Packers Roll Past Browns

NFL News - October 25th, 2009 - Written by John

Of all the teams favored on Sunday, nobody had an easier time covering than the Green Bay Packers. With their minds looking ahead to a rematch against the Minnesota Vikings, the Pack held the Cleveland Browns to only 139 yards and totaled 460 on their own in a 31-3 route.

The blowout will only add to the intrigue of next week's game, where Brett Favre makes his long-awaited return to Lambeau, after Minnesota lost it's first game of the season on Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Browns looked like they were still feeling the effects of a flu bug that rifled through the roster, just part of the many off-field issues head coach Eric Mangini had to deal with. Eight different players had at least one catch for the Browns, but nobody had more than 30 yards.

Their lone points came on the opening drive of the game, when Billy Cundiff hit a 22-yarder through the uprights.

Aaron Rodgers had three touchdown passes and Ryan Grant ran for a season-hight 148 yards to quell any rumors that might be swirling of a trap game. After all, the Browns had played relatively competitively in recent weeks, losing to the Bengals in overtime and hanging around before the Pittsburgh Steelers eventually pulled away. But Derek Anderson couldn't continue his hot start in which he completed his first five passes for the first time all year, and finished with a mere 99 yards.

Green Bay didn't have such problems. Donald Driver nearly passed that total in one play, catching a Rodgers pass over the middle and taking it 71 yards to the house. He had 84 yards on the day, and Green Bay has won back-to-back games for the first time since midseason last year. Spencer Havner also had a big play. The tight end caught a 41-yard touchdown pass and finished with 59 overall.

His strike gave the Packers the lead on their first possession after Cleveland opened the game with a field goal. That lead grew to 14-3 on Driver's long touchdown catch-and-run and then 21-3 when Grant pounded through his score from a yard out.

What's more impressive is that the Packers didn't allow a single sack after surrendering an NFL-worst 25 through six weeks. Green Bay's defense, however, had two to go along with four knockdowns and forced two turnovers.

The Browns were only 2-for-12 on third downs and had the ball for 10 fewer minutes than Green Bay. They have scored just over 10 points per game and have found the end zone only four times on offense this season.

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