If it looked as if the Green Bay Packers were a different football team Sunday night, that's because they were.
Same no-huddle offense. Same 3-4 defense. Different attitude.
Before the game, coach Mike McCarthy implored his team to come out breathing fire and to maintain that intensity until the Houston Texans had suffered their first loss of the season.
They might not have sustained their fury all 60 minutes, but they dominated enough in the early going to deliver a 42-24 karate kick to the midsection of the undefeated Texans at Reliant Stadium.
"We just were really hyped today," said defensive end C.J. Wilson, who on the first play of the game sacked Texans quarterback Matt Schaub for a 2-yard loss. "Coach came in and said he wants guys to have energy for the first play to the last.
"That's what we did. Nothing different than the past four or five weeks. Same defense."
The Packers have been slow starters this season, failing to score in the first quarter in their first three games and failing to score on an opening drive all season. The defense had been much better coming out of the gate but couldn't ever sustain any of the will it came out of the tunnel with.
This time, the defense chased Schaub all around on a three-and-out to start the game and then turned it over to the offense, which took the handoff and punctuated it with a touchdown drive on the opening possession.
"When we came out of the tunnel I thought that the energy was excellent from the first snap to the conclusion of the game," McCarthy said. "Our goal was obviously to come in here and beat a very good football team.
"I thought our team had great energy and productivity in the first quarter and that was really our message at halftime, to continue and finish. I thought we took a step as a team tonight."
Depending on how you want to look at it, the Packers' offense either blew a big chance or sent an early message when on a third and 3 from the Houston 46 on its first possession, quarterback Aaron Rodgers overthrew a wide-open James Jones 40 yards down the field.
The receivers chose to look at it this way: If Jones could execute a perfect double move without the benefit of a few plays to set up cornerback Kareem Jackson, then there were going to be more wide-open spaces on the Texans' home turf as the game wore on.
Sure enough, after the Packers were bailed out of the third-down miss to Jones because of a penalty, Rodgers went back to the other side and hit receiver Jordy Nelson for a 41-yard touchdown against cornerback Johnathan Joseph. It was the first of three Nelson touchdowns, each one against a different defender.
"That was big to get back onto the field and get that touchdown to start us off," Nelson said of the Texans' penalty that gave the offense new life. "We wanted to start fast. It was big and it got us going."
If McCarthy had scripted the first 20 to 25 minutes of the game himself, he couldn't have done much better than the Packers did. The team that couldn't put anybody away save for the Chicago Bears in Week 2 dominated the first quarter. In forcing punts on Houston's first three possessions it allowed a total of 35 yards and in scoring touchdowns on two of its first three possessions, the offense ran up 154.
"Offensively, I feel like we came out fast like we wanted to," said Jones, who finished with three catches for 33 yards and two touchdowns, including one in which he laid out in the end zone and pulled it in with one arm. "We put some pressure on them by scoring points early. We were able to throw the ball down the field so that was good. It was a good test for us and luckily we put up some decent points."
Earlier in the week, nose tackle B.J. Raji, who did not play because of an ankle injury, guaranteed the Packers would play well against the Texas because they always play well against the good teams. He said it's their performance against lesser teams that is lacking.
Unlike last week against the lowly Indianapolis Colts, the Packers didn't squander their first-half lead, this time, 21-10.
Instead of Rodgers throwing an interception to open the second half as he did with a 21-3 lead against the Colts, this time he drove the team 80 yards on 16 plays for the Packers' fourth touchdown, a 1-yard shot to Nelson.
"Tonight we were able to finish," said receiver Randall Cobb, who had seven catches for 102 yards. "We made sure we came out ready to play. We have a lot of players who can do a lot of things. Tonight they did."
The big question facing the Packers is after a performance like this one, will they go back to being the lifeless team that lost at Seattle and Indianapolis next week in St. Louis on the final leg of their three-game road trip? Or will they be something better?
"Most definitely have to build off what we accomplished today," Wilson said. "The Texans are a great football team. Today everyone just did their jobs. We just finished the game and we're going to take it to St. Louis this week." ___
(c)2012 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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