• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Packers pummel Vikes as Bridgewater sits

Oct 3, 2014 - 7:15 AM Green Bay, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 42-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.

Rodgers finished with 156 passing yards on 12-of-17 efficiency and Eddie Lacy had a season-high 105 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries for the Packers (3-2), who were coming off a 38-17 win over Chicago last week.

Jordy Nelson had a 66-yard touchdown catch, while Davante Adams and Randall Cobb also caught a scoring pass.

Christian Ponder rushed for a touchdown and completed 22 of his 44 passes for 222 yards and two interceptions for Minnesota (2-3), which was without starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater due to a sprained left ankle.

Matt Asiata rushed 15 times for 72 yards and Adam Thielen had 57 yards on four catches in defeat.

"We have to learn how to stop the run and quit doing dumb things," Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said.

On Green Bay's second drive of the game, Lacy broke off consecutive runs of 18 and 29 yards to place the Packers at Minnesota's 14 before Rodgers found Cobb darting across the back of the end zone for an 8-yard score.

Nelson beat a defender on a double move and tracked down Rodgers' bomb over the middle for a 66-yard touchdown on Green Bay's next possession, giving the Packers a 14-0 lead with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.

Green Bay went up 21-0 with 6:51 to play in the first half after Ponder's arm was hit and his throw was picked off by Julius Peppers, who took it back 49 yards for a score.

Ponder was intercepted again on Minnesota's next drive, this time by Jamari Lattimore at Minnesota's 20. Rodgers hit Andrew Quarless for a 9-yard pickup and then Adams hauled in a pass from 11 yards out for a 28-0 lead.

"It makes it easier on our offense to have a quick turnaround with the turnovers," Nelson said. "It allows us to be in an aggressive mode."

Minnesota's offense finally started to gain traction by making two first downs on its next series, but Asiata had the ball knocked out by Morgan Burnett and Casey Hayward recovered it at the Packers' 34-yard line with 1:56 to go in the first half.

Green Bay extended its lead by scoring again on its first drive of the second half.

After a defensive pass interference call placed Green Bay at the Vikings' 11, Lacy ran to his left, bounced off a defender, cut to his right and into the end zone for a 11-yard score.

Lacy powered his way through a defender for an 10-yard score to cap a 7-play, 52-yard drive with under four minutes to play in the third, putting the Packers up by a 42-0 score.

Ponder's 17-yard completion to Greg Jennings to Green Bay's 45 late in the third was only Minnesota's second play reaching into its opponent's territory. Jarius Wright hauled in an 18-yard pass and Thielen extended the drive with a 13-yard catch on third down to set up Ponder's 6-yard rushing score six seconds into the fourth.

Matt Flynn entered the game at quarterback for the Packers but was intercepted on 3rd-and-4 by Harrison Smith at the Green Bay 30, setting up an eventual 26- yard field goal from Blair Walsh with 10:07 to play.

Game Notes

Peppers had his fifth career touchdown ... Adams recorded his first NFL touchdown catch, which came on Rodgers' 200th career scoring pass ... Minnesota was shut out in the first half for the first time since Nov. 27, 2011 against Atlanta ... Green Bay is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games against Minnesota ... The Packers' defense has amassed seven interceptions in the last four games.