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Rodgers sharp as Packers fall to Bengals

Aug 12, 2008 - 5:20 AM GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- For at least one night, Aaron Rodgers showed there is life after Brett Favre.

Rodgers looked at home in his first start of the post-Favre era, leading the Packers to a pair of scores in a 20-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

A former first-round pick who spent his first three seasons backing up Favre, Rodgers finished 9-of-15 for 117 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

"I thought Aaron did a number of solid things," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "I thought the productivity was there. I thought Aaron did a very good job with the mechanical part of the game. He threw the ball with accuracy, was decisive."

Rodgers played the entire first quarter and led the Packers to two scores in his four possessions, departing with the Packers holding a 10-0 lead.

Finishing with a flourish, Rodgers hit second-year wideout James Jones on a 30-yard touchdown passes with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter. Jones momentarily juggled the ball, withstood a jarring hit by Marvin White that knocked his helmet off and pranced into the end zone before celebrating with the fans with the famed Lambeau Leap.

"It was definitely a different atmosphere," Rodgers said. "We had 70,000 fans. I couldn't get the camera out of my face the whole pregame. It definitely had a different feel, but we prepared the same way.

"It was good to have a good performance. I think our first-team offense put together three really good drives. We scored 10 points. I think we'd like to get a little more."

Even on his interception, Rodgers threw a dart that hit Chris Francies right in the numbers and ricocheted into the arms of Bengals safety Dexter Jackson.

"The interception was not really his fault," Jackson said. "The receiver had the ball in his hands but there was a big hit by our other safety."

Meanwhile, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer shook off a dreadful first quarter before leading his team to a touchdown on the opening drive of the second quarter, hitting tight end Ben Utecht with a 14-yard scoring pass.

Palmer completed 5-of-9 passes for 33 yards, including a 10-yarder to combustible wideout Chad Johnson - his only catch of the game. Chris Perry added a 6-yard scoring run and Shayne Graham had two field goals for Cincinnati, which was without wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and running back Rudi Johnson.

The Packers were without top running back Ryan Grant and wide receiver Greg Jennings.