The Packers came out running with James Starks in the rainy weather against the Titans. Last season Green Bay had more than 2,000 rushing yards for the first time in 10 seasons. Credit: Associated Press

Nashville, Tenn. — This offense was a lot different the last time Bryan Bulaga lined up on game day.

Back in 2012, running the football was often a mystery for the Green Bay Packers. And caught in this LP Field monsoon, reeling off seven runs in eight plays, the Packers ran the ball at will.

A strange sight. Even for the preseason.

"To me, we've been throwing the ball quite a bit since I was rookie," Bulaga said. "Now coming back to having a drive like we did in the preseason game where we just kind of pounded the ball, it was different but it was good.

"I know we all enjoyed it."

Last season was the first time in 10 years the Packers gained more than 2,000 yards rushing. The 4.7 yards per carry was also the team's highest since 2003. Part of it was survival. The best (only?) chance to win a game was by ramming a 240-pounder into a crowded line of scrimmage. Part of it, however, was structural.

Aaron Rodgers returns in 2014, but that doesn't necessarily mean the ways of 2011 and 2012 return with him. Green Bay has learned a lot since winning the Super Bowl. Lesson No. 1? An MVP quarterback, one that's nearly perfect, one who set an NFL record in passer rating isn't enough.

In Green Bay's 20-16 loss to the Titans, that uppercut of a first possession was another sign of real change.

Rodgers is back. Head coach Mike McCarthy says this group of wide receivers is the deepest he's ever had. Fireworks are the norm, fireworks are expected. But the Packers aren't reaching Glendale, Ariz., without this commitment to the run.

"Oh man, you've got to have balance," Bulaga said. "You can't let defensive lines just put their hands down, pin their ears back and rush upfield. That makes it difficult on us, it makes it difficult on the quarterback as well. When you can run the ball and he can manipulate the defense and get us in good looks for run and pass, it helps out the entire offense.

"It keeps the defense off the field, so they can come in fresh off longer drives. You need to have that good balance to not only help us out but also help out the quarterback, too. He knows it like the back of his hand. And if he can do whatever he needs to do back there, you can't really stop the guy."

Rodgers and Eddie Lacy — the two players central to the metamorphosis — weren't on the field. McCarthy promised to hold back on the X's and O's this preseason.

Yet it's as if the coach was still sending a message to the Seattle Seahawks.

With 1st and 10 at the Titans' 20-yard line, he didn't flex out five receivers. Didn't get cute. He called for an inverted wishbone — fullback John Kuhn on one side, tight end Richard Rodgers on the right and whole can of butt-whuppin' up front. Everyone dominated their defender and James Starks dashed in for the score.

Oh, McCarthy promised a year ago in "big letters" that the Packers would run the ball better. They did. But an 8-7-1 season still followed. Now, with Rodgers and Lacy, do defenses stay in nickel? Use two high safeties? Stack the box? Bulaga isn't sure.

"You've got to respect both aspects of the game, especially with running the football," he said. "Obviously you have the best quarterback in the league with some of the best receivers in the league that he's throwing the ball to. So you can't just focus in on one point because the other one might come back to bite you."

Aaron Rodgers has more control, too. When the Packers ran the ball in the past, the approach was archaic.

"We used to just line up, call a run and run it," Kuhn said. "Now, (quarterbacks) have the ability to put us in the best play possible.

"It allows us to get in a play that's advantageous vs. just beating our heads into a brick wall. If a defense comes out and they're in a defense we don't like on that play, we'll switch it to a better one."

Simple, yet effective. And still new. Kuhn says it's been "an ongoing evolution" with Rodgers, an evolution that's making the offense balanced at its core. The play-calling. McCarthy has given his quarterback more freedom and he's far less stubborn sending the plays in, too.

In the seven games Rodgers and Lacy were healthy together, the Packers ran the ball 49% of the time. That 15-1 season in 2011? Forty-one percent.

This will be a different Packers offense. Run after run after run in Nashville was the latest reminder.

"It's good to be able to do that when you need to do that," Bulaga said. "That's the biggest thing. And when you need to throw it, throw it. That's the identity you want — moving the ball running and passing. You can't ask for anything more."

Send email to tdunne@journalsentinel.com

This column appeared in Packer Plus Magazine