Thirty-seven seconds was too much time to leave Aaron Rodgers.
That stretch — not even two-thirds of a minute — was enough for Green Bay, with no timeouts at its disposal, to move from its own 25-yard line and into Mason Crosby’s field goal range. Forty-two frantic passing yards and one ice-veined kick erased the preceding 59 minutes of questionable officiating to give the Packers a 30-28 win in San Francisco.
Rodgers was a deserving headliner after once again emerging from an ugly dispute to claim dominion over the state of Wisconsin and much of football as a whole. The more important development, however, was how his Packers managed the flaws that threaten to tank what may be his final season in Green Bay. Head coach Matt LaFleur and defensive coordinator Joe Barry have put in considerable work to evolve beyond the team that got boat-raced in Week 1.
Here are the two big ways they’ve got the Pack back atop their division.