Green Bay Packers: What To Look for in the Upcoming Weeks for the Pack

Yet another quality win for the most injured team in the league.

As the Packers walk away from a 9-0 victory over the super-hyped New York Jets, the initial consensus in Green Bay is that the Pack are back (and better than ever).

Key losses are never a good sign, but the efforts put forth by the current backups is truly a sight to see.

Getting through two key games against Minnesota and New York is a positive for McCarthy's crew, who now find themselves alone atop the NFC North at 5-3.

Looking into next week's home match-up against the battered, lowly Cowboys, the Packers have to be impressed at how well the defense was able to shut down the league's best rushing attack, as well as the passing game of Mark Sanchez and Santonio Holmes.

It's enough of a compliment to force the only shutout thus far in the season, against the team dubbed by nearly everyone as the best of the best.  Let's hope that continues.

As for our MVP Quarterback: 170 yards on 15 completions, with a QB rating of 59.7.  Against the stout defense of the Jets, 170 yards sounds like an accomplishment worth the praise.

Rodgers is on pace (once again) to surpass the 4,000 yard-mark in 2010.

The run-game had its spurts of positives, with both Kuhn and Jackson totaling for 76 yards on the ground against one of the more explosive run-defenses in the entire league.

As for the defensive performance on Sunday: Efficient.

Filling in for Nick Barnett, Desmond Bishop has seriously stepped his game up, recording a team high 10 tackles on Sunday

Along with superman Clay Matthews, who managed to add to his league-leading 10 sacks on the season, his Green Bay defensive squad is (and has been) severely underrated.

It is clear that the Pack seem to be back on track with two impressive victories in a row.  The road ahead is by no means a cakewalk, but is certainly manageable for McCarthy's rejuvenated crew.

Looking Ahead

As Green Bay finishes off the first-half of the regular season with a victory over the Jets, they now turn their heads towards a juicy, home match-up against the less than capable Dallas Cowboys.

Also decimated by injuries, the Cowboys are just looking for a victory of any type.  The difference between these two squads, however, is the amount of depth of each roster position.

If shutting out the league's best overall team isn't enough evidence to convince our critics, then that's just how it must be.

With this week's embarrassing home loss to Jacksonville, Dallas' defense also dropped to 14th overall and is more than capable of being handled by the Packers.

Remaining Schedule:

Week 9:  Vs. Dallas

Week 10:  Bye

Week 11:  @ Minnesota

Week 12: @ Atlanta

Week 13:  Vs. San Fransisco

Week 14:  @ Detroit

Week 15:  @ New England

Week 16:  Vs. New York Giants

Week 17:  Vs. Chicago

Sitting at 5-3, the Packers get four home games to close out the season, along with key trips to Atlanta and New England.

Should all go as planned, McCarthy's crew would be looking (at worst) at a 10-6, possibly 11-5 record heading into the playoffs.  Obviously not the season we would've imagined heading into the season, but nonetheless better than nothing.

There still is much to be proved by this injury-decimated Green Bay team, but we as fans should expect nothing less than excellence for the remainder of the season.