Rodgers, Packers beat Vikings 30-13 to even NFC North race

“What we’ve done previously was to put ourselves in position where we could control our own destiny”. Chicago is a much better team than they were when the Packers faced them in Week 1 of the season. In all but one of the 14 wins under McCarthy, Green Bay has scored at least 20 points, including scoring 30-plus points in each of the last four contests (31, 55, 38, 33).

They walked away with their most impressive win of the season for many reasons, but none were more important than re-establishing Lacy as their workhorse. Maybe it’s not. There were no definitive answers here on Sunday, only more questions. The average of 3.6 wasn’t bad, but the Packers were consistently the more physical and hungry team at the line of scrimmage. Overall, the Packers ran for 124 yards on 34 carries. It sacked Teddy Bridgewater six times.

Due to the struggles that Eddie Lacy had throughout the majority of the season, James Starks took over as the starting running back.

“It’s kind of rough sometimes they give me a hard time sometimes because i’m usually the only one in here in purple”, said Cortney Erchul, a Vikings fan. “It’s one game and we didn’t play the best that we could and they made plays”. And although the nine-year veteran did reach the end zone on Sunday afternoon, Dom Capers’ defenders limited Peterson to 45 yards rushing on only 13 carries. When he did have a chance to redeem himself, he fumbled.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) throws during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium.

The somewhat comes from the play of the Green Bay defense, a unit that entered the game ranked 24th in the National Football League in rushing yards per game allowed and a group that had failed to record a sack in three consecutive games – all losses.

The Bears are also hoping to get running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery back for this game, their biggest against any opponent the rest of the season.

The sun did rise again at Winter Park, and although the orange orb is setting before 5 p.m. (CT) this time of year, Zimmer and the Vikings see plenty of daylight down the stretch. They lost three straight games, but have gone 4-3 the last seven games, with no loss being any greater than a three point margin.

“Can’t win playing the way we did; too many mistakes”, Zimmer said. The Vikings have a tough close to the season so a win today would be key toward winning the division.

“I don’t know why people are acting we lost 10 games in a row or something”, Newman said. They knew they couldn’t afford to fall behind two games in the division race. Zimmer printed up black shirts that read “Beat Green Bay” on the back to try to keep his team focused amid all the positive attention, but what he saw on Sunday was a sloppy, undisciplined performance in all phases. You don’t think that gets back to the players? Rodgers has completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 2,482 yards, 23 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Kicker Mason Crosby, who missed a 52-yard field goal last week on the final play that would have won the game, drilled five field goals, all from beyond 40 yards. When center Corey Linsley left the game in the first quarter because of an ankle injury, 2013 fourth-round pick JC Tretter replaced him, and if you didn’t know about the injury you might not have even noticed the change.

Bridgewater completed 25 of 37 passes for 296 yards and rushed four times for a career-best 43 yards.