GREEN BAY -- The Packers keep on rolling, clobbering the Minnesota Vikings 45-7 Monday night at Lambeau Field. Most franchises have never had this kind of a start to the season; for the Packers, this is the fourth time they have begun 9-0, having turned the trick in 1929, 1931, and 1962. The superlatives go on and on, but the bottom line is the Vikings were simply overmatched in every facet of the game - with one notable exception, which we'll get to in a moment.

As the weeks go on, it becomes apparent that the Packers are primed to make a return trip to the Super Bowl, provided they can keep the opposition off of their MVP candidate quarterback.

Monday night, as is always the case, there are things to build on, things to learn from, and things that never should have ever polluted our senses.

With that, I give you the good, the bad, and the ugly from Monday night's Packers win.

The Good:

You cannot sugarcoat it: there are a ton of things that went right for this Packers team Monday night. I will get to another incredible effort by the player that may walk off with every single-season record in a moment, but that isn't what stands out to me the most by a long shot.

Dom Capers won't ever say that he had something to prove on Monday night, but his much-maligned defense had their most complete game of the season, stifling the Minnesota offense to just 266 total yards. Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder regressed after getting harassed early and often by the Packers pass rush, with Clay Matthews registering his fourth and fifth sacks of the season.

"It feels good to get sacks," Matthews said afterwards. "It's good anytime you get sacks, it's momentum-changing and it's great for your offense and defense to feed off of."

Ponder only completed 16 of 34 passes for 190 yards and one interception, but it could have been much worse. Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson had a chance to register one interception late in the first quarter, but couldn't hang on as the pass slipped through his hands; another should have been run back for his twelfth career return for a touchdown, but he may have seen pay dirt before he actually saw the ball, as it slipped through his hands harmlessly to the turf.

"I think we set the standard for the rest of the year," Woodson said. "We showed ourselves how well we can play. We just have to keep it up and stay focused."

In part because of Green Bay's quick early lead, Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson was somewhat neutralized, finishing with just 51 yards on 14 carries; 10 of those carries and 46 of those yards came in the first half. Considering that Peterson cut through the Packers defense like a hot knife through butter three weeks ago to the tune of 175 yards that is a significant victory in and of itself.

Anytime you can give the Packers offense an early lead that falls in the "good" category as well. Randall Cobb became the first rookie in franchise history to run both a kick and a punt all the way back for a touchdown when he scampered 80 yards for a score after the Packers stopped the Vikings on the game's first series. Cobb has given the Packers an added dimension on special teams that had been lacking for a number of years.

And then there was Aaron Rodgers.

The Packers quarterback had another spectacular performance, completing 23 of his 30 passes, good for 250 yards and four touchdowns. Currently, Rodgers leads the NFL in completion percentage (72.9 percent), touchdown passes (28), and average yards per pass (9.7). His quarterback rating of 130.7 is 23.3 points higher than his closest competitor (Tom Brady), and he remains on pace to break several NFL records.

And yet, Rodgers still didn't seem satisfied after the game.

"We had way too many negative yardage plays and I think we left some yards out there on the field," the reigning Super Bowl MVP said. "But they have a good defense. They did some good things tonight, kind of slowed us down there a little bit."

The players in the other locker room respectfully disagreed with Rodgers assessment.

"(I'm) just disgusted," Minnesota's Jared Allen said, despite his pair of quarterback sacks. "I mean 45-7, are you kidding me? I haven't lost this bad since I don't know when. They throttled us out there today."

"We took this one on the chin," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "And we've got to man up. We didn't come to play. They outplayed us. Period."

"It was embarrassing," offered All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson.

Monday night Rodgers set a single-season franchise record with nine straight games of at least two touchdown passes, and set franchise records for most passing yards (2,869) and touchdowns (28) through the first nine games of a season.

In other words, for as great as his predecessor was, Aaron Rodgers is topping everything Brett Favre did.

And that definitely qualifies as "good."

The Bad:

To put it bluntly: There isn't much to pick on here. However, after having read the headlines all week and after having responded to the challenge, the Packers defense has inadvertently thrown the gauntlet down to their teammates on the offensive line.

Monday night, Rodgers was scrambling for his life at times. Rodgers officially took four sacks, but that number could have been much worse if not for his quick mind and feet.

On two occasions, Rodgers knew exactly where the "tackle box" was (the imaginary extended line that encompasses one defensive end to the other at the line of scrimmage) and danced just outside of it, flinging the ball harmlessly to the ground, thus avoiding a grounding penalty.

Rodgers also ran the ball six times, all but one of those rushes were because the pocket collapsed around him.

As Aaron Rodgers goes, so go the Green Bay Packers. Keeping Rodgers healthy means keeping him upright. There were too many times where he had to avoid pressure because one or more of his lineman missed their assignment, particularly in the second quarter.

Don't think that there was not a collective sigh of relief when at the 10:30 mark of the fourth quarter when Matt Flynn entered the game, sparing Rodgers from any further pounding.

The Ugly:

It was so close. It was right on the brink. Among the rarest of accomplishments was staring the 70,519 in attendance right in the face.

And then POOF! It was gone in the blink of an eye

Rare nowadays is the NFL shutout. Offenses have become so much more prolific and every rule that the league puts into play seems to make it harder for the defense to do its job.

The Packers have only had six shutouts since the Brett Favre era began, and that is for a franchise that has been good enough to play in 13 postseasons, three Super Bowls, and have two championships in that span of almost 20 years.

They were on the brink of that most elusive of accomplishment until Cobb caught a case of the dropsy's in the third quarter on a Chris Kluwe punt deep in Green Bay territory. After a mad scramble for the ball, Minnesota's Ryan D'Imperio came up with it on the Packers 14 yard line. Two short plays later, Adrian Peterson went off right tackle for the purely cosmetic score, ending the dream of that tricky goose egg for a defense that has been much maligned through the course of what has turned out to be a most remarkable season.

Next week: vs. (4-5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers