Packers' Morgan Burnett: Key in Thursday Night Victory

With a short rest between divisional games, the Packers returned home this week after visiting the Chicago Bears in Soldier Field, where the squad won 38-17. On Thursday, the Packers faced off against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. With season-opening quarterback Matt Cassel and first-round rookie Teddy Bridgewater out, Minnesota started its other former first-rounder, Christian Ponder. The Packers, taking advantage of the third-stringer, came away with a 42-10 win.

Throughout the week, Bridgewater's health was questioned, but the Packers continued preparing for the former Louisville quarterback. When Ponder's start was announced, you could almost feel the Packers defenders perk their ears up in unison. Ponder hasn't exactly had the best track record against Green Bay, according to Bill Huber of Scout.com:

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In six career games against the Packers, Ponder has completed only 52.1 percent of his passes for 1,140 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions – a 76.6 rating – with a 1-4-1 record. In his only win against them, in the 2012 regular-season finale at the Metrodome, he threw for 234 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 120.2 rating. That victory got Minnesota into the playoffs. In a rematch against the Packers, Ponder was sidelined and Joe Webb got the start.

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Ponder finished the day 22-of-44 for 222 yards, two interceptions and six sacks. That resulted in a quarterback rating of 45.8—less than one-third of Aaron Rodgers' 138.7 mark for the day—and a score of 4.9 in ESPN's QBR measurement, almost one-twentieth of Rodgers'.

To put it simply, he didn't have a good day, which is par for the course considering his history with Green Bay. Only one target, Adam Thielen, had more than 50 receiving yards. The second-year undrafted player out of Minnesota State-Mankato hadn't notched a single NFL reception up until this past game.

How was Green Bay able to shut down the former Florida State quarterback this time? Safety Morgan Burnett played a significant role.

General manager Ted Thompson always says that Green Bay is a draft-and-develop team, not just a team built around the draft. In recent years, that's caused some impatience from fans regarding high draft picks who just weren't quite ready to play yet, such as 2012 first-round pick Nick Perry, who is currently the fourth pass-rushing linebacker on the Packers. Against Minnesota, he had a nice day, notching two sacks, a team high.

Burnett, though, flashed potential from an early age. In 2010, after being drafted in the third round out of Georgia Tech, he started four games for the team. Since then, he's been a starting safety for the green and gold.

The issue was that he never developed quite enough to warrant a $26 million extension, which he signed in the summer of 2013. From that point on, he became the target of countless articles about how he hadn't performed up to his bank account.

With a rotating safety next to him—from Pro Bowler Nick Collins to dwindling star Charles Woodson, from M.D. Jennings to now a split between Micah Hyde, who was a slot corner in 2013, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, a rookie first-rounder—it's hard to imagine he ever truly got settled in with a partner in the secondary.

With a little more consistency around him, he's looked better. On Thursday, he had 12 tackles, nine of them by himself, and forced a fumble. One of the knocks he repeatedly had hanging over his head was his ability to make tackles in the open space, which he seemed to have no issue with on this particular short week.

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1st read? check down.

— Darren Page (@DarrenPage) October 3, 2014"

Shown above with a tweet of frustration by Bleacher Report's Minnesota Vikings Featured Columnist Darren Page, Ponder took a liking to throwing the ball into underneath coverage throughout the game. The answer? Burnett, who read the eyes of the quarterback and got to the receiver to either break up the pass or tackle the target for no gained yards after the catch.

After the game, he even seemed pleased with his performance, according to Lori Nickel of the Journal Sentinel:

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'Everyone was disciplined in the run, everyone was in their gap that they were supposed to be in,' Burnett said. 'I just wanted to do my job and do my part. It's all about trusting each other out there. I don't look at it as an individual thing.'

That was a key part of Burnett's success. He played up and close to the line of scrimmage for a good part of the game. He kept the heat on the Vikings.

'It takes 11 guys to get something like that done' Burnett said. 'And that's what happened. Everyone in our room is capable of being in the box, and that deep. That's in the job description. You have to be able to play both. I have a lot of confidence in those guys, they are very smart and athletic.

'We have a great room, at practice we push each other, and it brings out the best in us.'

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On Thursday night, Thompson looked back at his previous decisions regarding Burnett and must have smiled. Whether you think Burnett was worth $26 million or not, on Thursday, he was. If this is the safety that Green Bay has for the rest of the season, it won't be long before he's asking for some more deserved cash, either.