3 Takeaways from Packers' Week 14 Win

The Green Bay Packers are back in the driver's seat in the NFC. Sunday's win over the Detroit Lions, coupled with the New Orleans Saints' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, put Green Bay in the NFC's No. 1 seed. If the Packers can win out, they will earn a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

While it wasn't a perfect game against the rival Lions, Green Bay did enough to escape with the win. That's the biggest takeaway. However, the Packers will have to be better down the stretch—against the Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears—if they hope to finish the season with their loss total standing at three.

Green Bay allowed Detroit to hang around even though it lost starting quarterback Matthew Stafford to a rib injury. However, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense were efficient enough that it didn't prove to be a fatal issue.

Despite being an imperfect team, Green Bay is your 2020 NFC North champion and a Super Bowl contender. Here are three things we learned during the Packers' Week 14 win.

Let's get the negatives out of the way. Division games are always tough, and no team is going to play a perfect four quarters. However, Detroit is an inferior team to Green Bay—and a banged-up squad at that—but the Packers never pulled away in this one.

While they controlled the clock—they held the ball for more than 35 minutes—and limited the Lions to 293 total yards, the Packers also allowed a 50 percent completion rate on third down and surrendered 27 first downs in total.

Allowing the Lions to sustain drives kept Detroit in the game. It didn't result in a loss, but this is a trend that needs to change over the final three weeks of the regular season. Green Bay allowed the Indianapolis Colts to come back and win in Week 11, and they played a dangerously close game against the Jacksonville Jaguars the week before that.

Against a better opponent, Green Bay's mistakes—like 12 penalties and allowing a 71-yard kickoff return—could have proved costly. The Packers are going to face much better opponents in the postseason.

With the negatives out of the way, let's focus on the biggest positive from Sunday—aside from the win. With yet another stellar performance, quarterback Aaron Rodgers is probably the front-runner for NFL MVP.

Rodgers threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another score. When Rodgers plays the way he did Sunday, the Packers are going to have a chance against any team—even if they do let it hang around.

"It's not just him; it's everybody," head coach Matt LaFleur said, per Albert Breer of The MMQB. "But he's the one that gets us going."

Even at 37, Rodgers is playing as well as any quarterback in the game. As long as he remains healthy, the Packers have a shot at reaching the Super Bowl this season.

While Rodgers' greatness must be noted, it wouldn't be fair to suggest that he's carried the team this year. Green Bay also has weapons like Aaron Jones, Robert Tonyan and, most importantly, Davante Adams.

Adams has established himself as one of the best pass-catchers in football, and he might be the preeminent wide receiver in 2020. While players like Stefon Diggs and rookie Justin Jefferson deserve plenty of praise, Adams just keeps delivering on a consistent basis.

Against the Lions, he caught another seven passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. He kicked off Green Bay's scoring with a 56-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, and that was far from a fluke.

Adams is up to 91 receptions, 1,144 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 2020—despite missing two games due to injury. While Rodgers is Green Bay's MVP front-runner, Adams deserves serious consideration for Offensive Player of the Year.

Detroit didn't have an answer for Adams. Few teams will moving forward.