Gore, Todman power Colts, Before D Holds Off Packers 31-26

“It’s a whole different world today, right now”, Colts coach Chuck Pagano said.

“I would have liked to have been at 20 with no rushes by Aaron in a flawless world”, McCarthy said.

That attack-first mentality helped Indianapolis survive two early interceptions by Luck and ultimately hold off a red-hot Aaron Rodgers on his own turf.

If this were Major League Baseball, where teams play roughly 30 to 40 exhibition games, followed by a 162-game regular season, you could understand if players said they lacked energy on a given day. “You don’t want that but it’s an opportunity for us to step up and make plays as an offense and put ourselves in a situation to win this game”.

Rodgers’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb with 3:29 left got Green Bay (4-4) within five points.

The Packers forced a third-and-9 from the 5 but Colts quarterback Andrew Luck hit receiver Phillip Dorsett for a gain of 13. On third-and-10, Luck was all but sacked by safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.

Giants 28, Eagles 23: Eli Manning threw for four touchdowns and New York’s defense had two interceptions and three stops on fourth downs to beat Philadelphia at NY.

At nearly the same moment Aaron Rodgers stood at the podium Sunday night and expressed disappointment about the “unacceptable” vibe he felt from his team on the sideline during the loss to the Colts, another player could be heard on an expletive-filled shower room rant. The Colts, who had allowed an NFL-worst 31 sacks, gave their quarterback decent protection.

But the Colts led just 14-10 after Luck’s turnovers set up a 34-yard field goal for Mason Crosby and a 26-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to wide receiver Jordy Nelson.

The Packers are one of the few teams that will play three straight road games this season, and that stretch starts in Week 10 with a game in Tennessee.

Clearly the Vikings’ plan behind either Bridgewater or Bradford was for the offense to spin around future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson, but even after Peterson went down in Week Two the Vikings appeared to be getting better with dominant wins over Carolina, the N.Y. Giants and Houston to get to 5-0.

Ty Montgomery was Green Bay’s top rusher. But c’mon. We’ve got to be mentally tougher than that.

Perhaps the worst part about where the Packers stand now is this: They don’t play at home again until December 4. There are things we have to clean up and we have to stack these together.

The Packers, meanwhile, have little to be encouraged about, other than knowing they’ll get Clay Matthews back soon. Rodgers said his team had “uncharacteristically low energy for whatever reason”. That’s left Rodgers to carry the offense.

Rodgers also characterized his team’s energy level throughout the game as “uncharacteristically low”. “I took a conservative approach with him”.

“We need to start winning some games again and start playing with more consistency”, tackle Bryan Bulaga said.

Adam Vinatieri gave Indianapolis some breathing room with a 28-yard field goal less than three minutes into the second quarter, and Luck redeemed himself with his best drive of the season to close out the first half.

The only new injury was a shoulder injury suffered by Micah Hyde. The Colts had no injuries to report.

Because one long return isn’t enough, Todman had a 61-yard kickoff return later in the half that resulted in an easy Vinatieri field goal.

The squirrel first made its appearance in the first half, then returned late in the third quarter.