Tamba Hali bull-rushed David Bakhtiari on fourth and 5 two minutes into the second quarter and his pass fell incomplete.
The Chiefs cut their deficit to 14-7 on Charles’ 9-yard run. Smith found tight end Travis Kelce in the middle of zone coverage for 38, and after the play Hayward was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Cooper’s penalty for illegal contact eliminated a sack-fumble by Bailey that was recovered by Hali. One play later, Green Bay saw a touchdown eliminated (Cobb’s 17-yard pass) when Montgomery was penalized for illegally blocking Branch downfield (offensive pass interference).
