Give Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers an opening, and he’ll try his hardest to take advantage of it.
The Kansas City Chiefs obliged by committing four penalties that gave Rodgers free plays (offside and 12 men on the field calls). On those four, Rodgers averaged 25.5 air yards per attempt.
He connected twice, once to James Jones for a 27-yard score in the second quarter and another to Jones for 52 yards in the fourth quarter, which led to a touchdown pass to Randall Cobb later in the drive.
When the Chiefs were penalty-free, Rodgers hit them with short pass after short pass. He finished 13-of-15 for 159 yards and four touchdowns on passes of 5 yards or fewer downfield.
Rodgers was 4-of-4 for 53 yards and two touchdowns on screen passes. He had two touchdowns on screens in the past two seasons combined.
In all, Rodgers finished with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Rodgers' four career games with five touchdown passes are tied for fifth most of any quarterback since the NFL and AFL merged in 1970.
Since Rodgers became a starter in 2008, only Drew Brees (seven) has more five-touchdown games. Rodgers, Brees and Ben Roethlisberger are the only three quarterbacks with a five touchdown, zero interception game on Monday Night Football.
Rodgers continued his amazing run without an interception at Lambeau Field. That streak now spans 19 games (including the playoffs). Rodgers has thrown 48 touchdown passes since his most recent interception at Lambeau Field.
The game was not as close as the final score indicated. At one point, Rodgers had four touchdown passes, and the Chiefs had one first down via pass.