GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers are tied for first place in the NFC North. The Carolina Panthers are in first place in the NFC South. As midseason nears, however, the two teams going in different directions.

The Packers, winners of four in a row, scored the first 28 points and crushed the Panthers 38-17 on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

“We have a lot of respect for (Panthers coach) Ron Rivera and the program he’s built there and what they have as a football team,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “We looked at this as a big challenge today. You’ve got to grow with every opportunity and we did that today, not only in the win column but what we were trying to accomplish.”

For the second consecutive home game, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got to enjoy the end of the game from the bench. In three quarters, he completed 19 of 22 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns, with his passer rating of 154.5 falling just short of the NFL’s measure of perfection, 158.3.

Wide receiver Randall Cobb had six catches for 121 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Jordy Nelson had four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown — all in the first quarter.

“We’re starting fast,” Rodgers said. “We had 21 first-quarter points, so we made them pretty one-dimensional, which we wanted to do, especially with the way (Panthers quarterback) Cam (Newton) ran the ball last week.”

Starting fast is an understatement. Green Bay (5-2) was off and rolling on Rodgers’ 59-yard touchdown pass to Nelson, with running backs Eddie Lacy and James Starks adding rushing touchdowns as the Packers led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

All of the scores were attained easily against what was one of the top defenses in the league last season. On the first score, Nelson beat cornerback Antoine Cason on a deep pass, then made veteran safety Roman Harper look foolish on a cutback at about the 30. On the second touchdown, Lacy stutter-stepped in the hole, then waltzed into the end zone around right end. On the third, Starks started right and then cut back left, where he wasn’t touched until he plowed through two defensive backs near the goal line.

The Packers extended the lead to 28-0 with a 94-yard drive in the second quarter. Cobb’s 47-yard catch and run set up his 3-yard touchdown — his eighth of the season.

Rodgers was 15 of 17 for 194 yards and two touchdowns at halftime as Green Bay piled up 271 yards. Carolina (3-3-1) had 113 first-half yards, with Newton’s 32-yard completion to receiver Kelvin Benjamin setting up a field goal on the final play of the half that made it 28-3.

“We just got outplayed in every phase of the game,” Newton said. “We need to start fast on offense. Two three-and-outs (to start the game) is unacceptable.”

The Packers tacked on another touchdown in the third quarter, with Rodgers hitting wide receiver Davante Adams for a 21-yard score one play after a 33-yard catch-and-run by Cobb converted a third-and-6.

It was a disheartening performance from a defensive unit that was the heart and soul of last year’s NFC South championship squad. Last year’s defense finished in the top five in almost every meaningful category. This year’s defense has allowed at least 35 points in four of the last five games.

“They should be (good enough),” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said of the defense. “We have six out of seven guys back from our front. We have a couple of veteran safeties that I think are capable, and you would like to believe that our corners can do the job. We will find out. I don’t think the defense gave us an opportunity to win in the first quarter, and I am disappointed.”

Carolina’s star linebacker, Luke Kuechly, was ejected late in the third quarter. After a fumble, Kucehly was pulled off the pile by Packers tight end Richard Rodgers. One of the officials tried to restrain Kuechly by grabbing his arm, with Kuechly — perhaps thinking he was being grabbed by one of the Packers — forcefully pulling his arm away from the official.

Carolina scored its first touchdown with 9:39 remaining in the game, when Newton hit Benjamin from 13 yards. Tight end Greg Olsen had a big game, with eight catches for 105 yards.

Newton was replaced by Derek Anderson midway through the fourth quarter, and Anderson led the Panthers to a late score. After Newton threw for 284 yards and rushed for 107 last week against the Bengals, he threw for 205 and rushed for 41 against Green Bay.

Besides winning four in a row overall, the Packers have won 10 in a row in October.

What the Packers said:

“Home or away, it’s a mindset that you want to put them away when you go up by a couple scores. … We were 21-3 down to the Jets and felt good about, if we could just get something going, we can get back in the game. When you get up four scores, you can really put a team away mentally and obviously on the scoreboard. That was kind of the thought process. The huddle gets a little more talkative, when you get down in the red zone especially, maybe with some of those linemen calling for run plays to get Eddie (Lacy) or James (Starks) touchdowns, and asking me to audible if we have a pass on. I kind of toed the line today, and it didn’t really change a whole lot.” — Quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“We knew coming into the game that they were having some success, especially lately, running the ball with that zone read. With the offense putting up so many points and the defense forcing those three-and-outs, we forced them to be one-dimensional. We got some studs on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the pass rush. We did put some pressure on them, get them uncomfortable and create that interception as well as a few errant throws.” — Outside linebacker Clay Matthews.

