Aaron Rodgers, Packers Offense Back on Track After Win over Buccaneers

In a non-surprise victory, the Green Bay Packers left Raymond James Stadium, where they previously had a record of 1-7, with a win. Departing from Florida's west coast with a margin of victory of three scores, the 20-3 result looks impressive as a final, but the box score is even more imposing for the Packers.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers only had the ball on offense for 21:22, roughly a third of the game. When they did possess the pigskin, they ran 47 plays for 109 total yards. Their average yards per play equaled a mark of 2.3. When putting that up to Green Bay's 6.0, the game gets put into clearer perspective.

Prior to the game, Green Bay's official Twitter account sent out a comparison of the two teams' skill players. A quick glance tells the story of the subsequent game.

"

Comparing offensive leaders. See the full #GBvsTB preview infographic: http://t.co/BvRROKfziw pic.twitter.com/o73PGKxwCJ

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 21, 2014"

One reason for the Packers' success is Aaron Rodgers, the MVP leader late into the 2014 season. After the worst game of his career by raw statistics, the former California Golden Bear had a hell of a bounce-back performance.

Despite two significant drops from rookie receiver Davante Adams, Rodgers went 31-of-40, good for a 77.5 percent completion percentage, for 318 yards and a score. His passer rating of 108.1 was 73.8 points better than his production from the week before.

A couple drives into the battle with the Buccaneers, though, no one would have guessed Rodgers would put up this type of a game.

Jay Sorgi of 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee noted that the Fox crew stated the quarterback was ill coming into the match. After Rodgers took two big hits from Michael Johnson, the splash free agent of Tampa Bay's 2014 offseason, backup passer Matt Flynn was seen warming up on the sideline, per NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano.

"

Matt Flynn was briefly warming up after that Rodgers fumble. Briefly….

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 21, 2014"

Returning to the game, the former Super Bowl MVP played on fire for the rest of the match, seemingly connecting on every dropback.

Adjusting in-game, left tackle David Bakhtiari kept his quarterback relatively free from Johnson over the next three quarters. With a clean jersey, Rodgers was able to do what he does best: find his two top targets. Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson, for the second time in 2014, both had final lines featuring their individual 100-yard performances through the air.

Likely Pro Bowl candidates, the tandem turned 20 receptions into 144 yards as Nelson caught one pass for a score.

On the ground, the Packers again opened up opportunities by forcing teams to respect their passing game more than they usually would. Featured running back Eddie Lacy hit 99 yards in the match, good for his third-best mark of the year.

Overall, the running game has picked up recently with four of Lacy's five-best games, based on yardage, coming in the past five weeks. Due to his most recent showing, he cracked the 1,000-yard milestone for the season.

According to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, the Green Bay Packers typically don't wear their captains patches until they begin their playoff games. This week, the first of 2014 donning the patches, they clinched their spot in the postseason. Potentially symbolism of a must-win stretch which could net them either a first-round bye and/or the NFC North title, the Packers looked ready for the playoffs this week.

With what is essentially the NFC North title game coming next Sunday, when the Packers face the Detroit Lions, the match could be flexed to the standalone night game. This would give the national audience a game to point to as the most significant of Week 17. From an outside perspective, the tone of the game won't matter to this squad. The Packers already know how much these games mean.

If you're looking for evidence, a limping, sick, former MVP rocking a playoff patch against a 2-12 team should be enough.