Saints' Brees masters Rodgers-less Packers

LOS ANGELES -- The Green Bay Packers, already well aware of how difficult it is to face Drew Brees, are now learning what life is like without Aaron Rodgers.

Brees, 38, threw his 500th career NFL touchdown on Sunday as he continued his dominance over the Packers, leading the New Orleans Saints to a 26-17 victory.

"Keep your eyes on the prize and focus on the process and know that good things will happen," said Brees, who compiled a total of 331 passing yards.

Brees has now surpassed 300 passing yards in all seven of his career games against the Packers.

Green Bay quarterback Brett Hundley completed just 12 of 25 for 87 yards in his first start in place of Rodgers, who could miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken right collarbone last week.

Hundley didn't make any major blunders, but he also didn't engineer any game-breaking plays.

"Our passing game, we can sit here and pick it apart all we want," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Let's just blame it on the head coach today."

Elsewhere, the upstart Los Angeles Rams delivered a 33-0 beatdown of the Arizona Cardinals, who lost star quarterback Carson Palmer with a broken arm.

Jared Goff threw for 235 yards and a touchdown before a crowd of 73,700 at London's Twickenham Stadium.

Palmer exited the game in the second quarter with a broken left arm and will be out at least eight weeks and possibly the rest of the season.

The Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars also posted shut-out wins.

The Chargers beat Denver 21-0 -- the first time since 1992 that the Broncos have been held scoreless.

The Jaguars dominated the Colts 27-0 in Indianapolis.

In Miami, the Dolphins saw quarterback Jay Cutler depart early with a chest injury later reported to be cracked ribs. But with backup Matt Moore at the helm they rallied to beat the New York Jets 31-28.

In Chicago, Bears rookie safety Eddie Jackson became the first player in NFL history to score two defensive touchdowns of at least 75 yards in the same game in his team's 17-3 upset of the Carolina Panthers.

Although the Panthers offense dominated, Jackson's fumble return during the game's first series and his interception and TD return of a pass from Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in the second quarter buoyed the Bears.

In San Francisco, Ezekiel Elliott celebrated another court stay of his suspension by running for two touchdowns and Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott passed for three more as the Cowboys beat the 49ers 40-10.

The kicking performance of the day belonged to Minnesota's Kai Forbath, who booted a half-dozen field goals in the Vikings' third straight victory -- 24-16 over Baltimore.

Tennessee kicker Ryan Succop scored all of the Titans' points, making his fourth and final field goal with 1:55 left in overtime in Tennessee's 12-9 win over Cleveland.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Packers' Rodgers breaks collarbone, may be out for season

Green Bay Packers All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken right collarbone during Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, the team said.

The Packers said in a tweet that there was a chance Rodgers could miss the rest of the season.


Rodgers suffered the injury in the first quarter after taking a hard hit from Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr. Rodgers, rolling out to the right on a second-and-nine play from the Green Bay 39, was hit by Barr after releasing a pass that fell incomplete.

"Losing Aaron Rodgers speaks for itself. In my opinion, he's the best player in football," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said.

Rodgers appeared to land on his throwing arm and laid on the turf for several seconds before trainers attended to him. He left the field under his own power and exchanged words with members of the Minnesota defense on his way to the sideline. There was no penalty called on the play.

After a brief examination on the sideline, Rodgers was taken away on a cart. He was replaced by third-year pro Brett Hundley.

It was the second broken collarbone of Rodgers' pro career. He missed seven games in the 2013 season after suffering a similar injury versus Chicago when he broke his left (non-throwing) collarbone.

Rodgers, 33, led the Packers to the Super Bowl title after the 2010 season. A two-time league most valuable player, he has earned All-Pro honors six times.

He was 2-for-4 passing for 18 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in Sunday's game. He has thrown 13 touchdown passes and had three interceptions this season.

"We pray for Aaron Rodgers' speedy recovery," Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen said. "He is one of the best quarterbacks in the game. I pray for him. I love playing against him. He is a competitor."

(Editing by Gene Cherry)

source: news.abs-cbn.com