Aaron Rodgers, Packers Issue Warning Shot to Doubters with MNF Win over Eagles

Mired in their worst slump in eight years, the Green Bay Packers didn't deserve our love or admiration. The depleted defense was embarrassed in four consecutive losses, and the uncreative, unbalanced offense simply wasn't good enough.

But even after the Packers dropped those four contests and fell 2.5 games out of first place in the NFC North, we'd have been foolish to count out a team led by the highest-rated passer in the history of the NFL.

You just never know when a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers is going to hijack the football world and torch hasty narratives and high-quality opposing defenses at the same time.

Thanks primarily to a surgical, near-perfect performance by Rodgers on Monday night in Philadelphia, the still-in-contention Packers woke up just in the nick of time. They made a proclamation with a 27-13 drubbing of a team that had yet to be beaten, let alone drubbed, on its home field.

Rodgers completed all but nine of his 39 throws for 313 yards while leading the Packers to points on five of their six drives (excluding "possessions" comprised entirely of kneel downs at the end of each half). Four of those five drives consisted of nine or more plays, and the Packers converted 10 of 14 third-down attempts against the league's fourth-ranked third-down defense.

They took zero sacks, committed zero turnovers, punted just once and controlled the clock for 59 percent of the game. Routes were crisp, drops were nowhere to be seen and even the oft-maligned running game had its moments, thanks partly to the fact Rodgers picked up first downs with his legs on three rushes that went for a combined 29 yards.

Those who were prepared to lay the Packers to rest just a few hours ago might try to remind us that one win doesn't erase that hideous four-game losing streak. And that's true. Two games back in the division race and essentially two games out of the last wild-card spot (the sixth-place Washington Redskins have a 1.5-game edge plus the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Packers), Green Bay has its work cut out for it.

But it's important for those doubters—as well as the teams the Packers are chasing—to understand this wasn't just any win.

It would be one thing if this happened at Lambeau Field. And it would be one thing if Green Bay did this to—and by "this" I mean embarrassed—a decidedly inferior and/or overmatched opponent. But this is an Eagles team that was equally desperate, an Eagles team that entered Monday with a 4-0 home record.

Philadelphia had outscored its opponents by an average of 17.5 points per game at home and had surrendered just 38 points all season at Lincoln Financial Field. Two weeks ago, it held the league's highest-scoring offense—that of the Atlanta Falcons—to just 15 points. In late September, it gave up just a single field goal in a blowout victory over the high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers. It was Pittsburgh's worst offensive performance in five years.

Category	vs. Green Bay Packers	vs. Everyone Else
Points/Game	27	9.5
Yards/Game	387	281
Takeaways/Game	0	2
Third-Down %	71.4	33.3
First Downs/Game	25	14.5
Time of Possession	35:23	24:56

The Packers, who entered Week 12 with just one road victory all year—which came in unconvincing fashion in Week 1 against the abysmal Jacksonville Jaguars—made a mockery of those trends.

As hopeless as it often felt circumstances were the last four weeks, it wasn't impossible to see this coming. Prior to Monday night, the Green Bay offense had scored 24 or more points in five consecutive games. During that span, Rodgers completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 318 yards per game and a 102.0 passer rating. He threw 15 touchdown passes and just three interceptions, which is remarkable considering the Packers lost four of those five affairs.

Category	Total	Rank*
Completion %	67.2	5th
TD	17	1st
INT	3	T-11th
YPA	7.1	14th
Rating	104.1	8th

The problem, of course, was that a defense that had been gutted by injuries was also being gutted by opposing quarterbacks, running backs and receivers. The Packers gave up more than 30 points per game in all four of those losses, marking the first time that's happened since Dwight D. Eisenhower's first term as president.

But that injury-ravaged unit got Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews back from a hamstring injury last week, and starting cornerback Damarious Randall returned Monday night after missing five games with a groin injury. Randall played well, as did fellow starting corner Quinten Rollins, who wasn't himself the last few weeks after returning from a groin injury Nov. 6. Rollins was graded by Pro Football Focus as the best defender on the field in Philly.

The short-handed Eagles offense was in disarray, and Philadelphia—which gave up four sacks, threw an horrendous interception and took several foolish penalties—wouldn't have had a great night against anybody. But the Packers deserve a lot of credit for taking advantage of their opponents' sloppiness in a hostile environment.

This could have gone down differently, especially after Carson Wentz and the Eagles scored easily on their first possession. But Green Bay dominated on both sides of the ball from that point forward, controlling the game on offense and never again allowing Wentz and Co. to reach the red zone.

Some folks like to say the NFL season really starts at Thanksgiving. If that's the case, Packers fans couldn't have hoped for a better finale on Thanksgiving weekend. Now, Green Bay enters December with its many critics wondering if it's beginning to peak just as so many of us were drafting its obituary.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon