Dazzling effort carries Green Bay into bye week
By CHRIS JENKINS

Green Bay - An undermanned defense returned two Peyton Manning passes for touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers rediscovered their swagger in a 34-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

[img_r]http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/packer/img/news/oct08/tnick18.jpg[/img_r]Aaron Rodgers gutted out his third straight game with a sprained right shoulder, going 21-for-28 for 186 yards and a touchdown despite 30-mph wind gusts at Lambeau Field.

Ryan Grant had his first 100-yard game of the season, carrying 31 times for 105 yards and a touchdown as the Packers (4-3) have won two straight after snapping a three-game losing streak at Seattle last Sunday.

Green Bay has a bye next week then plays at Tennessee Nov. 2.

"This one was very sweet for us," Rodgers said.

And they're going into the break with plenty of momentum, thanks in large part to a defense that held Manning to 21-of-42 for 229 yards and two interceptions.

Both interceptions were returned for touchdowns, as safety Nick Collins ran one back 62 yards in the third quarter and Aaron Rouse returned one 99 yards to put the game out of Manning's reach in the fourth quarter.

It's the worst start to a season for Indianapolis (3-3) since 2001 - the last time the Colts didn't make the playoffs. It's also their first loss in the month of October since a 2004 game at Kansas City.

Colts coach Tony Dungy said he couldn't remember a sloppier performance during his time with the team.

"It's a very, very disappointing game, obviously," Dungy said. "It's the way we've been all year. We've been up and down, not consistent, and we showed more of that today. They played smarter and sharper than we did."

It was a particularly disheartening performance by the Colts' defense, which seemed to be on its way to proving it could win without injured safety Bob Sanders in Indianapolis' victory over Baltimore last week.

Sanders sat out again with a knee injury, as did cornerback Kelvin Hayden - and it showed. The Colts committed 12 penalties, many of them on defense.

The Colts' defense spent so much time on the field that Manning didn't have many chances to answer the Packers' sustained scoring drives. And when he did have the ball, he didn't look particularly sharp against a Packers defense also playing without two starters in its secondary. [url=index.php?name=Pro_News&aid=91]Read More...[/url].

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Even though Indianapolis is playing bad this year, I think this is a huge victory for us. We played our first complete game, played great in all phases of the game including T.O.P. which is very important.. and the D returned two INTs for TDs. I think this win with the bye will motivate the guys and prepare them for really their first tough opponet of the season, besides Dallas. My spirits are pretty high for this team. We're playing pretty good after snapping that 3 game losing streak and I think we'll keep it up. We'll play at a high level but with the tough schedule ahead we'll win some and lose some but if they play like they did today we'll win more games and make a playoff spot. Bigby and maybe Harris will be back.. along with Harrell and hopefully Jones.. we'll be in good shape.

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Didnt you hear?

Since Indy SMASHED the Ravens last week the Packers had no chance according to some on this board

the team we were last year, probably even better, things are looking way up

Was an impressive, pretty much all-around dominant performance against one of the elite teams (and quarterbacks) in the NFL.

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I even predicted a 37-24 Indiapolis victory.. not on this board but that's what I thought the outcome would be. I'm not surprised by this win cause we have the talent but I dont think anyone expected Indianapolis to play as bad as they did.

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This was a GOOD win no matter how you look at it

defense? they played better then i have seen in a while

Offense? didnt make bad mistakes and made just enuff great plays to keep it going

no one can say a bad thing bout this win or why the team didnt deserve to win

I thought this was a statement win for the team.

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It's interesting, this team seems to have it's identity more and more as the weeks go along.

On offense, they are a control the clock type of team, capable of big plays but more than willing to take what the D gives them, and patiently march down the field and put up some points.

The D played with an attitude that I haven't seen in quite some time. Everyone seemed more energetic, and I can't remember how long it's been since I've seen Jolly look as good as he did this game. Also saw some energy from Barnett, his patent execution sword celebration hasn't been used in weeks.

A really fun win all around.

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Thank you. I don't want to hear how Indy sucks now that we beat them, when prior to the game all I heard was how they were "back". I'm getting a little weary of teams magically becoming crappy, after we beat them.

They're a good team, period. They may have had a bad day, but I'm going to respectfully suggest that the Packers had something to do with that.

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