Travis Duncan
Cheesehead
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Oct 14, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end C.J. Wilson (98) and linebacker Clay Matthews (52) celebrate a sack against the Houston Texans in the first quarter at Reliant Stadium. Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE
By Travis Duncan
PackerForum writer
-On the injury front, inside linebacker D.J. Smith is out for the season with a knee injury, it was announced Monday.
Brad Jones, Robert Francois, Jamari Lattimore and Terrell Manning each will get consideration to replace Smith.
Running back Brandon Saine also suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve on Monday.
Linebacker Nick Perry left Sunday's game with a knee injury, the team will know more on Wednesday regarding his availability for next Sunday against St. Louis.
McCarthy said Monday that Perry "looks good" and the injury is not as bad as first thought.
Sam Shields also suffered a shin injury which is not thought to be significant.
There is some talk that turf on the field at Reliant Stadium was a factor in the two knee injuries. McCarthy said Monday that he thought the turf was hard but could not say for sure if it directly related to the injuries.
-Sunday's win moves Green Bay to 3-3 on the season and behind Chicago 4-1 and Minnesota 4-2 in the NFC North.
-Jordy Nelson's 3 TD day was his first multi-scoring game of the 2012 season. Nelson finished at nine catches for 141 yards. He was targeted 13 times.
Nelson leads the Packers in receptions (32), targets (48) and yards (410) He does however have six drops on the season.
-Aaron Rodgers clearly played his best game of the 2012 season throwing a career-high six touchdowns, completing 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards. His passer rating was his best for the 2012 to date at 133.8.
"It was a game that I was into early," said Rodgers. "Coach (McCarthy) gave me some good opportunities to take some shots. I missed (WR) James (Jones) on the first one then we got that offside penalty and went right back to (WR) Jordy (Nelson) on a deep ball and he made a great catch. We got in the end zone and kind of got rolling from there. The line did a great job protecting for the most part, I stepped into one sack and then we had an adjustment from a run that was kind of the other sack. Did a good job protecting, guys made plays; we had multiple big-time catches down the field"
-Alex Green, starting for an injured Cedric Benson, rushed for 65 yards on 22 carries to supplement the passing game. It was Green's first ever NFL start. James Starks got his first touches of 2012 rushing for 11 yards on five carries late.
"Run blocking I thought did an excellent job, gave us a very good front," said McCarthy.
"I thought (RB) Alex Green played very, very well for his first opportunity tonight to fully have the football. I thought it was a good start in the right direction for our run game."
McCarthy said Monday that Green will be the starter going forward but he would like to continue to get Starks some game action.
-Green Bay's offensive line held up its end of the bargain in pass protection. After allowing 21 sacks through the first five weeks of the season, Houston only recorded two sacks on Sunday.
-Green Bay's defensive secondary did not give up the big play. Houston's longest pass play was 27 yards. Matt Schaub completed just 20 of 33 passing attempts and was intercepted twice and did not complete a touchdown pass.
-Rookie Casey Haywood Hayward was the recipient of the team's game ball on defense after intercepting two Houston passes.
-McCarthy said that A.J. Hawk had his best game of the year on Sunday.
-Arian Foster entered the game as the NFL's second-leading rusher. Green Bay limited Foster to 29 yards on 17 carries, despite giving a pair of 1-yard touchdown scores to the Houston running back.
-Sunday's game drew a high TV rating; NBC estimates 14.7 million people tuned into the primetime telecast.
-According to Pro Football Talk, the Packers will seek "G-4" funds to complete renovations at Lambeau Field. The Packers could potentially barrow up to $200 million from the NFL for improvements.