What the Panthers said:

“I don’t think concerned is the right word. We just have to be consistent. It’s shown throughout the whole year that when we’re playing well and doing our job, we can be pretty good, and when we’re not doing our jobs, stuff like this happens.” — Linebacker Luke Kuechly.

“It is kind of frustrating when you are sitting on the sidelines thinking that you didn’t do anything that would change the outlook on things. When you self-evaluate yourself, what I did today wasn’t enough, and I need to be better. I am going to point the finger at myself first and say that my performance that I put out there today wasn’t good enough.” — Quarterback Cam Newton.

What we learned about the Packers:

1. The Packers can play good defense without relying on a bunch of turnovers. Green Bay forced 11 turnovers in allowing a total of 70 points the previous four weeks. On Sunday, the Packers had one takeaway but dominated a Carolina attack that scored 37 points against Cincinnati’s formidable defense last week. Carolina’s first five possessions ended in punts, and the Panthers managed only 113 total yards in the first half.

“Defensively, we needed to stop Cam Newton,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “He was our focus all week. We have a lot of respect for what he does and what he does in that scheme. We were able to get that done.”

2. Aaron Rodgers is on a roll. The only quarterback in NFL history to have 15-plus touchdowns and zero or one interception in his first six games of a season, Rodgers threw for three touchdowns and wasn’t picked off against the Panthers. He was in total command, whether it was his accurate throws, drawing the Panthers offside twice or catching them with 12 men on the field.

“There’s going to be interceptions from time to time, it’s just limiting the number of 50-50 balls that either they get their hands on or get tipped or are poor throws,” Rodgers said. “If they’re not touching the ball that much or at all in a game, that means you’re being as accurate as you want to be.”

–QB Aaron Rodgers joined Patriots QB Tom Brady as the only players in NFL history with four consecutive games of three-plus touchdown passes and no interceptions. That puts him in the race for the MVP, an award he won in 2011. Not that it is on his mind. “I wouldn’t mind it, but it … I’ll take a Super Bowl championship first,” Rodgers said.

–WR Randall Cobb has eight touchdowns this season, seven of those coming in the red zone. He has scored in six of seven games this season and seven of the past eight dating to Week 17 of last season. After his Lambeau Leap, his jersey was dotted with ketchup. “That was the first time I’ve ever had ketchup,” he said. “I apologize to whoever’s hot dog that was. It was fresh. I know that because I had all of the ketchup on me.”

–Rookie TE Richard Rodgers had a big day, even while catching only pass for 1 yard. His father, Richard Rodgers Sr., is the Panthers’ special teams coordinator. They spent part of pregame playing catch. “People don’t really get that opportunity ever, so it was just a great opportunity for me to go out there and hang out with my dad on the field,” he said.

What we learned about the Panthers

1. Carolina’s defense finished fourth in points allowed and sixth in yardage allowed last season, and the Panthers won the NFC North. In the first two games this season, the Panthers allowed a total of 21 points. The past five games, however, the defense was brutal, yielding 35-plus points four times. On Green Bay’s first seven possessions, five resulted in touchdown drives of 80, 56, 62, 94 and 58 yards.

“We understand that we’re not playing well, and it’s all about us going back and applying ourselves better,” linebacker Thomas Davis said. “Obviously, there’s some miscommunication and things going on defensively, and we just have to do a better job going out and competing at a higher level.”

2. Tight end Greg Olsen needs to be a bigger part of the offense. Rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin is a big-time threat, but Olsen provides size, speed and smarts. He was targeted eight times and made eight catches for 105 yards, with a long gain of 23. However, his first reception didn’t come until about four minutes remained in the first half.

“We had no rhythm,” he said. “We ran six plays and we were down two scores. We did a bad job of not giving our defense a break after the first drive. It just got away quickly.”

–LB Luke Kuechly, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was ejected during the third quarter. After Kuechly was pulled from the pile by Packers TE Richard Rodgers, Kuechly felt an arm around him and shrugged his arm to break free. Turns out that person was one of the officials. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t know who was grabbing me,” he said. “I was just trying to get out of there a little bit. You have to have to stay calm in those situations and walk away and let it take care of itself.” He still led the team with eight tackles.

–WR Kelvin Benjamin, who sustained a concussion last week and was questionable for Sunday’s game, started and made an impact. His 32-yard catch late in the first half set up a field goal, and he scored a 13-yard touchdown. On both plays, he used his massive 6-foot-5 frame to beat Packers CB Tramon Williams, who was in good position.

–LB A.J. Klein got the start with LB Chase Blackburn out. Klein, a native of Kimberly, Wis., which is located about a half-hour from Lambeau Field, entered the game ranked fifth on the team with 23 tackles. He had three tackles against the Packers, including two for losses late in the game.