The Green Bay Packers made a pretty big statement last night, beating the Vikings 24-19 in Lambeau. The Vikings lead by 3 for 3:28 until the Packers took it for good on an Aaron Rodgers to Kory Hall touchdown. That is a pretty thorough thrashing, especially against the team that is supposed to compete for the NFC North.

Both teams looked rusty at times, especially penalties which the Packers committed 12 of for 118 yards. The worst of the penalties came at the end of the game when there was no reason to commit them. Leverage on an extra point when your team is up by 5? Holding when your team is up by 5 with 2:35 on the clock and the other team has only 1 timeout? Three rushes for four yards gives the Vikings the ball with just over 1:00 on the clock, instead they got it with about 1:59 because the holding penalty stopped the clock. The penalties have to get cleaned up, and with McCarthy as the coach, they probably will.

Besides penalties, the offense looked pretty good. Aaron Rodgers came out looking much sharper than I thought he would for his first game. He had a few mistakes, holding the ball too long a few times but that was about it. The combination of the offensive line and play calling gave Rodgers plenty of time to throw. McCarthy called a lot of shotgun and a lot of plays that started with Rodgers rolling out to his right. When he wasn't rolling though, the line gave him time, not tons of it, but time to throw, resulting in 0 sacks, 178 yards passing, 18/22 and 1 touchdown in the air. The rushing game was good, but the Vikings pretty much shut them down until Grant broke off 57 in the fourth. On that play the whole was so huge the Vikings must have had a pass defense called, but once Grant got through the hole and hit the linebackers he just housed #51 Ben Leber, throwing him to the ground with a stiff arm to the face. Grant is a good, power full runner, it is nice to see him signed and healthy.

The defense looked good, doing what they had to do by shutting down AP. He had 103 yards and a touchdown, but considering he is most of the Vikings offense, that is pretty good. The defense got tired as the game went on, part of that because the Packers offense was only on the field for 3 plays in the third quarter thanks to a Will Blackmon punt return for a touchdown. The pass rush was there, but never really got to the quarterback, sacking him only 1 time. I would keep an eye on our corners Woodson and Harris, they are both getting old and have lost a step. Woodson was a shoestring tackle away from getting burned for a big touchdown and Harris looked beat a couple of times but was saved by under thrown balls.

Offense and defense were good but not great. Kind of hard to say that since our new quarterback started his first NFL game and went 18/22 for 178 and a touchdown and the Packers defense kept the lid on the best running back around, but there is room for improvement. There is always Detroit next week for that.