But Green Bay’s offense hit a lull and didn’t score in the second half.

“It’s a feeling of minor disappointment, I think, in that locker room,” Rodgers said. “We just, in the second half, offensively just struggled. The second quarter was great, we put up a lot of points. I think it’s encouraging at the same time. It’s tough to win in this league, we’re 6-0, and have a lot of room for improvement.”

Rodgers threw for 310 yards, delivering touchdowns to Nelson, James Jones and Donald Driver.

Sam Bradford was 28 of 44 for 321 yards with an interception for the Rams (0-5), who were coming off their bye week.

“We do not accept losing and our actions will reflect that,” Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “It is about winning football games, not moral victories.”

Bradford’s ankle was sore after the game, but the Rams didn’t seem overly concerned about the injury.

Rams running back Steven Jackson had 18 carries for 96 yards.

“For whatever reason, we get into the red zone, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” Jackson said.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy had a mixed reaction to the victory. He bristled at questions about the offense being shut out in the second half, saying, “the last time I checked, when you win by three touchdowns, that’s a pretty significant win.”

But McCarthy also said the team isn’t anywhere near where it wants to be.

“You have to be running on all cylinders, and we’re not there yet,” McCarthy said. “So fortunately, we’re 6-0. We’ll continue to work to get there.”

The Packers were wearing blue-and-gold uniforms designed to replicate a 1929 design, but Rodgers’ ability to scramble out of trouble and make big plays was anything but a throwback to the days of leather helmets. Rodgers did offer a wholehearted endorsement of the third uniform earlier in the week, saying the pants were among the most comfortable football pants he’d ever worn.

As Rodgers kept rolling, the Packers continued to brush off a fresh batch of injuries.

Green Bay got right tackle Bryan Bulaga back from a knee injury after the 2010 first-round pick missed the previous two games. But the Packers will have to live without veteran left tackle Chad Clifton indefinitely after he injured his hamstring in last Sunday’s victory at Atlanta.

Second-year player Marshall Newhouse took over for Clifton, but the Rams couldn’t get much pressure on Rodgers — and when they did, he simply spun away.

The Packers also were banged up at safety. Already missing Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins — out for the season after sustaining a neck injury in Week 2 — fellow safety Morgan Burnett had to play Sunday’s game with a huge club on his broken right hand.

Enlargephoto

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Super Bowl hangover and the NFL lockout weren’t about to slow down Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The New Orleans Saints couldn’t keep up.

Rodgers came out on top in a memorable opening-night duel with Drew Brees, and the Packers made a goal-line stand on the final play of the game to beat the Saints 42-34 Thursday night.

Packers rookie Randall Cobb caught a touchdown from Rodgers and ran a kickoff back 108 yards for a score in the third quarter — tying a league record for the longest kickoff return in history.

Rodgers threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s a good night for us,” Rodgers said. “I felt good about the way that I was throwing the ball. Missed a couple I probably could have hit.”

Brees passed for 419 yards and three touchdowns, including one to Jimmy Graham that closed out the scoring with 2:15 left.

But Brees put more emphasis on a statistic other than passing yardage.

“The biggest stat for us that’s disappointing is our red-zone efficiency. We were one of five,” Brees said. “That’s not going to win you a lot of games, especially on the road in this type of environment against this team.”

After a Green Bay punt, Brees marched the Saints to the Packers’ 9-yard line and spiked the ball with three seconds left. Green Bay’s A.J. Hawk was called for pass interference and the ball was placed at the 1.

Led by Clay Matthews and safety Morgan Burnett, the Packers’ defense swarmed Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram short of the goal line and the game was over.

“You’ve got to get a yard,” Ingram said. “It’s goal line to win the game, got to get a yard.”

Of the final-play drama, Matthews said, “It’s not what you envision. Obviously, you’d love to have a blowout. But I think it represents everything that we preach, which is finishing games. And it comes down to the very last play — we win, or they have an opportunity to tie it up. I think it’s fantastic to overcome that adversity, get the stop that we needed and get off the field with the victory.”

It was a big night for the Packers’ Donald Driver, who tied James Lofton’s franchise mark for career yards receiving with 9,656.

Rodgers wanted to get him the record at home.

“We tried to get him the ball again, we just didn’t have an opportunity,” Rodgers said.

Cobb’s big return gave the Packers a 35-20 lead, but the game wasn’t over. Darren Sproles answered with a long kickoff return of his own, and Brees drove the Saints for a 29-yard touchdown to Devery Henderson.

The Saints forced a punt and moved to the Packers’ 7-yard line, but failed on a fourth-down conversion attempt and gave the ball back to the Packers.

Green Bay drove again, and Rodgers handed the ball to John Kuhn on third-and-goal for a 1-yard touchdown and a 42-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.

