The Green Bay Packers held off a second-half fightback from the San Diego Chargers to clinch a 27-20 victory in the NFL this evening, leaving Mike McCarthy's men with six wins from six games in the new campaign.
Green Bay entered the game with 12 straights wins at home and they made some perfect early inroads when quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for five yards in order to find James Starks, who was eventually cleared for the touchdown after a replay review.
The Chargers were next to make a scoring move and it came through some well-placed kicking from Josh Lambo, who produced from 36 yards out to pull the scores back to 7-3 come the end of the first quarter.
Starks was determined to prove that the half would be his to remember, though, as he pulled off a career-long 65-yard run to get in behind and claim his second touchdown of the contest, helping his team to move to a 14-3 lead in the process.
With much of the first-half damage done in the first quarter, Green Bay were able to add an extra three points in the second offering, after Mason Crosby kicked home from 23 yards at the end of an 83-yard push.
The Chargers were able to hand themselves a lifeline right on the stroke of half time when Philip Rivers threw a one-yard pass to Dontrelle Inman, who got home to reduce the deficit before the break.
Evidently inspired by their invention just before the break, San Diego came out strongest in the third and they notched a vital leveller through Ladarius Green, as he moved well to snare a short delivery from Rivers to make it 17 each.
Green Bay responded to the setback quickly and they soon found another seven-point advantage, largely thanks to James Jones who held his nerve to catch a fairly simple eight-yarder from Rodgers.
With the Packers ahead at 24-17 going into the final period, Lambo sprung up again for the visitors and he kicked a 32-yard field goal to put San Diego within a touchdown of victory with the best part of 11 minutes to play.
Green Bay did not appear too shaken in the closing stages, however, and Crosby perhaps put an end to any lingering nerves when he registered a kick from 28 yards to add another three to the hosts' tally, leaving the final score at 27-20 in favour of the Packers.
Christopher Dodd
