Chiefs vs. Packers: Score and Twitter Reaction for Monday Night Football

The Green Bay Packers continued their undefeated start to the season Monday night, beating the Kansas City Chiefs at home 38-28.

The final score doesn't accurately portray how the game played out. The Packers dominated from start to finish, and the Chiefs did their best work in the second half when the final result was all but a foregone conclusion.

Kansas City had no answer for Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 333 yards and five touchdowns on 24-of-35 passing. According to ESPN Stats & Info, he snapped what was a 22-game run by the Chiefs of holding opposing quarterbacks to under 300 yards. Rodgers also passed Steve Young on the NFL's all-time passing touchdown list, per ESPN.

CBSSports.com's Zach Harper discovered perhaps the best chance opposing defenses have to slow down Rodgers going forward:

Randall Cobb was one of Rodgers' favorite targets, catching seven passes for 91 yards and three touchdowns. James Jones also had seven receptions, and he racked up 139 yards and a touchdown.

New York Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara liked what he saw from Jones, whom the Giants cut earlier this month:

"We are all witnesses to something special right now," Jones said of Rodgers after the game, per Albert Breer of NFL Network.

Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith's numbers look impressive on paper—24-of-40 passing for 290 yards and one touchdown with one interception—but he benefited from Green Bay taking its foot off the gas in the second half.

Jamaal Charles also collected some garbage-time stats, running for 49 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries.

The silver lining for the Chiefs is they no longer have to hear about their wide receivers' touchdown drought. Jeremy Maclin broke the streak, which lasted over a year, with a five-yard grab late in the third quarter.

SportsPickle wondered why the dry spell was a big deal in the first place:

Maclin finished the game with eight receptions for 141 yards and the touchdown. The numbers were great for his fantasy owners but not at all emblematic of his performance in the eyes of Rotoworld's Nick Mensio:

On another positive note for Kansas City, linebacker Derrick Johnson recorded his 1,000th career tackle, thus becoming the leading tackler in franchise history, per Pete Sweeney of Chiefs.com.

By itself, the loss isn't necessarily damning for the Chiefs. The nature of the defeat is what will be galling for fans.

Kansas City head coach Andy Reid knew his defense would be fighting an uphill battle trying to stop Rodgers at Lambeau Field.

"He's a great player, so we know he's going to make some plays—that's what great players do," Reid said prior to the game, per Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. "It's important that you do just that—you contain him in the best way you possibly can. Obviously, we're not going to tell you the strategy of it, but you've got to give that a whirl, right? Try to do the best you can."

Whatever game plan Reid and his staff drew up proved wholly ineffective in the first half. Rodgers was 16-of-22 passing for 208 yards and three touchdowns through the first two quarters, helping the Packers jump out to a 24-7 lead.

The Chiefs were without cornerback Sean Smith, who's serving a three-game suspension, and the team announced in the first quarter fellow corner Phillip Gaines had suffered a knee injury and would miss the remainder of the game.

Rodgers proceeded to feast on Kansas City's weakened secondary.

Ty Montgomery opened the scoring five minutes and 16 seconds into the game on an eight-yard touchdown reception, and Cobb doubled Green Bay's advantage on the Packers' next drive. The fifth-year wideout demonstrated his strength by fighting through Tyvon Branch's tackle, doing just enough to get the ball across the goal line, as shown by this great shot from ESPN:

"

Pylon Cam says #Touchdown Randall Cobb. Three yards from Aaron Rodgers for the score. Pack lead Chiefs, 14-0. #MNF pic.twitter.com/K4SIa8pdzm

— ESPN Monday Night (@ESPNMondayNight) September 29, 2015"

Charles cut the deficit in half with a nine-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. And despite trailing, the two-time All-Pro felt the need to mimic Rodgers' "Discount Double Check" celebration.

SportsCenter anchor Randy Scott wasn't sure Charles exercised good judgement:

Mason Crosby gave the Packers a 17-7 lead with a 44-yard field goal 6:20 before halftime, and after holding the Chiefs to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Green Bay got one more touchdown before the end of the half. Rodgers and Co. marched 68 yards in nine plays over three minutes, and the drive culminated with a 27-yard touchdown reception by Jones.

As Bleacher Report's Ian Kenyon tweeted, Rodgers' impact is real:

According to the NFL's Twitter feed, Rodgers entered Monday night with a 43-1 record in games in which the Packers lead by 17 or more at halftime. Meanwhile, Smith was 1-23 when down by 17 or more. History said a historic comeback was not in the cards.

The Chiefs defense at least did its part early in the third quarter, holding Green Bay to back-to-back punts on its first two drives of the second half. Those stops were cause for celebration given the circumstances:

But Kansas City's offensive issues continued, as it was unable to make up any ground on the scoreboard, and Sam Shields' interception and return only made matters worse. The Packers needed only one play for Rodgers to find Cobb on a four-yard touchdown pass.

Reid had a chance to make it a two-score game following Maclin's score but opted instead for the point-after attempt to cut the Packers' lead to 31-14.

Charles' two touchdowns in the fourth quarter make the score close, but the Chiefs were done in for good when they failed to recover an onside kick with a minute-and-a-half remaining.

Green Bay remains the class of the NFC North—especially with the 0-3 starts of the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears—and is arguably the strongest team in the conference at the moment.

The Packers defense is a bit of a concern, but the team can match up with anybody in the league when Rodgers is healthy.

Kansas City, on the other hand, will only go as far as Smith takes it—which, by the looks of things, isn't very far. With question marks hanging over so many teams in the AFC, the Chiefs could make the playoffs with Smith under center, but the gulf between them and the great teams in the league was evident Monday night.