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GREEN BAY – The cheers were distinctive and the crowd rose to its feet as Aaron Rodgers trotted onto Lambeau Field Monday night for his first series to mark the beginning of a new era – AB (After Brett) – in Green Bay Packers history.

What followed wasn’t the ideal start for Rodgers’ extremely-hyped first NFL start as the Cincinnati Bengals defense forced a three-and-out on the opening series and an interception on the next drive. But Brett Favre’s successor stepped up and orchestrated two scoring drives before he was pulled from the game.

However, Rodgers’ debut was overshadowed by the Packers’ second-team defense’s inability to stop the Bengals’ first-team offense as the visitors scored 17 second-quarter points and the Packers fell in their preseason opener, 20-17.

“I thought (Aaron) did a good job,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said. “He had a number of opportunities that he took advantage of. I thought he did a good job of managing the huddle. I didn’t like the way we started on offense. … But I thought there was a lot of quality work, a lot of things we can build off of, and I thought he was off to a good start.”

Linebacker A.J. Hawk was happy to see the crowd support Rodgers after all he’s been through over the summer.

“It was well deserved,” Hawk said. “He came out and produced and played well. I felt good for him for getting that and I think they were really behind him the whole game.”

The 24-year-old, fourth-year quarterback showed poise in the pocket by the third drive and finished 9-for-15 for 117 yards with one touchdown and one interception in one quarter of action. Rodgers was satisfied with his performance.

“We made some plays,” he said. “We were close to really putting some points on the board. We just didn’t execute as well as we probably could have. We’re going to clean it up, watch the film, make the corrections and get better next week.”

Rodgers’ first touchdown was about as memorable as they come. Up 3-0 after a Mason Crosby 37-yard, first-quarter field goal, Rodgers led the Packers down to the 30-yard line when he hooked up with James Jones on an in route. Jones corralled the ball and was sandwiched in the open field by two Bengals defenders. The stunned second-year receiver stayed on his feet while his helmet flew off and he pranced into the end zone as Rodgers followed to celebrate.

“I knew I was going to get hit, I didn’t know how hard I was going to get hit,” Jones said. “I was kinda rocked. I was just hoping I was going the right direction.”

Said Rodgers, “James made a great catch and a great run.”

According to Jones, that play set the tone for the offense, even though the first-teamers were done for the day.

“It was definitely a booster for the offense,” Jones said. “The defense was playing great. Whenever we can contribute and make a big play, that’s great.”

The point-after gave the Packers a 10-0 lead with 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Rodgers struggled in his first two series, getting sacked twice and throwing an interception to Dexter Jackson off a deflection out of the hands of wide receiver Chris Francies.

See Packers, Page 12A

“We had the coverage we wanted, outside leverage,” Rodgers said. “I put the ball where I wanted to. We have to make those plays.”

Although it was not his fault, a few boos could be heard from the loyal Packer backers.

The Packers’ first-team offense played four series and exited after the first quarter as Brandon Jackson -- who started in the back field in place of Ryan Grant -- rushed for 44 yards on six carries. Donald Driver caught four balls for 39 yards.

After the Packers’ top defensive unit forced four three-and-outs to start the game, the Bengals’ offense got rolling in the second quarter.

Free safety Aaron Rouse didn’t think it was all the second-team defense’s fault for losing the game.

“We’ve really got to watch for opportunities, and it’s the little things that got us in trouble,” Rouse said.

After an apparent Chris Perry fumble call was reversed on their fifth drive, the Bengals marched down the field – 9 plays, 80 yards -- with

their first-team offense as Carson Palmer, who finished 5-for-9 for 33 yards, connected with tight end Ben Utecht for a 14-yard touchdown pass to pull within 10-7 with 4 minutes, 58 seconds elapsed in the second quarter.

Rookie Brian Brohm’s first snap behind center was disastrous as he tossed an interception to set up the Bengals at the Packers’ 40-yard line. The Bengals again took advantage of the short field when Perry found the end zone from 6 yards out to put the visitors up 14-10 with 8:50 left in the first half. The Packers’ next drive stalled and the Bengals settled on a Shayne Graham 43-yard field goal to put the Bengals up 17-10 just before halftime.

The second half featured a battle of second-, third- and fourth-string quarterbacks with the Bengals winning the stalemate. Brohm played just over 1 1/2 quarters in his debut and completed 8-of-17 passes for 70 yards and an interceptions.

After an uneventful third quarter, the Bengals tacked on a Graham 32-yard field goal at 10:45 of the fourth quarter to go up by 10 points.

In mop-up duty, Packers quarterback Matt Flynn connected with Kregg Lumpkin for a 11-yard TD, capping an 11-play, 62-yard drive with 3

minutes, 2 seconds left in the fourth quarter to pull within three points at 20-17.

The Packers’ last-ditch attempt to tie or take the lead, the game went awry as Lumpkin fumbled with 48 seconds remaining.

Flynn had a quality outing by going 12-for-21 for 97 yards. Green Bay outgained Cincinnati on the night, 383-241, as the Packers

passed for 271 yards and rushed for 112 more. The Bengals finished with 123 yards rushing and 118 through the air.

When it was all said and done, the top offensive and defensive groups played up to their standard, and Hawk wants to keep it that way.

“We want to come out and set the tone early,” Hawk said. “We’ll will take the positives from this and move to the next week.”

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