GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Considering how expediently effective Green Bay’s previously sputtering offense was Sunday, the guys on that side might need little time to recover this week.

That’s a good thing since the Packers have to jump right into playing again Thursday night, when they host the Minnesota Vikings.

“That’s how we want to play,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after Green Bay made quick work on the road of the Chicago Bears with a 38-17 victory.

“At one point (late in the game), we had (run) 44 plays and (scored) 38 points,” Rodgers added. “That’s pretty efficient. We’d obviously like to play as fast as possible, but when you’re being very efficient with your yards per play and points per play, that’s how we want to play.”

One of the best passing performances in Rodgers’ seven-year starting career fueled the Packers’ runaway win. A week after it managed only 223 total yards in 51 plays in a 19-7 loss at the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions, Green Bay (2-2) scored on its first six possessions Sunday, including five touchdowns, as it amassed 358 yards in just 47 plays.

The Packers ran 30 fewer plays than the Bears did, while having possession of the ball for all of 23 minutes, 38 seconds to Chicago’s 36:22.

“We produced, we scored points, we played our game,” head coach Mike McCarthy said of Green Bay’s no-huddle attack. “We were very basic in our approach. It starts up front with just the way we came in here. I thought the pass protection was very good.

“To come in and tilt that way (with the pass) was the mindset, and we just kept going. Pass protection, Aaron was excellent in throwing to the open guy, but I think just from a mindset standpoint we just wanted to come in and play fast.”

Rodgers completed 22 of 28 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a mistake-free game for Green Bay that also included no quarterback hits by a depleted Bears defense and no punts. Rodgers posted the second-highest passer rating of his career, a near-perfect 151.2, just seven days after he threw for only 162 yards against the Lions.

“He played a great game (Sunday), but we know how Aaron is,” Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga said. “This is his offense, he runs it very well, and (Sunday) was a great example. When he’s in control, it’s fun to watch.”

Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb consumed most of Rodgers’ attention for distributing the football against an undermanned Bears secondary. The top two wideouts were targeted a combined 21 times, and each had two touchdown catches.

Nelson finished with 10 receptions for 108 yards, and Cobb had seven catches for 113 yards.

The Packers, who notched the 700th regular-season win in team history, hardly had time to blink when the offense was on the field. Their five touchdown drives consumed all of 2:22, 3:47, 2:47, 3:01 and 1:41 in play time.

“Obviously, he did extremely well,” Nelson said of Rodgers. “(He) ran our offense in full control, making checks, keeping the tempo up, made some great throws and does what he does — nothing that surprises us.”

NOTES, QUOTES

–A pair of interceptions and ensuing long runbacks allowed the Packers to break open a tight game in the second half at Chicago on Sunday.

Yet, Green Bay’s 38-17 blowout win over the Bears in the first matchup of the season between the longtime rivals was set in motion in the final seconds of the first half.

Packers rookie safety Ha Clinton-Dix wrapped up Martellus Bennett on a catch over the middle at the goal line and prevented Chicago’s big tight end from ostensibly breaking the plane with the football. That nonscore on the final play before halftime kept Green Bay ahead 21-17 in what had been a seesaw affair.

“It was a big momentum play,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s seven points (off the board). It’s a big play in the game. It was obviously a huge play.

“It’s a game of inches. I think that’s reflected each and every week,” McCarthy added.

As much as Clinton-Dix officially had the big stop with the tackle of Bennett, fellow safety Micah Hyde probably had the play-saving assist. The review of the play by the replay official was inconclusive on whether Bennett might have stretched a part of the football across the goal line — and thus the stop by Clinton-Dix was upheld — because the back of Hyde’s jersey blocked the best camera angle from the FOX broadcast along the goal line.

“I was kind of standing in the way with the replay,” said Hyde, who helped Clinton-Dix with holding up Bennett from getting into the end zone. “So, it was fortunate where I went.”

Since the Packers shut out Chicago in the second half and ran away with the convincing victory, Clinton-Dix savored his pivotal play.

“I couldn’t tell,” he said when asked whether Bennett might have had the football over the goal line, then adding with a laugh, “The refs are paid to ref the game, and they made a great call.”

–Sunday’s game yielded a big milestone and a couple of unusual stats.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a masterful performance, reached 25,000 passing yards in his career in the first half.

Rodgers eclipsed the plateau on his eighth throw Sunday, which was No. 3,065 in his regular-season action. That’s the fewest pass attempts needed by a quarterback in NFL history to get to 25,000 yards. Kurt Warner had the previous record with 3,076.

Rodgers carved up Chicago’s injury-depleted secondary without taking one hit in the game against a Bears defense that also played without pass-rushing standout Jared Allen (pneumonia).

“I think the key to being like (we were Sunday), where you’re trying to be aggressive and you’re throwing it a lot and early, is protection, which was great,” Rodgers said. “I barely got touched most of the day, which will be nice with a short week coming up.”

The Packers host the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night. Green Bay punter Tim Masthay should be well-rested for that game.

Masthay just had to tend to his other duties as the holder on kicks for Mason Crosby as the Packers and Bears didn’t punt the football once Sunday. It’s only the second regular-season game in league history to have zero punts — the first was the Buffalo Bills’ 34-31 road win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 13, 1992.

“Five minutes left in the fourth quarter, I was like, ‘This is probably going to happen,'” Masthay said.

The Bears offense, with Jimmy Clausen at quarterback in relief of starter Jay Cutler, ran out the clock the final 4 minutes, 47 seconds after Crosby had a 38-yard field goal blocked.

hough, played only one snap on offense.

