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GREEN BAY -- The Green Bay Packers didn't need Aaron Rodgers to be otherworldly superb with a completed Hail Mary pass at the end of their latest encounter with the rival Detroit Lions on Sunday. All they needed was for their star quarterback to be "himself," wide receiver Jordy Nelson said after Rodgers' brilliant performance in a 34-27 win over the Lions in Green Bay's home opener.
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"He looked good; he looked sharp," left tackle David Bakhtiari said. "We made plays, we were moving the ball, and who doesn't get jacked up about that? Aaron's probably the most competitive person I've ever met, and he's Aaron Rodgers for a reason."
As he usually does, Rodgers had a ready response with his play just days after he was questioned hard about his and Green Bay's passing offense's unbecoming performances the first two games of the season.
Four touchdown passes by Rodgers in the first half gave the Packers a 31-3 cushion they needed before they had to weather a big comeback from the Lions, who pulled within a touchdown in the final minutes of play.
The big lift from Rodgers a week after his atrocious prime-time showing in the narrow loss at the Minnesota Vikings left a better collective taste in the Packers' mouths with a 2-1 record as they started their bye week Monday.
"He looked pretty comfortable back there (in the pocket)," right guard T.J. Lang said. "That's the type of football that I think we would prefer to play every week.
"He looked at me after one of the touchdowns, and he just kind of smiled and head-butted me and said, 'I'm back,'" Lang added. "It's definitely good to see him go out there and just get back to his dominant fashion."
Rodgers finished the game 15-fo-24 passing for 205 yards and the four touchdowns without a turnover. His lofty passer rating of 129.3 snapped a dubious streak of 14 games without an efficiency mark of at least 100, which started Nov. 1 last season.
Rodgers shrugged off Lang's postgame account about what happened on the field with the "I'm back" comment.
"I've always felt like myself out there," Rodgers said. "He might have misunderstood what I was saying and gave the edited version there. But, it's good to get in a rhythm like that. It feels good when you're on a roll and things are happening, we can stack them in a row."
Nelson, playing his first game at Lambeau Field since January 2015 in the playoffs after he missed the entire 2015 season because of a knee injury, also had a big day with six catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
