The Packers offense started where they left off last week after crushing the Houston Texans, defeating the St. Louis Rams in Edward Jones Dome 30-20.

Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay’s offense with another spectacular game under center. Rodgers completed 30-of-37 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. In Rodgers last four games, he has thrown at least three touchdowns in each contest. His 81.1 completion percentage was a season best.

The Packers run game continues to be extremely inconsistent, especially without starting running back Cedric Benson. Starter Alex Green had 20 carries for 35 yards. He also caught four passes for 29 yards.

The Packers’ receiving core were without Greg Jennings for a third consecutive game. Jordy Nelson led the receivers with eight receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown. Nelson has emerged to become Green Bay’s number one wideout. This is the second consecutive week Nelson has compiled over 120 yards and a touchdown.

Randall Cobb also continues to be an electrifying threat on the Packers offense, whether being featured as a running back or a slot wide receiver. Cobb had one carry for 19 yards and caught eight passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns.

Green Bay’s offense has scored 72 points in their last two games to reestablish their high powered offense.

Green Bay’s defense is battered with injuries and were without defensive back Sam Shield, defensive tackle B.J. Raji, linebacker Nick Perry and linebacker D.J. Smith, who was put on injured reserve. Rookie defensive back, Casey Hayward stepped in for Shields and made his presence known.

Hayward had three tackles and one interception. He caught his fourth interception of the season in the 3rd quarter and is leading the team in interceptions. Linebacker Eric Walden led the defense with nine tackles. Also, linebacker Clay Matthews recorded his 9th sack of the season and remains in the top tier of pass rushers this season.

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford completed 21-of-34 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Bradford’s lone touchdown pass was to wideout Austin Pettis in the 4th quarter.  Running back Steven Jackson carried the ball 12 times for 57 yards and one touchdown. Jackson punched in his first touchdown of the season.

Green Bay will be back in action next week at Lambeau Field against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Packers are still towards the bottom of the NFC North division; however, they are picking up their production as the season progresses.

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The Chicago Bears improved to 2-1 on the season, after defeating the St. Louis Rams 23-6 at Soldier Field. The Bears’ offense struggled last week against rivals Green Bay Packers, and their offense still seemed out of sync against the Rams.

Jay Cutler completed 17 of 31 pass attempts for only 183 yards, and threw one interception. Cutler had a passed rating of 58.9, and did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time since week 9 of last season. The Bears’ offensive line protected Cutler much better, only giving up two sacks. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught five passes for 71 yards, compared to his two receptions last week. Alshon Jeffery had five receptions for 45 yards. With running back Matt Forte still out due to an injury, Michael Bush led the Bears with 18 carries for 55 yards and one touchdown. Bush also caught two passes for 18 yards.

As for the the St. Louis Rams their points were produced by rookie kicker, Greg Zuerlein. Zuerlein booted a 56 yard field goal, and a 46 yard field goal. Zuerlein is now 6-6 on the season.  Rams quarterback Sam Bradford had a rough game, only completing 18 of 35 passes for 152 yards and two interceptions. Bradford was knocked around all of the game, and was sacked six times. Furthermore, Bradford had a career low of  39.2 quarterback rating. Danny Amendola was Bradford’s favorite receiver again, catching five passes for 66 yards. Running back Steven Jackson was limited to 11 carries for 29 yards. Jackson wasn’t 100 percent as he proclaimed to be, however he did not further injure himself. Daryl Richardson carried the ball four times for 16 yards.

The Bears’ defense was lead by linebacker Lance Briggs, who had seven tackles. Also Bears, cornerback, Tim Jennings recored his 4th interception of the year. In addition, safety Major Wright caught his first interception and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Rams’ defense was led by linebacker James Laurinaitis, who recorded a season high 11 tackles. Cornerback Cortland Finnegan caught his third interception of the year in the the 1st quarter.

Chicago is 2-0 at home this season, and will be back in action next Monday, October 1st, on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. As for the Rams they will be home against division rivals, Seattle Seahawks on September 30th.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers (11-4) kept up the pressure on the Baltimore Ravens at the top of the AFC North with a 27-0 victory over the struggling St. Louis Rams (2-13). The victory was even more impressive considering quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was still inactive as the Steelers seek to ensure ‘Big Ben’ is fully healthy for the rapidly approaching playoffs.

