Cardinals vs. Packers: Cardinals rookie receives impress; Packers see good signs at LT

Arizona got off to a good start in the Carson Palmer era, while the Packers couldn’t crack the scoreboard.

Aug 10, 2013, 3:31 PM UTC

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals showed up in their first game under new coach Bruce Arians, beating the Green Bay Packers 17-0 at Lambeau Field on Friday night.

Arizona got off to a hot start after stuffing Green Bay's James Starks on 4th-and-goal. In his Cardinals debut, Carson Palmer played great with 77 passing yards and a beautiful 38-yard touchdown pass to Andre Roberts.

The defense was obviously very good, not allowing a point. The Packers could only muster 223 yards of total offense, while turning the ball over twice. Aaron Rodgers was a bright spot though, completing 3-of-5 passes for 62 yards.

Over at Revenge Of The Birds, Shaun Church pointed out a pair of rookie receivers who played very well in Jaron Brown and Charles Hawkins.

Brown had five receptions for 46 yards (9.2 yards per catch) and a touchdown, while Hawkins had four receptions for 92 yards (23.0 YPC).

Though Brown had half the yards Hawkins did, the 6'2" former Clemson Tiger stood out by converting on at least two third-down situations. His touchdown came from backup quarterback Drew Stanton (8-of-14, 107 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 105.4 passer rating) on a perfectly thrown back-shoulder fade that covered the final yard of an eight-play, 52-yard drive to start the second quarter.

As Jason Hirschhorn points out on ACME Packing Company, that all was not lost for the Pack. Replacing left tackle Bryan Bulaga who is lost for the season with a torn ACL, David Bakhtiari stepped up.

There was no more obvious winner from Friday night’s game than David Bakhtiari. Not only was he stellar in pass protection once again, but he displayed great instincts in the running game. Not only did Mike McCarthy call most of the runs to his side, but he regularly got to the second level and generally looked like a menace.

For more on the Cardinals, check out Revenge Of The Birds and if you’re a Packers fan, ACME Packing Company is the place for you.