The Sports Xchange

GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the first time since the Super Bowl season of 2010, Aaron Rodgers isn’t dragging the rest of the Green Bay Packers along to Victory Lane.

For the second consecutive week, it was the Packers’ defense — not the two-time MVP quarterback — that was the reason Green Bay stayed undefeated. Behind four interceptions of Nick Foles, the Packers beat the St. Louis Rams 24-10 on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

The Packers are 5-0 for the first time since starting 13-0 in 2011.

“Good team win today, starting with the defense,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I thought they were clearly the key to our victory. Just the big plays and the constant pressure. So scrappy, a lot of adversity, up and down but, heck, it’s great to have those kind of wins. 5-0 feels good.”

Rodgers was 19-of-30 for 241 yards and two touchdowns, but St. Louis picked him off twice and also took the ball away with a fumble. That gave the Rams (2-3) a fighting chance to pull off back-to-back road upsets after knocking off Arizona last week.

However, while Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley pounded out 159 rushing yards on 30 attempts, Foles was miserable. He was just 10-of-26 for 73 yards until a long completion to Steadman Bailey in the final moments. He was sacked three times and faced constant pressure, finishing 11-of-30 passing for 141 yards.

“You can’t turn it over four times, especially turn it over to Aaron, like we did,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “I’m sure we are going to look at things and say there’s some really good things.”

What we learned about the Rams

–After running through Arizona’s defense during the fourth quarter the previous week, Rams running back Todd Gurley piled up 159 hard-earned yards on 30 carries against the Packers. That is a lot of touches for a guy the Rams brought along slowly following his torn ACL last year at Georgia, but he showed he was up to the task. With quarterback Nick Foles enduring a miserable day, everybody in the stadium knew that the rookie was going to get the ball. And yet he consistently delivered at least 3 or 4 yards on most of his carries. “These guys believe in me to run the ball,” Gurley said. “We are doing a great job, but we need to put stuff together and finish.”

–The Rams’ defense is legit. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers is the NFL career leader in passer rating, but St. Louis limited him to a mark of 82.8. Rodgers had gone about 34 months since his last home interception. The Rams picked him off twice, and they got a sack-strip for a third turnover. For most of the game, Rodgers danced around the pocket hoping someone — anyone — could get open. “We performed pretty well, but at the same time, we lost,” said cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who had the Rams’ second interception. “If we could have eliminated those two explosive plays, there is no telling what the outcome might have been.”

–Quarterback Nick Foles has a terrible day. Of his 141 passing yards, almost half of them — a 68-yarder to Stedman Bailey — came in the final minute. It was so bad that Rams coach Jeff Fisher called on kicker Greg Zuerlein to attempt a 63-yard field goal rather than go for it on fourth-and-7 with about 3:30 remaining and the Rams trailing by 11. “We had opportunities, and those turnovers really cost us,” Foles said, “but I’ll continue to learn from it. That’s part of it, but this is the tough part of it. I didn’t play well today, didn’t give us the opportunity to win, and that’s on me.”

Etc.

–QB Nick Foles, with the Eagles in 2013, went 12-for-18 for 228 yards with three touchdowns and a 149.3 passer rating to lead a 27-13 victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field. On Sunday, he went 11-for-30 for 141 yards with one touchdown, four interceptions and a 23.8 rating. It was a career high for interceptions and a career worst for passer rating. “Nick will be fine,” coach Jeff Fisher said.

–The Rams need to play better situational football. They went 5-for-18 on third down and 1-for-4 in the red zone. “We just have to keep working,” Foles said. We have the talent, we have the guys. It’s just going through times like this and continuing to grow, continuing to believe in one another and working toward what we need to do.”

–DE Robert Quinn sacked and stripped Aaron Rodgers, creating a third takeaway for the Rams. Since the start of the 2012 season, Quinn has a league-high 16 forced fumbles.

–LB James Laurinaitis made his 101st consecutive start and had a team-high eight tackles. He also defended one pass and recorded one quarterback hit.