Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass before swapping his helmet for a baseball cap in the first quarter as the defending champion Green Bay Packers opened the preseason with a 27-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night.
Rodgers and most of Green Bay’s first-string offense played only two series in the first quarter, when both the Packers and Browns had long TD drives.
Rodgers got off to a rough start, but finished 6 of 8 for 74 yards and threw a 21-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings.
Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, looking comfortable running first-year Browns coach Pat Shurmur’s new West Coast offense, went 9 of 10 for 135 yards while playing three series. He threw a 27-yard TD pass to Josh Cribbs, and led Cleveland on a second scoring drive, capped by Peyton Hillis’ 3-yard scoring burst.
To quote Dennis Green, the Packers are exactly who we thought they were, and that's a good thing. The real story was how sharp McCoy looked. If he can keep it going over Cleveland's next two games, he will have increasing value and intrigue as a QB2.
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