REPORT CARD VS. BEARS

PASSING OFFENSE: A-minus — Aaron Rodgers has shown a flair for resiliency many times in his sterling starting tenure of six-plus seasons. He didn’t disappoint Sunday, following up his second-lowest total for passing yards in a complete game during Green Bay’s offensively challenged loss at the Detroit Lions. On Sunday, he had his second-best career outing for passing efficiency. Rodgers sparked the 180-degree turnaround for the quick-strike offense, which scored touchdowns on five of its first six breakneck possessions, by completing 22 of 28 throws for 302 yards and four touchdowns for a near-perfect passer rating of 151.2. For a welcome change for Rodgers in Green Bay’s turnover-free game, he didn’t have to count on Jordy Nelson to do most of the receiving work. Nelson (game-high 12 targets) still played a huge role with 10 receptions for 108 yards, but previously underachieving Randall Cobb matched him with two touchdowns as part of a seven-catch, 113-yard performance in nine targets. Rookie tight end Richard Rodgers, who was without a reception the first three games, pitched in right at the start of Green Bay’s first series with two catches for 52 yards (long of 43). The offensive line was beyond reproach by not giving up one hit of Aaron Rodgers, whose only sack came on a scramble as he went out of bounds. On the downside, Rodgers had two would-be touchdown passes go for naught on an end-zone drop by Cobb and an impressive deep strike to rookie wideout Davante Adams wiped out by the second holding penalty from rookie center Corey Linsley.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D — The good news is Eddie Lacy reached the end zone for the first time this season after setting a team record for a rookie with 11 rushing touchdowns last season. Lacy’s two-yard blast started the scoring for the Packers. Otherwise, the consistency of another horrid performance for running the football stayed with Green Bay. Handing the football off to Lacy was almost an afterthought in the pass-centric game plan at the outset, as Lacy had just six carries for 21 yards in the first half. As the Packers’ lead widened in the second half and they went more with the run to try to chew up clock, Lacy continued to sputter. He finished with a season-high 48 yards (long of 10) in 17 carries for a familiar feeble average of 2.8 yards per touch. The only other running play for Green Bay resulted in an eight-yard keeper by Rodgers, boosting its per-average number to 3.1 yards, though the 56 yards is the new season low for a team that has yet to eclipse 80 yards on the ground in a game.

PASS DEFENSE: B-minus — The Packers’ beleaguered defense had its hands full, not with Chicago’s twin tower receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, but instead tight end Martellus Bennett. Fortunately for Green Bay, rookie safety Ha Dix had enough of a stronghold on the waist of Bennett to keep him mere inches away from scoring a touchdown to end the first half as the clock expired and the Packers ahead 21-17. The second-half shutout for the defense featured a pair of interceptions from Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. Veteran cornerback Tramon Williams deflected an ill-advised slant pass into the awaiting arms of linebacker Clay Matthews, whose 40-yard return into Chicago territory set up a touchdown that stretched the lead to 31-17. In the Bears’ next series, also on the Green Bay side of the field, cornerback Sam Shields easily plucked a deep ball from Cutler as intended receiver Marshall kept running down field. Shields’ 62-yard runback to the Chicago 11-yard line had Rodgers & Co. in business again for a final touchdown in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. If not for his self-inflicting woes, Cutler probably would have exploited Green Bay’s soft middle of the defense for far greater numbers. He went 22-for-34 for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Cutler targeted Bennett 11 times, resulting in nine catches for 134 yards (long of 27). Halfback Matt Forte also pierced the Packers, who mustered just one sack in a pressure-oriented scheme, with five receptions for 49 yards (long of 25). Marshall and Jeffery were on the receiving end of short touchdown throws, but the star duo combined for only six catches for 58 yards in 13 targets.

RUSH DEFENSE: D — The Packers hit rock bottom, as in having given up the most rushing yards in the NFL after four weeks, by surrendering a season-high 235 yards Sunday. Not even three stops of Forte for no gain or a loss (by nose tackle Letroy Guion) on runs from the Green Bay 5 or closer early in the game could ease some of the sting. The Bears had seven explosive runs of at least 12 yards, led by a 19-yard burst from Forte. Chicago’s talented lead back averaged 5.3 yards per rush with 122 yards in 23 carries. Rookie understudy Ka’Deem Carey was nearly Forte’s equal with a per-carry average of 5.1 yards as he ground out 72 yards. Cutler turned a botched center exchange into a 16-yard run on fourth-and-1 early in the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Punter/holder Tim Masthay had to tend to only one of his jobs since the teams combined to have only the second distinction in NFL regular-season play for no punts in a game. Packers kicker Mason Crosby, on the other hand, was plenty busy with a mostly productive afternoon. Five of Crosby’s seven kickoffs went for touchbacks. The veteran also connected on a 53-yard field goal in the opening drive of the second half. Later in the half, however, Crosby had a 38-yard attempt blocked, ending his streak of 21 made field goals (including the playoffs) that stretched back to last November. Green Bay’s Sean Richardson covered up a surprise onside kick by the Bears late in the first half. Primary returner Micah Hyde and DuJuan Harris combined to average only 22.3 yards (long of 25) in three kickoff runbacks for the Packers.

COACHING: B-minus — Head coach/play caller Mike McCarthy learned a costly lesson after thinking he could rely on an ineffective ground game and thus take the football out of the lethal right hand of Aaron Rodgers in the Week 3 loss against secondary-depleted Detroit. McCarthy wisely went heavy on the pass against Chicago’s immensely short-handed defense and reaped big-time dividends. Thank goodness Rodgers, Nelson, Cobb and others in the up-tempo attack were on point for putting up a season high in points because the defense was again a major liability until it made amends with the two takeaways in the second half. Coordinator Dom Capers’ battered unit allowed a season-high 496 yards and repeatedly faltered trying to get off the field on third and fourth downs as the Bears controlled the football for nearly 36 1/2 minutes.