Following a close three-point loss to the Indianapolis Colts on the road two weeks ago, many around the league wondered if the Green Bay Packers were on the decline.
The first four weeks of the season the Packers won against the New Orleans Saints by a one-point margin and lost two games to the Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers by a combined 10 points. The team didn't look sharp and the offense didn't look anything close to the record setting unit that took the NFL by storm in 2011.
Two weeks later, those arguments have been put to bed.
Last Sunday the Packers gave a shock to the undefeated Texans, defeating the team 42-24 for Houston's first loss off the season. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, last season's MVP winner, threw for six touchdowns and looked nearly unstoppable.
"This was an important game for us," Rodgers said to the Associated Press last Sunday. "We had a couple not go our way, games we should have won and 2-4 would have been very difficult."
He threw for 338 yards and helped the team forget about their loss against the Colts the week before in which they blew a 21-3 lead in the second half. According to ESPN.com, Rodgers became the fourth quarterback to thrown for six touchdowns and over 330 yards with no turnovers.
On Sunday, Rodgers and the offense looked unstoppable again, scoring on six of the team's 11 drives in the game in the 30-20 victory over the St. Louis Rams. Rodgers led the way once again, throwing three touchdowns and 342 yards, including a perfect 39-yard pass to Randall Cobb in the fourth quarter to go up 27-13.
"We had one of our best drives of the season, for sure," Rodgers said. "It wasn't the prettiest drive, but we converted a lot of third downs."
Receiver Randall Cobb had eight catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns and Jordy Nelson caught eight balls for a game-high 122 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers also completed a 52-yard pass to Nelson that was perfectly placed into the receivers hands.
"It's an explosive gain and it really gets the energy heating up and going," Nelson said. "Whenever you get a free opportunity to take a shot you've got to make the most of it."
In the past two weeks Rodgers has thrown nine touchdowns and no interceptions compared to seven touchdowns and two interceptions over the previous three weeks. He has also completed over 70 percent of his passes during the two games.
According to ESPN.com, Rodgers started off Sunday's game by completing 20 of his first 22 attempts.
The Packers have a relatively easy upcoming schedule, with home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Arizona Cardinals before a bye week. Things get tougher in Week 11 with consecutive road games against the Detroit Lions and the defending champion New York Giants.
Even if the team splits the next two games, they are sitting in a much better spot now than they were following a tough loss at the Colts that left them at 2-3 on the year. The Bears and Vikings lead the division but the Packers till have three games left against the two teams and are finally returning to the form of last season.
