Why they won: Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings

Nov 23, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Packers defeated the Vikings 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Efficiency at QB

While Lacy was the highlight player for the game, it isn’t like the passing game was terrible; they just weren’t as necessary as we are used to seeing.

Plays were still made as needed of course by Aaron Rodgers, with much aplomb. He did nowhere near the decimation of defenses that was on display against Chicago or Philadelphia — Lacy was Demolition Man this week — but it was plenty efficient.

He was 19/29 for 209 yards and 2 TDs. That’s nothing to be super-excited about as a stat-line, but go beyond just that and see the good that went along with it.

For yet another week, Rodgers did not have a turnover. It wasn’t at home — where he is still working on a record number of pass attempts without an interception — but it does mean three straight games anywhere without a turnover. Accidents can happen on any given snap, so that’s impressive no matter who you play.

Prepare to be even more impressed. In ESPN’s QBR* statistic, Rodgers registered an 85.3 rating*. For those who don’t know QBR, that’s a brilliant score to obtain within a game. It should be noted that it was juuuuuust slightly below his average for the season (85.8), so that should be able to enlighten you on just how underrated his performance may be if you only focus on his yardage/TD contributions.

The game is made up of so much beyond the simplest stats, so while his performance may not have been that exciting the highly efficient game Rodgers produced was undoubtedly impactful to a high degree.

*ESPN’s QBR Ranking system acts as a more accurate alternative to the oft-used Passer Rating statistic. It more accurately portrays the specific impact of the quarterback himself. Accounts for areas such as Yards After Catch by pass-catchers, impact of running ability, sacks, and time during game when the plays are made (As the game gets closer to finish, each play holds more of an impact), among other things

**The way QBR is constructed, the scoring scale goes from 0-100; anything under 50 is bad/awful/terrible, 50 is average, 60+ is above-average, 70+ is Pro Bowl/ All-Pro level, etc, with 100 being an impossible number to reach (because technically, you could ALWAYS do better; there is no cap on yards/TDs/etc)