Packers vs. Titans: Green Bay's Biggest Winners and Losers from Week 16

Normally when I do the biggest winners and losers from any given game the Green Bay Packers play, I try to split it down the middle as much as I can. You know, five winners and five losers. Or maybe six winners and four losers.

But after the Packers beat the Tennessee Titans, 55-7, on Sunday at Lambeau Field, there sure won't be a lot of losers.

Certainly, there will be a lot of winners; that is for sure. 

The romp against the Titans was truly a team effort.

The Packers locked up at least the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs with the win.

Plus, Green Bay became an even bigger winner on Sunday night, when the Seattle Seahawks whipped the San Francisco 49ers, 42-13. That win moved the Pack into the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs with one week to play in the regular season.

If the Packers can defeat the Minnesota Vikings on the road next week, the Packers will hold on to that No. 2 seed and have a bye the first week of the playoffs.

Winner: Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers had a magnificent game on Sunday; that will only strengthen his resume to become the NFL MVP for the second consecutive year versus his competition.

Rodgers completed 27 of 38 passes for 342 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. That performance gave Rodgers a 125.1 quarterback rating for the day.

For the 2012 season now, Rodgers has thrown 35 touchdown passes, compared to just eight picks for 3,930 yards. That all adds up to a 106.2 quarterback rating, which is the best in the NFL.

Rodgers also rushed for 11 yards and scored his second rushing touchdown of the season. 

Winner: The Green Bay Offensive Line

The offensive line of the Packers did a stellar job on Sunday, both in pass protection and in run blocking. This occurred after the Packers decided to sit down starting center Jeff Saturday and replace him with Evan Dietrich-Smith.

The reason? Dietrich-Smith is a better run blocker, and the coaching staff felt it was time to pass the torch, although Saturday did a fine job with the line calls and in pass protection while he was in the lineup.

Bottom line, the Packers held the ball for over 34 minutes and ended up with 460 total yards.

Rodgers was only sacked once, plus the Packers ran for 117 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Winner: The Green Bay Running Backs

Before the game it was determined that Alex Green would be held out of the game versus Tennessee due to an ongoing concussion issue.

That meant that Ryan Grant and DuJuan Harris would carry the load at running back on Sunday. Grant and Harris definitely did their part.

Grant rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns, while Harris ran for 29 more yards and another touchdown.

Grant also caught a 34-yard pass in which he almost scored, while fullback John Kuhn caught a nine-yard pass for a key first down.

Winner: The Green Bay Receivers

The Packers were without wide receiver Jordy Nelson (hamstring) again in the game against the Titans, but the rest of the receiving corps filled in quite capably.

Wide receiver James Jones caught his NFL-leading 13th touchdown pass, while he had seven receptions for 100 yards.

Wide receiver Greg Jennings is getting back in the swing of things in the offense as well, as he also had seven catches for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Plus the leading receiver for the Packers in 2012, wide receiver Randall Cobb, had three catches for 62 yards before he had to leave with an ankle injury.

The tight ends chipped in too, led by Jermichael Finley, who had five catches for 70 yards.

D.J. Williams had three receptions for 20 yards, while Ryan Taylor had one catch for nine yards.

Winner: The Green Bay Defense

The Green Bay defense was just dominating on Sunday. Tennessee was held to just 180 total yards.

That performance put the defense of the Packers in the top 10 of the NFL overall, as the Packers are now ranked 10th.

The Packers had seven sacks plus had two interceptions.

Quarterback Jake Locker was just 13-of-30 for 140 yards, and had one touchdown versus the two picks.

The Packers also held running back Chris Johnson to just 28 yards in 11 carries.

Many players had big games for the defense. Among them were defensive lineman Mike Neal (one sack), linebacker A.J. Hawk (two sacks), linebacker Brad Jones (one sack), safety Morgan Burnett (seven tackles), defensive back Casey Hayward (six tackles) and cornerback Sam Shields (one interception and one sack).

Winner: Mason Crosby

Mason Crosby had to be a happy camper after Sunday's game. He was 2-of-2 in field goal attempts, although his second try, a 48-yard boot, hit the upright, but clanged in and was good.

Crosby also was 7-of-7 in converting extra points.

Add to all of that, Crosby was very efficient in kicking off.

Bottom line, however, Crosby has to stay consistent like this every week, even if he had a little luck on Sunday.

Sunday's contest was the first time in nine weeks that Crosby had not missed at least one field goal in a game.

Winner: The Green Bay Inside Linebackers

Inside linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones both had great games versus the Titans. Tennessee only had 79 yards rushing, while running back Chris Johnson was held to just 28 yards in 11 carries.

Hawk had seven tackles, which also included two sacks.

Jones had 10 tackles, which also included a sack.

Winner: The Lambeau Field Atmosphere

The atmosphere at Lambeau Field on Sunday was incredible. Sure, a 55-7 blowout will get the home fans excited, but this is the type of environment that the Packers and their fans have to show any team that visits the frozen tundra in the 2012 postseason.

The Packers will be hosting at least one home playoff game at Lambeau Field. Green Bay used to be unbeatable in Wisconsin. Literally.

At one time, the Packers were 13-0 in the playoffs in Wisconsin (two games in Milwaukee and 11 in Green Bay).

But since the 2002 postseason, the Packers have lost four of six playoff games at Lambeau Field.

The Packers need the playoff crowds at Lambeau this postseason to be as exuberant as they were on Sunday.

And as raucous as they were in the 1990s, when Mike Holmgren's Packers were a perfect 5-0 at Lambeau.

Sunday was a good start.

Loser: A Couple of Blown Coverages

There wasn't a lot to complain about in the Packers' thrashing of the Titans, but two plays stuck out to me.

One occurred early in the first quarter, when quarterback Jake Locker missed tight end Taylor Thompson, who was wide open deep in the left secondary. Luckily for the Packers, Locker's throw was underthrown.

But later, Locker hit another wide open receiver down the left sideline. This time it was wide receiver Kenny Britt, who hauled in a 39-yard pass. A short time later, Britt would score Tennessee's only touchdown of the game on a two-yard pass.

Obviously there was some communication breakdowns in the secondary on those two plays. That needs to get fixed, too.

The next time that it occurs could be in a playoff game, with a lot riding on the outcome.

Loser: The Injuries to Randall Cobb and Davon House

The Packers had their best performance of the year in the 55-7 beating of the Titans. Still, the Packer suffered a couple of injuries, and that is never good, especially with a team like the Packers, who have seen their fair share of injuries already this season.

Randall Cobb, who is the leading receiver for the Packers this year with 80 receptions and eight touchdowns, suffered an ankle injury returning a punt in the third quarter. Cobb did not return to the game.

Head coach Mike McCarthy thought the injury was not serious, when he commented in his postgame press conference via Packers.com.

"The training staff on the field did not give me anything to believe that it was very serious," McCarthy said. "As you know with ankle sprains and joint injuries, the next day is a huge indicator."

Jeremy Ross took over the punt retuning duties for Cobb and had a sparkling 58-yard return. There is a chance that Ross could take over the returner's job, because Cobb is so important to the offense of the Packers.

When asked about that possibility, McCarthy said, "Potentially...we'll see."

Cornerback Davon House also injured his shoulder in Sunday's game and did not return. House had injured the same shoulder in the first preseason game and was out of action for several weeks into the regular season.

McCarthy did not mention the injury in his press conference.

We should know in a day or so the severity of the injuries to both Cobb and House.