If Thursday’s game was a referendum on the importance of player-led team workouts during the lockout, the results are in: The workouts Brees organized over the summer weren’t enough to help the Saints take down the champions, and the Packers’ decision not to get together as a team didn’t seem to hurt them.

“That stuff does not have a major impact on the game,” Rodgers said.

For the NFL, Thursday’s opener was a chance to stamp out lingering memories of a tumultuous offseason filled with tense and ugly — but ultimately successful — labor negotiations.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Super Bowl hangover and the NFL lockout weren’t about to slow down Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The New Orleans Saints couldn’t keep up.

Rodgers came out on top in a memorable opening-night duel with Drew Brees, and the Packers made a goal-line stand on the final play of the game to beat the Saints 42-34 Thursday night.

Packers rookie Randall Cobb caught a touchdown from Rodgers and ran a kickoff back 108 yards for a score in the third quarter — tying a league record for the longest kickoff return in history.

Rodgers threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s a good night for us,” Rodgers said. “I felt good about the way that I was throwing the ball. Missed a couple I probably could have hit.”

Brees passed for 419 yards and three touchdowns, including one to Jimmy Graham that closed out the scoring with 2:15 left.

But Brees put more emphasis on a statistic other than passing yardage.

“The biggest stat for us that’s disappointing is our red-zone efficiency. We were one of five,” Brees said. “That’s not going to win you a lot of games, especially on the road in this type of environment against this team.”

After a Green Bay punt, Brees marched the Saints to the Packers’ 9-yard line and spiked the ball with three seconds left. Green Bay’s A.J. Hawk was called for pass interference and the ball was placed at the 1.

Led by Clay Matthews and safety Morgan Burnett, the Packers’ defense swarmed Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram short of the goal line and the game was over.

“You’ve got to get a yard,” Ingram said. “It’s goal line to win the game, got to get a yard.”

Of the final-play drama, Matthews said, “It’s not what you envision. Obviously, you’d love to have a blowout. But I think it represents everything that we preach, which is finishing games. And it comes down to the very last play — we win, or they have an opportunity to tie it up. I think it’s fantastic to overcome that adversity, get the stop that we needed and get off the field with the victory.”

It was a big night for the Packers’ Donald Driver, who tied James Lofton’s franchise mark for career yards receiving with 9,656.

Rodgers wanted to get him the record at home.

“We tried to get him the ball again, we just didn’t have an opportunity,” Rodgers said.

Cobb’s big return gave the Packers a 35-20 lead, but the game wasn’t over. Darren Sproles answered with a long kickoff return of his own, and Brees drove the Saints for a 29-yard touchdown to Devery Henderson.

The Saints forced a punt and moved to the Packers’ 7-yard line, but failed on a fourth-down conversion attempt and gave the ball back to the Packers.

Green Bay drove again, and Rodgers handed the ball to John Kuhn on third-and-goal for a 1-yard touchdown and a 42-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.

If Thursday’s game was a referendum on the importance of player-led team workouts during the lockout, the results are in: The workouts Brees organized over the summer weren’t enough to help the Saints take down the champions, and the Packers’ decision not to get together as a team didn’t seem to hurt them.

“That stuff does not have a major impact on the game,” Rodgers said.

For the NFL, Thursday’s opener was a chance to stamp out lingering memories of a tumultuous offseason filled with tense and ugly — but ultimately successful — labor negotiations.

Game 1

Packers 27, Eagles 20

PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Rodgers threw a pair of touchdown passes, Mason Crosby kicked a team-record 56-yard field goal and Green Bay won despite a vintage performance by Philadelphia’s Michael Vick.

In their first game since trading Donovan McNabb to Washington, the Eagles started with Kevin Kolb and finished with Vick. Kolb left with a concussion at halftime, so Vick played meaningful snaps for an extended period for the first time in nearly four years.

Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback during six seasons in Atlanta, invigorated an offense that was awful in the first half. He finished with 175 yards passing and ran for 103, but could not overcome a 20-3 deficit.

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Game 2

Packers 34, Bills 7

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Clay Matthews had three sacks to lead a Green Bay’s dominant defense and Aaron Rodgers threw for two TDs and scrambled for another for the Packers.

Rodgers threw for 255 yards, with touchdowns to Donald Driver and James Jones. He also ran 9 yards for a score.

Linebacker Brandon Chillar and rookie safety Morgan Burnett intercepted Trent Edwards and the Packers (2-0) held the Bills (0-2) to 186 yards of total offense.

Edwards was 11 of 18 for 102 yards.

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Game 3

Bears 20, Packers 17

CHICAGO — Jay Cutler threw for 221 yards, Brian Urlacher forced a key fumble and Chicago took advantage of a team-record-tying 17 penalties by the Packers to beat Green Bay 20-17.