Green Bay escaped with a 24-19 win that should not have been as close as it was. Aaron Rodgers had a nice debut, completing 18 of 22 passes, with 1 TD pass and 1 rushing TD. He had a solid game against a Vikings defense designed to rattle QBs. Here are other impressions:
Chad Clifton kept Jared Allen at bay all night, but the interior line was terrible. Not because they didn't block decently (that actually went well), but because they committed stupid penalties, including one that negated an outstanding Rodgers-to-Driver touchdown. They really have to work that out, or else it could cost the Packers a game or two down the line.
The defense was pretty good. I am still not sure how much of a fan I am of the scheme in the secondary. If I am gameplanning against the Packers, I go deep and expect to get some first downs on penalties. Adrian Peterson got 103 yards, but got a lot of those on one run. Lesser running backs will have a tough time against the Packers.
The communication between Rodgers and his WRs is improving. In the preseason, there were a lot of dropped passes. But, with Rodgers going 18 for 22 tells me things here will be OK going forward.
Ryan Grant got 92 yards, which is good against the top run defense in the league. He got one great run off to get a lot of those yards, but you know the Vikings defense is not happy about that.
Overall, a win is a win. A win over a division rival is always a good thing. For my sanity, a win over the Viqueens is always great. But, a lot of things need to get better if the Packers are going to go anywhere this year. They need to play cleaner football, as there were way too many penalties.
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