5 Most Positive Takeaways from Packers' Big Win over Vikings in Week 5
It's funny how four days can make a world of difference for a football team in the NFL. Just ask the Green Bay Packers.
Before last Sunday's game against the Bears in Chicago, the Packers were sitting on a 1-2 record and were also coming off a deflating defeat by the Lions in Detroit.
But after back-to-back victories against the Bears and the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night at Lambeau Field, the Packers are 3-2 all of a sudden.
Both victories turned out to be blowouts as well. The Packers outscored their NFC North opponents in those two games by an 80-27 margin to now be 2-1 in the division.
In the 42-10 win over the Vikings, the Packers had a number of positives to reflect on, and I'm going to list five of them.
The Defense Came to Play
1 of 5
Many in Packer Nation have not been enamored with the way the defense has played for the past three seasons.
After finishing fifth in total defense in the NFL in 2010, which also happened to coincide with a Super Bowl victory, the Packers have finished 32nd, 11th and 25th over the next three seasons. Yes, the Packers won the NFC North three years in a row in that period, but the team has not done well in the postseason, going 1-3 in that time.
The defense was one of the main reasons why. The defense designed by Dom Capers is predicated on two things: putting pressure on the opposing quarterback and creating turnovers.
In Thursday night's game against the Vikings, the Packers did just that. Quarterback Christian Ponder of the Vikings was sacked six times and hit 16 more times, as Tyler Dunne of the Journal Sentinel described in this story.
The outstanding pass rush also caused two misfires from Ponder that became interceptions, one of which was returned for a 49-yard touchdown by Julius Peppers.
The Packers also forced a fumble.
Bottom line, the Packers played fast and furious on defense. If that type of effort can become a consistent force throughout the rest of the 2014 season, the defense will become a strength instead of a perceived weakness.
Eddie Lacy Was a Monster Running the Ball
2 of 5
Going into the Thursday night game against the Vikings, running back Eddie Lacy of the Packers was having a rather pedestrian 2014 season.
In the four games before that matchup, Lacy had just 161 yards rushing on 53 carries. That adds up to a 3.0-yard average. Plus, No. 27 only had one touchdown.
That was a vast difference from Lacy's debut season in 2013, when he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, as he rushed for 1,178 yards (4.1 YPC) and 11 touchdowns.
His numbers skyrocketed in the game versus the Vikings. Lacy had 105 yards rushing on just 13 carries. His yards-per-carry average? A whopping 8.1 yards.
In addition to that, he doubled his touchdown total for the season by scoring twice.
Lacy has now upped his season total to 266 yards rushing and has a 4.0-yard average.
He explained what the difference was in his performance after the game. "One thing I noticed that I did was that when I made my decision, I made it and just got my pad level down and just drove it," Lacy said. "And made whoever had to hit me, make it a tough hit on their behalf instead of slowing down and hitting the brakes."
Lacy definitely did some driving against the Vikings, especially when he popped the helmet off safety Robert Blanton on his second touchdown.
The Big Play by Julius Peppers
3 of 5
When general manager Ted Thompson signed Julius Peppers back in March of this year, I'm sure he envisioned plays like the one No. 56 made Thursday night against the Vikings.
In the newest version of the Green Bay defense, Peppers sometimes plays outside linebacker, and at other times he plays defensive end. Normally, he will be heading upfield in either case.
But on one particular play, Peppers dropped into coverage. And thanks to defensive end Luther Robinson's pass rush, the ball was deflected right into the arms of Peppers.
The 6'7", 287-pound Peppers crossed the field, ran like the running back he was in high school and scored on a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown.
For the season, Peppers now has 15 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three passes defended, one forced fumble, one interception and one touchdown.
One player who was not surprised about the touchdown of Peppers is the other bookend at outside linebacker, Clay Matthews. No. 52 talked about the play of Peppers after the game:
"Pep's a sensational athlete," Matthews said. "He surprises us every day he's out here with every facet of his game."
Expect even more surprises throughout the 2014 season.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Aaron Rodgers Continues to Eat Up NFC North Opponents
4 of 5
Recently, I wrote an article about quarterback Aaron Rodgers's dominance over NFC North opponents.
Going into Thursday night's game against the Vikings, Rodgers had thrown 71 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions for 8,979 yards against NFC North foes. That all adds up to a 110.6 passer rating.
No. 12 was also a combined 27-9 against the Bears, Lions and Vikings.
Although Rodgers plays well against all of the NFC North teams, he actually plays his best statistically versus the Vikings. Before Thursday night's game, he had thrown 26 touchdown passes and just four picks for 3,125 yards and a 117.9 passer rating against Minnesota.
No. 12 did not disappoint on Thursday evening at Lambeau Field either. Rodgers threw three touchdown passes without a pick for 156 yards. That performance resulted in a 138.7 passer rating.
Speaking of passer ratings, Rodgers now leads all qualified passers in the NFL in that category. The former Cal Bear has a 114.8 rating, as he has thrown 12 touchdown passes compared to just one interception for 1,155 yards.
Rodgers is also distributing the football quite well to his wide receivers, as Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and rookie Davante Adams all had touchdown receptions against the Vikings.
Offensive Line Won the Battle in the Trenches
5 of 5
The Packers ran the football very well against the Vikings on Thursday night. Combined, the running backs had 156 yards on just 28 carries. That adds up to a 5.6-yard average.
Although it didn't happen all the time, there were times when you could have driven a truck through some of the holes the offensive line created, especially on a few of Eddie Lacy's runs.
The offensive line was aggressive overall in its blocking, and the ground game reflected that.
It looks like the unit is starting to jell behind left tackle David Bakhtiari, left guard Josh Sitton, rookie center Corey Linsley, right guard T.J. Lang and right tackle Bryan Bulaga.
The same held true on their pass blocking, as Aaron Rodgers was 12-of-17 for 156 yards and three touchdowns without a pick.
One pass play in particular stands out. Head coach Mike McCarthy called for a long bootleg throw, which needs outstanding blocking to develop. When it was all said and done, Rodgers had thrown a 66-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson after No. 87 used a double-move to get by safety Harrison Smith.
McCarthy talked about the play with the media, via Packers.com. "Aaron did a great job with the throw," said McCarthy. "Jordy ran a good route, and the protection was outstanding."
The overall play of the offensive line was equally outstanding.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
