Packers pitch shut out

Beat Buffal_ 22-0

That's right, there's no O in Buffal....

The Green Bay Packers put up their first goose egg since Halloween of 2010 by blanking the Bills 22-0 on an overcast afternoon at Lambeau Field.

The Bills managed all of 145 yards of offense behind rookie quarterback Josh Allen, making his third career start.  He threw the ball forward for 151 yards but was sacked 7 times going 64 yards the other way.

He also threw two interceptions, one from Ha Ha Clinton-Dix who collided with Kelvin Benjamin to take the ball away and Jaire Alexander who got a gift when Allen desperately heaved a ball on the run toward the end zone, the closest Buffalo ever came to scoring a point.

Kenny Clark made it three turnovers for the kid when he knocked the ball loose on a 2 yard scramble in the fourth quarter.

Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine completely scrambled the Bills attack beginning with a third and one stop on the opening series.

Head Coach Mike McCarthy shoveled out plenty of praise for the unit as his team improved to 2-1-1 on the season.

 (Audio: Mike McCarthy)

Hey, the Brewers made it a fun day by beating Detroit 11-0 at Miller Park to finish 95-67 and in a dead heat with the Chicago Cubs forcing a 163rd game for the NL Central title at Wrigley Field Monday afternoon!

Back to the sack happy Pack.   Kyler Fackerell had the game of his young career with a hat trick, Jermaine Whitehead had a blitz sack for a loss of 16, Reggie Gilbert had one, Blake Martinez had 1 and Nick Perry and Clay Matthews shared one, without drawing a flag on the QB sandwich.

The Packer offense hit a big play on their second series when Ty Montgomery beat a busted cover up the sideline for a 43 yard gain and three snaps later, Aaron Rodgers hit Jimmy Graham in the left flat for a three yard touchdown.

Mason Crosby's PAT however, glanced off the right upright, spoiling an otherwise solid day with field goals of 52, 36 and 53 yards.

Once again, Aaron Jones delivered a spark at running back, entering the game for the third series and ripping off a 30 yard run, catching a screen pass where he bounced off a defender to keep his balance for 17 more and he finished off the drive with a three yard scoring run to make it 13-0 with 11:05 to play in the first half.

From there, the offense started to sputter.   Rodgers suffered his first interception when a pass glanced off Graham's hands and Jordan Poyer returned it to Green Bay's 49 but the defense came up with a three and out.

Alexander's pick came after he lost contain on Benjamin for a 34 yard play, Buffalo's biggest of the afternoon.  But on third and five from the 20, Allen got flushed out of the pocket and made an ill advised throw toward the end zone that the Packer rookie easily snared and returned it 27 yards.

The Packers managed a field goal to end the half and take the 16-0 lead into the locker room.

The second half proved hard to watch with both offenses struggling after Green Bay drove 57 yards for a field goal to open the third quarter.

Rodgers missed Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a fourth and three pass from the Buffalo 36 that had the QB get into the rookie's face.

Rodgers got sacked by a blitzing Taron Johnson who forced a fumble that Kyle Williams recovered.

The final points were tacked up just inside the two minute warning after Clark turned over the Bills.

The Packers piled up 423 yards on offense, converted 11 of 19 third downs and went 2 for 3 in the red zone, all improvements, but Rodgers called the performance "terrible."

That's why I started with defensive players on a tour through the locker room after the final gun.

 (Audio: Packer Players)

Rodgers finished 22 of 40 for 298 yards and a score with a pick and a passer rating of 76.9.   Allen had a rating of 36.3 on 16 of 33 for 151 yards but his rating at halftime was an unsightly 17.9 completing just 5 of 19 passes.

Jones gained 65 yards on the ground on 11 carries.  The team piled up 141 rushing yards on 32 attempts, both season highs.

Adams had 8 receptions for 81 yards while Geronimo Allison had 6 for 80.

The Packers had two injuries of note, Alexander left the game with a groin injury and Allison suffered a concussion.

Randall Cobb pulled a hamstring late in the week during practice and was inactive, along with guard Justin McCray with a shoulder injury.  Veteran Byron Bell went the distance at guard on offense.  Kevin King was also inactive with Tim Boyle, Darius Jackson, Alex Light and new cornerback Bashaud Breeland.

It's back to the black and Honolulu blue for the Packers as they head to Detroit to take on the Lions next Sunday at Ford Field.