With yesterday’s Packers victory come no apologies. Charles Woodson and Aaron Rodgers led their respective groups into a must-win situation against one of the best teams in the league and won. Style point weren’t warranted here, merely a “W”. Was it the prettiest win? Of course not but this team found something yesterday that it had been lacking as a whole for quite some time, something deep down that only elite teams play with, an edge, a will, their heart. 

Charles Woodson, what can you say about his performance? Statistically, 9 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 1 pass deflected, 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception. He can leap tall buildings, rescue kittens from trees and works tirelessly on curing the world’s energy problems in his spare time as well. If there was any question as to who the leader is on defense, the bell was answered yesterday. 

Aaron Rodgers took his week of second guessing and criticism to heart as well. Rodgers, while not statistically flashy, took short pass opportunities, threw the ball away when necessary, looked at his check downs, ran with conviction when flushed from the pocket and managed the game properly when it mattered most. Rodgers engineered a late 3^rd quarter drive that went 15 plays, 80 yards in 8 minute and 38 seconds. That drive was the signature moment in the ball game. It was as if there was a realization that the vertical game isn’t the only form of necessary football available to this all or nothing Packers offense. Ryan Grant grinded out tough yardage and Rodgers converted a couple of big third down plays to keep the drive alive. One of the biggest returns was the YAC (yards after catch). This is something we haven’t seen in a while. Quick hitters to Driver and Jordy Nelson, Jennings and Lee kept the chains moving and Dallas’ defense on their heels. Rodgers biggest statistic was a 69%+ completion percentage and no interceptions. 

The blemishes on this game were unacceptable and loudly criticized by the Packer faithful throughout the game. 12 penalties for 100 yards became more than aggravating to the 70,894 in attendance. The Packers had penalties in 5 out of their first 8 drives and a sack and fumble in another drive. It wasn’t until that key drive in the 3^rd quarter that the Packers played penalty, mistake free football. The 3 drives, early on, in which they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot resulted in a missed 52 yard field goal, a made 48 yard field goal and a touchdown.

The question still remains, which team is this? Are these the Packers that embarrassed themselves in the first half vs. the Vikings at Lambeau Field and the group that took the field in the second half of the Tampa Bay game last week or are these the guys that showed up in the second half of that same Vikings game and the guys that rose to the occasion at Lambeau yesterday? Only time will tell but yesterday’s victory might have been an awakening, an awakening for the coaching staff and players. A realization that you have to bring it each and every week, each and every play, each and every moment in the NFL for you to be truly considered a contender, not a champion but merely a contender. It’s those teams that play mistake free football and raise to yet another level, those will be called champion. The Packers are nowhere near that level yet but beating the Dallas Cowboys in such fashion certainly allowed them to take a step in the right direction. Now we’ll see how they follow up success.