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The Green Bay Packers dominated the Seattle Seahawks in every phase of the football game on Sunday en route to a shocking 38-10 victory over their NFC West rivals. With the offense and defense completely controlling the contest after the third play from scrimmage, the Packers put the rest of the NFC on notice. They still need to win out and get some help from other teams around the conference in order to make the playoffs, but suddenly this team looks like it can do more than just back into the postseason; there's real potential there to make a run.
The way this team played makes us think back about complete team wins over the last few years. This might be the best, most impressive victory that this franchise has had in a few seasons. Last year's Monday night win over the Chiefs was good, but the defense fell apart late. The playoff win over the Cowboys in 2014 was terrific, but it took some late heroics from Aaron Rodgers and a fortunate incomplete pass call on Dez Bryant to secure that win.
Perhaps the New England game two years ago is a place to start, as the Packers looked in control of that contest for most of the game against an elite team - one that ended the season winning the Lombardi Trophy.
In any case, it's a win worth enjoying for another day or two before getting back to work to prepare for the Chicago Bears next Sunday. Let's revel for a bit.
Jordy Nelson continuing to make history | Packers.com
Nelson has now done something that only one other Packer has ever done: catch 12 or more touchdowns in three different seasons. His chemistry with Aaron Rodgers is absolutely back, and he also just crossed over the 7,000-yard mark for his career.
Packers maximize matchups with Montgomery | Packersnews.com
From Tom Silverstein: "It has taken Mike McCarthy time to accept that the best offense he can put on the field starts with Ty Montgomery in the backfield." Is that the understatement of the year?
Packers' rout of Seahawks begs question: Where has this team been? - ESPN
The Packers put together by far their most complete performance of the year, and did so against one of the best teams they'll face all season. So the question is: why are they coming together now, instead of six weeks ago?
Aaron Rodgers is good again - SBNation.com
As we've been saying for a few weeks, Rodgers has been good for a while now. However, yesterday was a special kind of good - he completed over 75% of his passes and averaged more than 10 yards per attempt, the first time he's had such numbers in a single game since the 2014 finale against the Detroit Lions.
Grades for Packers' Week 14 win over Seahawks | PFF
The Packers' secondary was stellar yesterday, both taking advantage of Seattle's miscues as well as making excellent plays on the football even when WIlson was throwing well.
Giants shut down Cowboys in low-scoring slugfest - NFL.com
This result didn't help the Packers directly, as Green Bay remains two games back of the Giants in the Wild Card. However, these two teams play the Lions in the next two weeks (first the Giants, then the Cowboys), so with both still alive in the NFC East hunt it should ensure that Detroit has good competition.