The Packers improved to 3-0 on the season Sunday after beating the Bears in Chicago, 27-17. This week's recap has far more good than bad or ugly, but there is always something to build on, something to learn from and some things that we never should have seen in the first place.

The good

Ryan Grant ran the ball with purpose, passion and anger. Grant's 92 yards on 17 carries exploited a defense that was gearing up for Aaron Rodgers all week, but did not figure on Green Bay's running game being effective. When the Packers run the ball well, Aaron Rodgers has the ability to keep defenses guessing. Mike McCarthy's play-calling was superb, as he seemed to know exactly what was coming his way before the play began.

As for Grant, it is possible he heard James Starks' heavy footsteps behind him, making a case for him to be the Packers' feature back, but Grant showed that there is still some gas left in his tank.

Chicago, on the other hand, couldn't go anywhere on the ground. Green Bay's front seven, particularly Clay Matthews and Desmond Bishop, stuffed Bears running back Matt Forte early, forcing quarterback Jay Cutler to throw. In the first quarter, Forte was dropped behind the line of scrimmage on three of his four carries. That set the tone for the rest of the game, as he finished with just tw0 yards on nine carries.

Morgan Burnett had an outstanding individual game at strong safety, intercepting Cutler twice and finishing tied Desmond Bishop for the team lead in tackles with five. Burnett will be called upon quite heavily this season after the loss of All-Pro Nick Collins. So far, the early returns on last season's third-round draft selection are promising.

In fact, all of Green Bay's pass defense could be considered "adequate" after two weeks squarely in the "bad" category of this column. Cutler completed 21 of 37 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns, but his two interceptions killed Chicago's momentum.

Greg Jennings caught just about everything thrown his way and set the pace with four catches for 61 yards during Green Bay's first drive which was capped off by a 6-yard scoring strike to Jermichael Finley. On Sunday, Finley got the fantasy football glory with three touchdowns but it was Jennings who did the dirty work, catching nine passes for 119 yards.

Speaking of Finley, his seven catches for 85 yards and three touchdowns illustrate the impossibility for other teams to cover him consistently. Finley has all the size and strength of an elite tight end with better speed. His presence creates mismatch problems all over the field, which Rodgers knows how to exploit. As the Packers approach the quarter-pole of the season next week, Finley is fifth in receiving yardage among tight ends, and tied for third in touchdown receptions.

"His best ball is still in front of him," Rodgers said. "He's a big-time player and incredible athlete."

Rodgers had another solid outing. His numbers pale in comparison to his first two games, but he is an early candidate for the NFL's MVP Award, especially considering how poorly Tom Brady fared on Sunday vs. Buffalo. Rodgers leads the NFL in quarterback rating (120.9) and is fifth in touchdown passes (8), and has fewer interceptions than any other quarterback (other than Sam Bradford, who also has one) with more than 100 passing attempts.

Rodgers had his ups and downs Sunday but was very good overall. The seventh-year pro's pedestrian outings would be classified as "outstanding" for most of the league, but in Green Bay, superior quarterback play has become something that is taken for granted for almost 20 years. Rodgers final stat line (28-38, 297 yards, 3 touchdowns, one interception and 111.4 quarterback rating) grades out to a winning performance any week of the season.

On the offensive line, second-year tackle Marshall Newhouse did admirably filling in for the injured Bryan Bulaga.

"Marshall stepped up and gave us a chance to stay with our plan," coach Mike McCarthy said in his postgame news conference.

For the majority of the game, Newhouse drew veteran Israel Idonije and held his own. Fortunately Bulaga's injury was not as bad as it originally had appeared, but should there be another lineman to go own, the versatile Newhouse appears to have what it takes to fill in at a moment's notice.

Chicago's first five possessions in the second half were all snuffed out by the Green Bay defense. On the Bears first three times with the ball, they netted -9, -2, and -8 yards, respectively, on three consecutive three-and-outs. When they are on, the Packers have the personnel to be dominant on defense. We just did not see very much of that through their first two games.

The bad

Free safety Charlie Peprah, also trying to fill Collins' shoes, had a rough outing. Peprah failed to cover tight end Kellen Davis adequately on his 32-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Davis caught the ball on the Green Bay 18 with Peprah flailing at him, then ran through a poor attempt at an arm tackle by Burnett at the 13, then ran through Sam Shield's laughingly-poor attempt at a takedown on the 8 before getting run down four yards too late by Tramon Williams in the end zone. With 11:46 left on the clock, the Packers still led 27-17, but this score gave the Bears life.

Williams' interception in the fourth quarter was nullified by an illegal hit to the head by linebacker Erik Walden. The Bears clearly had momentum after Davis' touchdown reception and a three-and-out by the Green Bay offense, and this gave them life the Packers did not want to allow. Walden will likely at least hear from the league as the hit, while unintentional, was still illegal.

As the Packers rush defense was stout, early on there was very little pressure on Cutler. For a porous offensive line that had surrendered 11 combined sacks in the first two games, Cutler was virtually untouched in the first half. Jarius Wynn got to Cutler twice in the second half (including on the first play from scrimmage) and Jarrett Bush got him on a corner blitz, but getting consistent pressure on the quarterback shouldn't have been a problem with one of the poorest offensive lines in the NFL. (especially considering their injuries – neither Lance Lewis or Gabe Carimi were able to play.

The ugly

It was raining yellow all throughout the first half. The Packers were flagged five times for just 25 yards before halftime, which doesn't sound terrible, but they all seemed to come at the most inopportune time. Every time the Packers had momentum, another penalty stopped progress dead in its tracks.

Holding penalties can be forgiven; they are aggression penalties in the heat of battle and part of the game. Newhouse got flagged for a false start deep in Chicago territory, but he gets a pass because he doesn't get much playing time, and more importantly, he did not repeat the violation.

However, the rest of the offensive line got flagged five separate times for pre-snap violations. T.J. Lang drew a pair of false starts, Chad Clifton was penalized for a false start, and Josh Sitton drew one flag for a false start and another for illegal formation (which was declined). It was both unacceptable and ugly.

Another item that falls into the "ugly" category: The Bears' orange jerseys. Why must Chicago always seem to break out the most hideous thing they could possibly dream up for their battles with Green Bay? This time it was the retina-burning neon-orange tops that make them look like they belong in a Tiffany video from 1988.

The Chicago Bears have fine, historical, no-frills jerseys, just like the Packers. Why the NFL encourages the use of horrible throwbacks and alternative tops is unfathomable, until you consider that it is a total money grab designed to spike jersey sales. Ugly. Just plain ugly.

Finally, you cannot talk about the word ugly and not at least mention Soldier Field. For once the playing surface looked like it belonged in the NFL. But they even screwed that up when the officials had to halt play because a spike was sticking out of the 17-yard line. When Chicago tore down the original Soldier Field and replaced it with the monstrosity that we see today, they should have just let the colonnades be torn down as well.

Now you have what looks like the Love Boat sandwiched in between the Parthenon. The upper deck is vertigo-inducing, it is impossible to get there, and not that fans should care, but the press box is the worst in football. What do I mean by that? If you are sitting in the third row, you can only see about 1/8 of the playing surface. Again, the media's problems are not yours, but it just illustrates how inept the entire design of the building was.

Next week: Green Bay (3-0) vs. Denver (1-2), 3:15 p.m. (CBS)