GREEN BAY, Wis. - Aaron Rodgers' R-E-L-A-X routine is working out pretty well.
The Green Bay Packers are 2-0 since the Great North Freakout after the team lost two of its first three games, following their 42-10 blowout of the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night. The Packers now have outscored their opponents 59-10 over the past six quarters, with all 10 of those points coming after the Packers ran up 42 straight against the Vikings on a rainy Lambeau Field.
It started slowly. Briefly.
After the Packers and Chicago Bears combined for zero punts in Week 4, the Packers and Vikings each had one in the opening three minutes in the rainy conditions. But Eddie Lacy geared up on the Packers' second drive, rushing three times for 53 yards - including his two longest runs of the season, of 18 and 29 yards. Rodgers finished off the drive with a pretty TD pass to his new favorite red-zone target, Randall Cobb, who beat cornerback Captain Munnerlyn for the 7-0 lead.
[Join FanDuel.com's $1.5 million Week 5 fantasy league: $25 to enter; $150,000 to first]Following a Vikings punt, Rodgers wasted little time getting loose again. This time, he executed a nice play-action fake off the stretch action they had set up on the first two drives, and gunned it deep to a wide-open Jordy Nelson. Vikings safety Harrison Smith bit on the fake and lost Nelson, who ran free for a 66-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
After trading punts, Ponder and the Vikings took over at their own 12 and actually started to move the ball - but mostly because of two Packers penalties. On first-and-5, Ponder was pressured by Luther Robinson - the ball might have been tipped- and the pass went right to Julius Peppers, who dropped into zone coverage.
Peppers picked it off, the 10th interception of his career, and ran it back 49 yards for a score, his signature play as a Packer in what looks like a strong free-agent signing. Peppers became the first NFL player with 100 sacks and 10 interceptions in a career.
Ponder got worse.
On his next pass, he was picked again, this time by Jabari Lattimore, who replaced Brad Jones at inside linebacker in the starting lineup. Lattimore ran it back 10 yards, and three plays later Rodgers hit rookie receiver Davante Adams on a slant for a score. The rout was on: 28-0 at that point.
Given one chance to cut into that lead, the Vikings moved to the Minnesota 46, and Matt Asiata broke into Packers territory with a nice run for 11 yards. But safety Morgan Burnett popped the ball loose, which was recovered by Casey Hayward, foiling yet another feckless Vikings drive.
In the first half, Ponder completed only 8-of-18 passes for 60 yards, incurred three sacks and threw two interceptions, one of which was run back by Peppers for the score. Some of his best plays were scrambles and throwaways behind an offensive line that played terribly.
Lacy announced his return to prominence with a cut back for the ages early in the second half. The Packers moved with ease on their first drive, setting up shop in the Vikings' red zone. Lacy took a stretch play left - up into the back of left tackle David Bakhtiari, then reversed field, evaded the tackle of defensive end Brian Robison and went all the way to the other side of the field for an 11-yard score to make it 35-0.
It was that kind of night. For both teams.
Lacy would add another rambunctious touchdown run, popping off the helmet of safety Robert Blanton, en route to a 10-yard score (his second career two-TD game) and a 42-zip lead. Lacy finished with 13 carries for 105 yards and added a team-high three catches for 27 yards yards. As a team, the Packers rushed for 138 yards in the first three quarters on only 20 carries (6.8-yard average).
Matt Flynn came in at the start of the fourth quarter to replace Rodgers, who finished with a tidy passing line of 12-for-17 for 156 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. He was sacked twice but otherwise had good rhythm throwing and moving around the pocket.
Eric Edholm is a writer for
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