The Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks were supposed to be putting on a preview of the NFC Championship, and while it still might be, only one of these teams is happy about its Week 1 performance.

Green Bay did its job, beating the Chicago Bears, 31-23, behind three touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers and 85 rushing yards from Eddie Lacy. Seattle melted down defensively in regulation and then started overtime with an unintentional onside kick in a 34-31 loss to the St. Louis Rams.

Things didn't go perfectly for the Packers -- Marshawn Lynch will be quite interested to watch the film of Matt Forte rushing for 141 yards and a touchdown and Jay Cutler was able to hit a couple downfield passes -- but things still looked good for Green Bay.

Lacy's performance, plus 35 yards from Rodgers on the ground, meant that the star quarterback didn't have to turn the game into a passing duel with Cutler. He only needed to throw 23 passes, completing 18, and he wasn't sacked. The concerns about Jordy Nelson's season-ending knee injury were eased a tiny bit with James Jones coming back to Green Bay to catch a pair of touchdown passes, while Randall Cobb shook off a preseason injury to catch five passes for 38 yards and another score.

Rookie Ty Montgomery averaged 35 yards on three kickoff returns, including a 46-yarder, and the defense got big plays from the expected names -- Clay Matthews had an interception, Julius Peppers had 1.5 sacks and B.J. Raji picked up the other half.

It wasn't a spectacular performance, and the run defense is a concern, but it was solid. The offense gained over 6 yards a play, converted 60 percent of its third downs, didn't turn the ball over and only had to punt twice. The defense held Cutler to 5.6 yards per pass attempt -- Rodgers was at 8.2 -- and got the game's only interception.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy can't be happy about 10 penalties, though. If Chicago can force Green Bay into that many mistakes, Seattle isn't going to make life easier.

Pete Carroll's first focus is going to be on his own team, and especially the pass defense. Nick Foles threw for 297 yards and a touchdown on just 27 attempts, and was only sacked twice. Foles did lose two fumbles, one that was returned for a fourth-quarter touchdown, but going for 11 yards per attempt is a bad day for any secondary, much less the "Legion of Boom."

Sunday's performance certainly puts pressure on the Seahawks to get holdout Kam Chancellor back into the fold, and leaves him in a dilemma. Sunday's loss and a game coming up against Rodgers gives him a lot more leverage in his contract dispute, but he also doesn't want to sit at home and watch the team fall apart before his return.

The Seahawks can't afford to look as sloppy against Green Bay as they did against the Rams. Russell Wilson needed 41 attempts to throw for 251 yards, and was also sacked six times and threw an interception. That's not a complete shock -- if the Rams can do one thing well, it is rush the passer -- but the Packers' defensive line will be watching carefully to see how Aaron Donald was able to consistently disrupt Seattle's offense.

The Rams didn't run the ball well against Seattle, but Lacy will be a bigger test than Benny Cunningham, and Cunningham did add 77 receiving yards out of the backfield.

The Seahawks do get one major break: Lambeau Field isn't a frozen tundra in September. But it isn't the spot Carroll would have chosen to bounce back from Sunday's disaster.

How to Watch

When: 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisc.

Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

TV: NBC

Online: NBC Sports Live Extra

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