Green Bay victorious in first game of post Favre era

Aaron Rodgers responded well to the pressure of his first game as starting QB for the Green Bay Packers in the post Brett Favre era, and his team opened the 2008 NFL campaign successfully defeating the Minnesota Vikings 24-19 on one of the two Monday Night Football games.

Rodgers was very efficient, passing for 178 yards on 18-22 passing with a TD and no interceptions.  He also added 35 yards on the ground and scored a rushing touchdown as the Packers quickly took advantage of his superior mobility and comfort level outside of the pocket.  The only real negative to Rodgers’ performance was a fumble, though the damage was mitigated when the Packers recovered.

The Vikings starting QB, Tavaris Jackson, didn’t fare quite as well.  His first half was particularly ineffective, as he passed for 16 yards (2 of 7).  He performed better in the 2nd half, and engineered two solid scoring drives but also threw a game clinching interception to the Packers’ Atari Bigby.  Jackson’s final tally was 178 yards on 16-35 passing with a TD pass and interception.

Running back Adrian Peterson was a bright spot for the Vikings, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown.  Despite Peterson’s solid play and a better 2nd half for QB Jackson the Vikings’ offense was too erratic to compete with their more efficient Packer counterparts.  The lack of efficiency left Minnesota unable to capitalize on a penalty prone outing from Green Bay, who was flagged for 12 penalties for 118 yards.

Green Bay travels to Detroit next Sunday for a game against the Lions, and have their first major test of the 2008 NFL season at home against the Dallas Cowboys.  The Vikings face a bumpier road, entertaining the Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers at home in the next two weeks, followed by a trip to Nashville to face a talented, though enigmatic, Tennessee Titans squad.