GREEN BAY — For Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, about the only thing that wasn’t perfect about his first half against the Chicago Bears was his passer rating.

In a blowout practically unrivaled in this ancient rivalry’s history, the Packers blasted the Bears 55-14 on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

“Well, I can promise you, this is not easy,” Rodgers said. “It’s not easy to do this every week. We put a lot of time in — we all do — we prepare to be successful. There’s a high expectation on our players based on the number of checks that we do and the game plan every week (and) to have creative input, but to also make the game plan work. So, it’s tough to go out and execute like that, but that’s what happens when everybody works together and believes in each other.”

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is now 1-10 for his career against the Packers in his career, including 1-9 with Chicago

“Anytime you get down like that, especially against a team you feel good about after a good week of practicing and coming off a bye week and everybody’s energized and enthusiastic, that’s how you have to feel (is disappointed),” Cutler said. “There are a lot of frustrated guys in the locker room right now and frustrated coaches. The only thing we have to do is stick together and keep working and try to get out of this hole and get things back together.”

Receiver Jordy Nelson caught six passes for 152 yards and two long touchdowns, giving him 16 catches for 260 yards and four scores in the two matchups vs. Chicago. Clay Matthews, starting at inside linebacker rather than his usual outside linebacker, sparked a strong performance from a defense that entered the game ranked 32nd against the run, 25th in total defense and 19th in points allowed.

“That was clearly our best football that we played this year,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I really liked the way the whole week went from start to finish. I thought the way the team came back off of the bye, they were ready to go. You could see it Monday in our work. Our week of preparation, it’s easy to say this after a win like this, but we talked about it this morning as a team, it was to cash in on the way they prepared throughout the week, and we (had) our best football on display tonight. To beat the Chicago Bears the way we did, that’s something that we feel very good about, but it is one win.”

Green Bay (6-3), which has won six in a row following bye weeks, remains a game behind Detroit (7-2) in the NFC North. Chicago (3-6), which has lost three in a row and five of its last six, lost 51-23 to New England in its game prior to the bye.

“It’s like I told our football team at halftime and after the game: We’re not a very good football team right now, obviously,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “We’ve descended over the last three weeks and didn’t make any changes or any positives after the bye, and that starts with me.”

What the Packers said:

“We went six quarters without punting (in the two games against the Bears). That’s pretty exceptional. That doesn’t happen a whole lot, so we’re proud of that. We came out in the second half and didn’t complete a pass and punted a couple of times. Our defense played so well tonight. They stopped the run. They created turnovers and then we cashed in on our opportunities. That’s the way you want to play moving into the second half of the season, a cold weather game. We’re going to have six of seven down the stretch now in cold weather and we’ve got to be able to play like this every time.” — quarterback Aaron Rodgers

“I get those questions, and I just don’t know what to say about ’em. I guess we match up well against those guys. Time after time they come in and we play well against them. Typically, it’s usually a closer game. But this one was a total blowout, even though we usually play well against him on the scoreboard, you look up and the game’s still close. You’re like, ‘Oh man, we’re dominating the game, but these guys are still right here.’ Total opposite today. Total opposite. It was fun to play this game. It was one that we needed. And a way to come off the bye. We went into the bye on another note. It was good to come back and get that bad taste out of our mouth.” — cornerback Tramon Williams, on success vs. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler

What the Bears said:

“We have good players. We obviously aren’t a good team. When you get a beatdown like this, you can’t say much else. We have talent. We just need to find a way to win games.” — defensive end Jared Allen

“We need to take pride in this. We have to look down inside. It starts with every man. We are out there on the field. We need to look to each other to figure out how we get better. It is a tough pill to swallow because we feel like we are a better team, but it didn’t show tonight.” — cornerback Tim Jennings

What we learned about the Packers:

1. As long as Aaron Rodgers is quarterbacking the Packers and Jay Cutler is quarterbacking the Bears, Green Bay will rule the roost in this rivalry. In two games this season against Chicago, Rodgers threw 10 touchdown passes against no interceptions. In the seven games he started (and finished) from 2011 through 2014, Rodgers threw 24 touchdown passes against four interceptions. Not coincidentally, Green Bay is 7-0 in those games.

