Green Bay Packers defeat New Orleans Saints 42-37 in NFL season opener

The Green Bay Packers couldn’t have been a much more impressive offensive machine to start the 2011 season.

Even then, they needed a huge goal-line stop on the game’s final play to preserve to a 42-34 win over the equally explosive New Orleans Saints in the NFL’s Thursday night opener at Lambeau Field.

The win kicks off the Packers’ defense of their Super Bowl title against another likely contender in a matchup of the last two Super Bowl winners.

The Packers’ big offensive night included an MVP-type performance from quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a big night from a new member of their arsenal, rookie Randall Cobb.

But it all could have gone for naught after the Saints drove 79 yards in the final 1 minute, 8 seconds of the game. After an interference penalty on linebacker A.J. Hawk against halfback Darren Sproles in the end zone as time ran out, the Saints had one play from the 1 to go for the touchdown and, if they scored, two-point conversion that would have tied the game. However, the Packers, led by a low surge by nose tackle B.J. Raji, stuffed rookie Mark Ingram before he could get to the end zone to preserve the win.

Though it’s a long, long NFL season, Rodgers looked in every way like a leading MVP candidate in this opener. He was nearly flawless for the night and led the Packers to touchdowns on five of their first seven drives against a Saints defense that was badly overmatched from the start. The Packers’ 42 points was the most they’ve scored in an opener since the franchise’s first season, 1919, when they scored 53.

Rodgers finished with a passer rating of 132.1 points, completed 77 percent of his passes (27-for-35), threw for 312 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Cobb, in the meantime, showed the same playmaking talent that made him the best looking rookie in training camp. He scored one touchdown in the first quarter when he caught a slant from Rodgers and turned it into a 32-yard touchdown by juking safety Malcolm Jenkins and exploding into the end zone for a 21-7 Packers lead. Then in the third quarter he turned a questionable decision to bring out a kickoff from yards deep in the end zone into a huge play by returning it for a 108-yard touchdown that tied the NFL record for longest kickoff return. That provided the Packers an immediate answer to a Saints field goal that had cut the Packers’ lead to eight points and put them up 35-20 with 8:26 left in the quarter.

[Source:http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110908/PKR01/110908180/Too-many-thrills-Packers-hang-beat-Saints-NFL-opener?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p]