Lambeau leap

The defense held the Packers to 120 net yards, the lowest output against the Patriots this season. Quarterback Tom Brady matched a career high with four touchdown passes, as the Patriots struck a solid balance between the run (122 yards) and pass (235 yards). And special teams coverage units, which had been a weakness in recent weeks, were sound throughout.

In posting their thorough victory over the overmatched Packers before 70,753 at historic Lambeau Field, the Patriots (7-3) snapped their first two-game losing streak since the end of the 2002 season. The win was their seventh straight on the road, matching a team record, and marked the franchise's first road shutout since Oct. 19, 1986, when the Patriots beat the Steelers, 34-0.

Defensive lineman Richard Seymour felt the Patriots got back to being themselves after two disappointing weeks.

"We came out and had fun. This is a game where you play with passion and you play with emotion, and we were able to do that," said Seymour, adding he felt the team's strong week of practice set a positive tone. "Guys were high-fiving, smiling, you were seeing teeth out there. It began to snowball."

The Packers (4-6) were buried under that avalanche, with quarterback Brett Favre knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a right elbow injury when he was sacked by Tully Banta-Cain and driven into the turf by linebacker Tedy Bruschi. Favre was 5 of 15 for 73 yards before giving way to Aaron Rodgers (4 of 12, 32 yards) for the remainder of the game.

The Packers finished 1 of 13 on third down, a stark reversal for a Patriots defense that had struggled to get off the field the last two weeks. The final time of possession was also telling -- Patriots 39:10, Packers 20:50. The numbers were more impressive considering that the Patriots were playing without three opening-day starters in their secondary, with cornerback Asante Samuel (knee) and safeties Rodney Harrison (shoulder) and Eugene Wilson (hamstring) out.