Keep away is a sage strategy for most teams devising a game plan against the Seahawks' self-proclaimed Legion of Boom. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers took dead aim Sunday, and they won.
After losing workhorse running back Eddie Lacy to an ankle injury, Green Bay went after Seattle through the air early and often during a 27-17 victory, beginning with an opening-drive touchdown from Rodgers to a reinvigorated James Jones who was covered by Richard Sherman. And after the Seahawks managed to take a lead late in the third quarter, the Packers went back to the well, this time to tight end Richard Rodgers, who hauled in the go-ahead touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion.
PHOTOS: NFL Week 2 action | MORE: Seahawks' K.J. Wright ejected
In all, the final damage looked like this:
The Packers are 2-0, having formally announced themselves as the early favorite in the NFC, injuries notwithstanding. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are the fifth team in the last 25 years to start 0-2 after reaching the Super Bowl in the previous season.
Rodgers went 25 for 33 for 249 yards with two touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 116.9 as the Packers totaled 361 yards on offense. That included the eventual game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, when Rodgers went 8 of 9 to drive 80 yards downfield in 10 plays. His 5-yard pass to Richard Rodgers with 9:28 gave the Packers a 24-17 lead after the two-point conversion.
Sherman, meanwhile, failed to register nary a tackle as the Seahawks' secondary struggled again without holdout safety Kam Chancellor, consistently exposed by the Packers' passing attack. Sherman was burned by Jones on a 29-yard touchdown pass on the game's first drive, and the de facto mouthpiece of the defense was also flagged for several critical penalties.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson finished 19 for 30 for 206 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception. Wilson also led the offense in rushing, as Marshawn Lynch managed just 41 yards on 15 carries against a Packers defense that surrendered 189 yards rushing to the Bears last week.
Seattle's bright spot came in the third quarter, when Wilson led two scoring drives capped by touchdowns for Fred Jackson and Doug Baldwin. Baldwin's 13-yard reception from Wilson gave the Seahawks a 17-13 lead with 6:53 left in the quarter.
But the Packers faced little resistance in the fourth quarter to enact revenge for last year's NFC championship game.
Sans Lacy, backup running back James Starks filled in to lead the Packers with 90 yards on 20 carries. Randall Cobb made eight catches for 116 yards, and Ty Montgomery stepped up to make four catches for 37 yards in the slot after Davante Adams went down with an injury in the second quarter.