2. Really, nothing has changed. For the past three seasons, this has been the winning formula for the Packers: Strike quickly, force a turnover and run away. When it follows that formula, the Packers are as dominant as any team in the league. Against the Bears, Green Bay scored on the opening possession, intercepted Cutler, and scored again. Just like that, it was 14-0. That left the Bears unable to attack Green Bay’s major flaw: run defense. “We’re on a roll right now with starting the games fast, and that helps our defense out and then they get us the ball back on a short field and we put it in again,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “Any time you can go up two scores on a team, it can really change the kind of things they want to do on offense. With our defense, been struggling a little bit against the run, you get up two, three, four scores, the run game becomes an afterthought and it really helps those guys kind of tee off and get after the passer.”

–QB Aaron Rodgers needed one more touchdown pass to set a franchise record and tie an NFL record with seven touchdowns. However, his night ended on a third-and-goal incompletion midway through the third quarter. Coach Mike McCarthy said he was unaware of that record and his plan was to play Rodgers for the first two series of the third quarter. Nonetheless, Rodgers tied Daryle Lamonica’s NFL record with six touchdown passes in the first half. The “Mad Bomber” accomplished his six-touchdown half on Oct. 19, 1969, vs. Buffalo.

–WR Randall Cobb caught a touchdown pass in six consecutive games. The last Packers player to accomplish that feat was Sterling Sharpe in 1994. “These are the type of performances that we talk about,” Cobb said. “When we execute at a high level and we’re efficient the way we were, these are the type of outputs we would like to have. In this league it’s tough to come by, but to have a night like tonight is huge for us.”

–LB Clay Matthews led the team with 11 tackles, including one sack and two tackles for losses while starting as an inside linebacker for the first time in his career. A second sack was taken away by a penalty. “I was in great position to make a lot of plays tonight and I think that’s ultimately the reason why we needed to make a few changes around here.”

What we learned about the Bears

1. Bears coach Marc Trestman is in hot water. At 3-5, the Bears had a golden opportunity to get back in the race. Beat the Packers, get to 4-5, then enjoy a final stretch of five of seven at home. Instead, the Bears were hit by an early knockout punch. Chicago is a fractured bunch, which even the Packers took note of. “You could tell that they kind of laid down a little bit,” Packers receiver Randall Cobb said. Yes, there are major personnel flaws and injuries have been a problem, but if a team has “laid down,” that falls on the feet of the coach.

2. Chicago spent a lot of money to upgrade its defensive personnel during the offseason, but the middle of that defense is terrible. That starts with the safeties. There wasn’t a safety in the ZIP code on Aaron Rodgers’ two long touchdown passes to Jordy Nelson, and the safeties weren’t of much help on Eddie Lacy’s 53-yard touchdown on a screen, either. The Packers scored 55 points; it could have been 69 if not for a fumble late in the first half and some mercy at the end of the game. “There was confusion all night,” cornerback Tim Jennings said. “We blew some coverages on the back end, starting with myself. There were some miscommunications on the back end. At the end of the day, we need to execute the game plan.”

–RB Matt Forte was limited to 17 carries for 54 yards and three receptions for 27 yards. Forte had three consecutive 100-yard rushing games against the Packers and entered the week leading the NFL with 58 receptions.

–QB Jay Cutler threw one touchdown pass and two interceptions. In 11 career games against the Packers, Cutler has thrown 22 interceptions. His 68.8 passer rating was 77.0 points below counterpart Aaron Rodgers’ rating of 145.8. “I think we’re all searching for answers right now,” he said. “As players, we need to figure this out and look inside each player and find out what’s really going on inside.”

–WR Chris Williams returned 10 kickoffs, including a 101-yarder for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.