• MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Aaron Rodgers smiled as he answered the question.
• Yes, he said, Green Bay's running game has exceeded his expectations.
• With the Packers powerfully moving the ball on the ground, the absence of three primary receivers hasn't affected Rodgers one bit.
• Ignoring the injuries around him, Rodgers picked apart what's left of Minnesota's depleted defense by throwing two first-half touchdown passes to Jordy Nelson and guiding the Packers to a 44-31 victory on Sunday night.
• "I wasn't going to let this team beat us. I wanted to make sure that I put our team in a position to be successful here. A lot was on my shoulders," said Rodgers, who completed 24 of 29 passes for 285 yards to help the Packers (5-2) stay in first place in the NFC North despite injuries to Randall Cobb, James Jones and Jermichael Finley.
• The Packers were still missing Clay Matthews and two other starting linebackers on the other side of the ball, too, but the Vikings (1-6) were stagnant until some meaningless movement at the end made the final score look a little better.
• "I didn't play well enough for this offense to stay on the field," said Ponder, who didn't have any turnovers but finished a pedestrian 14 for 21 for 145 yards, plus a late touchdown run as the third different starting quarterback for this team in three weeks.
• Adrian Peterson gained a quiet 60 yards on 13 carries, and the Vikings held the ball for a mere 19 minutes and 6 seconds: less than one-third of the game. The Packers ran 30 more plays than they did: 73 to 43.
• Rodgers, of course, had a lot to do with that by finding Nelson, Jarrett Boykin and Myles White open when he could. But Eddie Lacy, James Starks and the offensive line overtook the game in the second half. Lacy and Starks each had a touchdown run, and the Packers matched their season high with 182 yards rushing. Their three highest single-game totals this year are all more than any of them in each of the previous three seasons.
• "We're all teammates here," Lacy said, adding: "We're happy for one another and help each other play."

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