Downs: Dougherty on Packers’ win

While the Broncos came in with a two game losing streak and the Bears with a two game winning streak, the two teams reversed fortunes on Sunday as the Broncos won in Chicago.

But this 7-3 version of the Packers is not the group Bears fans have come to fear, uncharacteristically struggling through a three-game losing streak before Sunday’s big win over the Vikings. They couldn’t rely on just their ability alone to win games. A week of stinging criticism from outside the organization and a fair amount of soul-searching from within produced a team-wide attitude adjustment the Packers needed to wrest control of the division back from the Vikings (7-3).

Then the reality set in of having to turn around quickly to prepare for another game on Thursday. “It’s not very fun but we’ll gut through it”.

I think it’s from the top to the bottom.

Boy, did it ever.

For all the facets of their performance against the Packers that were substandard in the national spotlight, the Vikings emerged with the same type of confident, defiant attitude they’ve been using to their advantage all season.

From Lacy to Jones to the two-time NFL MVP Rodgers, the previously underperforming Packers bounced back in a big way to post the highest score against the Vikings this season.

For the Packers, too, maybe this is the start of a run that leads them to the Super Bowl. Two were dropped by Randall Cobb and would have resulted in 1st downs.

Three straight losses by the Packers had raised a lot of questions if this Packers team was truly among the best in the league, and the Packers responded to those questions the way they always seem to, by winning.

McCarthy bristled when it was suggested that this was a gut-check game for the Packers. He is more of a boom or bust player.

The big news is quarterback Aaron Rodgers does not appear on the Packers’ injury report, as he did last week with a sore shoulder. “Everybody contributed and we got back to playing the style of football that we like to play”. ‘We’ve been taking it on the chin, rightfully so, the last three weeks after a couple real poor performances. It’s important that we move on and not let this linger. We really stuck together. We have a good schedule in place to follow. And a big win! It was that back to reality Rodgers.

This past week against the Vikings, the Packers were able to put a ton of pressure on Teddy Bridgewater.

For a final snapshot after Week 11, the Packers are in first place with a 7-3 record, while the Vikings are in second with the same record, with Green Bay’s tiebreaker coming via their win over Minnesota. The kick coverage team also gave up a 70-yard return that led to a five-yard drive for a field goal. Instead, Lacy and the defense contributed greatly, making up for Rodgers completing fewer than 50 percent of his passes.

He slid outside the pocket to his right and fired a flawless strike in the end zone to James Jones, who just got both feet down before falling out of bounds.

“Eddie was really going (Sunday)”, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We didn’t play well on a national stage today”.

Guard T.J. Lang said the Packers knew their backs were against the wall but weren’t “out to prove anything to anybody except ourselves”.

Chicago has also improved as a team since Week 1 in McCarthy’s mind. “And I think that they [the Packers] played well”.

Welcome to the National Football League in 2015, in this unusual season, where the Patriots are undefeated and the Panthers are undefeated, and where the Bengals and Cardinals look capable of contending, and where every other team looks seriously flawed.

Sunday in Minnesota, though, Lacy looked like his old self.