The Steelers quickly moved into the lead, scoring a field goal in the first quarter, and extending their lead to 10 points in the second quarter when rookie running back, John Clay, ran in a 10-yard touchdown. With just a solitary field goal in the third quarter, Pittsburgh entered the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead, and their defense on top of the Rams underpowered offense.

Although struggling in the passing game, the Rams had some success on the ground with running back, Steven Jackson, finishing with 103 yards on 24 carries. This was not enough to claw the game back for St. Louis, however, and they soon fell further behind in the final quarter with rushing touchdowns for both Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman.

Steelers Head Coach, Mike Tomlin, will be pleased with the performance of Mendenhall in the absence of Roethlisberger, as the tailback finished the game with 116 yards on just 18 carries, and was one of the key components in a comfortable victory for Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh offensive line did well to protect quarterback Charlie Batch too, despite Batch lacking the ability of Roethlisberger to keep plays alive, and allowed no sacks on the back-up quarterback. Despite throwing an interception, Batch was also fairly accurate passing the ball, completing 15 of his 22 attempts, for a total of 208 yards. Should Roethlisberger still not be totally healthy for the Steelers last game of the regular season, Batch’s accuracy may make Tomlin’s decision to rest his star quarterback for the playoffs much easier.

The famed Pittsburgh defense was also on form, with Lawrence Timmons, Ziggy Hood, and James Harrison all registering sacks on Kellen Clemens, whilst the Steelers secondary and pass rushers kept the St. Louis quarterback to just 91-yards passing, as well as causing him to connect on just 9 of his 24 attempts.

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The St Louis Rams (2-7) visited the Cleveland Browns (3-6) with the Browns labelled, rather unusually, as favorites, but did enough to overcome the home side with a 13-12 victory.  The Browns continued to suffer from injury woes, and were still unable to welcome back Peyton Hillis, Montario Hardesty and Mohammed Mossaquoi to active duty, heaping the pressure on running back Chris Ogbonnaya, as well as receivers Greg Little and Josh Cribbs.

Safety T. J. Ward also missed the game after suffering a foot injury in the previous week, and Usama Young started in his place. The Rams had less injury concerns to contend with, as Sam Bradford recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury to start, but right tackle Jason Smith was listed as inactive for the game.

The game was largely decided by kickers Josh Brown and Phil Dawson, with Browns kicker Dawson missing a 22-yard field goal after a bounced snap in the last two minutes of the game, a field goal that would have won the game for Cleveland. The Rams, as well as earning the victory, were also able to get in the end zone in the second quarter, quarterback Bradford finding Brandon Lloyd for a seven-yard touchdown pass, the only touchdown of the game.

Even with Mossaquoi out, the Browns were still able to find eight different players on receptions, the most prominent of whom was Little, who caught for 84 yards on six receptions, and performed well given the lack of an effective running game to take the pressure off of Colt McCoy and the passing game.

Ogbonnaya did manage to run for 90 yards on 19 attempts, and was helped on occasion by both Little and Cribbs, who rushed cumulatively for 31 yards on four attempts, but the Browns continue to struggle in the absence of Hillis and Hardesty. Meanwhile, the Rams relied on running back Steven Jackson, who ran for 128 yards and took the pressure off of St Louis’s receivers in what was a close game.

The loss will be difficult for Cleveland to take, and was one of the games Head Coach Pat Shurmur will have targeted to help the Browns turn their season around ahead of a difficult run, in which they will play both the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, as well as divisional rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, once.

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The Dallas Cowboys came out of the game against the St. Louis Rams with an easy 34-7 win, with the help of rookie running back DeMarco Murray. Murray, backup for starter Felix Jones, ran for a franchise record of 253 yards, including a 91 yard touchdown at the beginning of the game on Sunday.

Murray’s touchdown was the second-longest touchdown in the history of the Cowboys, second only to Tony Dorsett’s 99-yard touchdown, which holds the NFL record. The Cowboys (3-3) end their two game losing streak with help from quarterback Tony Romo, who threw 14 for 24 and two touchdowns to Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.

A performance like this would be expected against a team like St. Louis, who has the worst defense against the run in the NFL, allowing 163 yards per game. The only points received by the Rams were due to a rushing touchdown by Steven Jackson. St. Louis quarterback A.J. Feeley threw 20 of 33 for 196 yards and one interception.

The Rams (0-6) were not even able to stop fourth-string running back Phillip Tanner from running a 35 yard drive for a touchdown after Murray was taken out of the game with an injury. The Cowboys travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday, while the St. Louis Rams go back home to face the New Orleans Saints.

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