Why they won: Green Bay Packers overpowers Minnesota

Nov 22, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Green Bay Packers running back

(27) catches a pass against the Minnesota Vikings in the second quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Lacy comes to life

On the topic of running games, a certain maligned runner finally got things going in a positive direction again for Green Bay.

Eddie Lacy has been receiving flak all season now for his inability to perform at the rate we’ve come to expect from him. But before this game, all Lacy managed to do was rack up disappointments.

On the season, he only had 308 yards rushing. Only twice this season was he able to gain even 50 yards on the ground, and those happened to be the only times he earned more than 15 carries in a contest. He had only scored twice and caught a measly 10 passes total (92 yards receiving). He even just got benched in the previous week (though that was officially an injury-based decision, it wouldn’t have been out of the realm of possibility to see him not have played anyway due to performance).

Even before the losing streak we all had to be wondering on some level just what the problem was. There sure were a ton of possible answers thrown out for it though: some reports said he was injured, others that he was overweight, he suggested he was running too high, other players and analysts thought maybe he was not seeing/following his blocks properly, etc…whatever the case, he just was not producing, and that was dragging the team down.

Enter this week.

Expectations were surely low for Lacy coming in; Starks was set to possibly grab his starting role full-time, the Vikings were coming in hot, and there was nothing to suggest the offense was ready to crawl out of their doldrums.

It took them awhile to really get things going, but the Packers finally had their first good game since the bye week on offense that wasn’t boosted artificially by a late run, and Lacy was undoubtedly part of the solution.

He received his highest number of carries (22) and reached 100 yards for the first time all season. His success at rushing the ball gave him confidence and balanced the offense in a way we didn’t see in any of the Denver/Carolina/Detroit matchups.

That is what the team needs going forward if it hopes to make any noise in the playoffs.

Next: Mr. Jones