Green Bay Offense Solid, Packers Defeat Saints on NFL Opening Night

Two first quarter Green Bay touchdowns established a 14-0 lead for the Green Bay Packers to energize the crowd at Lambeau Field Thursday evening.  Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints responded on 3rd and 1 yard by throwing a medium gain touchdown pass to Robert Meachem. The first quarter of the NFL Season was off to a brilliant start of the 2011-2012 campaign.

Aaron Rogers looked confident reading and recognizing the field with a three for three  start before placing the ball directly on the hands of Jermichael Finley reaching 139 yards of team offense through thirteen minutes of play. Finley continued to break free and the rookie Randall Cobb gained from the threat of his teammate drawing attention for his first touchdown and Lambeau leap.

Pierre Thomas broke four tackles in the ensuing Saints possession ending the first quarter of play. Drew Brees was knocked down for the third time two plays later and was shouting at his line for protection. Casey knocked in a thirty yard field goal to end the march down the field making the game 21-10 Packers.

The biggest hit of the fledgling season was delivered to Donald Driver on first down of the next possession who got derailed from his line of motion and slammed to the ground. Momentum shifted at that moment as former Charger Darren Sproles returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown to reduce the Packer lead to 21-17 to bring the Saints defense back onto the field once again.

The early scoring brought enough energy to match the Green Day and Tom Petty bumper music going into commercial breaks. Passing dominated the early game.

Aaron Rogers had logged 201 yards of passing with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Green Bay Packers controlled the ball more than ten minutes longer than the Saints in the first half. James Starks ran for a touchdown on a seventeen yard gain behind a Clifton block to increase the lead. A Crosby extra point made the lead 28-17.

The first half was Green Bay controlled in terms of time but also displayed the effectiveness of the New Orleans offense. Brees received a lack of support early on but the line solidified as time of possession began to balance out towards the end of the half. Drew Brees was four for his first six third down conversions before kicking the final possession away.

The two top NFC defenses last year returned to the field in the second half with more resolve to stop the passing game. Throw in an uppercut from Charles Woodson and the NFL opening night gained even more interest than the scoreboard had brought to the occasion.

The third quarter was subdued and strategic in comparison to the fast pacing set by the first 30 minutes. A failed fourth down conversion with three minutes left in the third quarter was a key moment when Drew Brees scrambled and could not complete a pass.

Green Bay took a 42-27 lead with 11:50 remaining in the game on a short hand off. New Orleans spent a lot of clock earning back a touchdown pass to Graham who flashed a title belt celebration despite being down eight 42-34 with 2:15 remaining.

Drew Brees was not done for the night however as the Packers failed to run out the clock and were forced to punt with 1:16 on the clock on a controversial touch back. A quick completion to Darren Sproles and then Graham gave the Saints an opening.

Colston made a big catch to advance the ball to the Saints' 18 yard line.  Brees completed another pass to Colston and spiked the ball on 2nd and 1 with three seconds to play.  On the final play of the game Brees threw to the end zone and a pass interference on AJ Hawk extended the game and brought the ball to the one yard line.

With no time on the clock a failed hand off ended the game 42-34 for the Green Bay Packers first win of the 2011-2012 season.