GREEN BAY—The quarterback is on fire, and if the performance of the Packers defense on Sunday is any indication of what's ahead, look out.
That's right, the Packers achieved look out on Sunday night in a 55-14 win over their rival, the Chicago Bears.
Rivalry game? Really? The Packers just completed a series sweep of the Bears this year, by a combined score of 93-31.
Let's examine those two games more closely.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 617 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in those two games. In throwing for six touchdown passes in fewer than three quarters of action in Sunday night's win, Rodgers' passer rating fell from 151.2 in the first meeting to 145.8.
He could've tied an NFL record for touchdown passes in a game, seven, had Mike McCarthy not decided enough was enough. Hey, Rodgers could've set the all-time record with eight, nine, 10, who knows how many touchdown passes?
"I was aware," he said when asked about the record. "There's a time and a place to come out of the game, and that was it. It was time to watch."
Most importantly, Rodgers came out of the game without injury. So did all of the Packers.
"We did a lot of good things on offense. We got into a rhythm early. The key was barely getting touched all night," Rodgers said.
What did the Bears try to do defensively, a reporter asked? Was this a trick question?
"They tried to take Jordy (Nelson) away when he was in the slot," Rodgers said.
Apparently Nelson didn't spend much of the game in the slot.
"We did a good job of moving him around," Rodgers added.
Back to the important question: Is this game a sign of what's ahead?
"That's the way you want to play moving into the second half of the season, in the cold weather," Rodgers said. "We were coming off a prime time loss in New Orleans. We're 4-0 at home. We have to finish this thing the right way and stay healthy."
What we saw in Sunday night's thrashing of the Bears is a performance by a team with its eye on the postseason. We saw a team hitting its stride with games ahead against the Eagles and Patriots. We're going to begin getting a read on these Packers.
"The bye was great. We were able to refresh and refocus. We had a great week of practice. I'm not surprised by the performance we had," Rodgers said.
His coach, Mike McCarthy, expects as much from Rodgers, but even this was extraordinary.
"He was right on. His stats at halftime, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like that," McCarthy said. "There isn't a target on the field he can't hit."
All of the Packers' targets are ahead of them, and they have the quarterback, and maybe now even the defense, to help them hit those targets.
COMPLETE GAME COVERAGE
