The Green Bay Packers knew they needed a Week 14 victory to keep themselves in the hunt for the NFC North title. They responded with a resounding dismantling of the Seattle Seahawks to do just that.

Aaron Rodgers threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns, the offense put up 38 points on the league’s number one scoring defense, and the defense forced six Seattle turnovers as the Packers extended their win streak to a season-high three games in a 38-10 beat down of the Seahawks.

Green Bay got off to a fast start, and Seattle just couldn’t find any ways to slow down the home team. Rodgers connected with Davante Adams (four catches, 104 yards) on a 66-yard touchdown just a minute and a half into the game, and the Packers never looked back the rest of the afternoon.

Seattle managed a field goal on its first possession, but those would be the only points the Seahawks could muster until midway through the fourth quarter when the Packers already had a 31-3 lead. A touchdown reception by former Wisconsin Badger Tanner McEvoy would account for the visitors’ only trip to the end zone.

Unfortunately for Seattle, the Seahawks’ ineptitude would not be reciprocated by the green and gold. Even with Rodgers hobbled and his mobility clearly limited, he had no problem picking apart the Seattle secondary. His completion percentage of 78.3, 10.7 yards per attempt, and quarterback rating of 150.8 were all season highs, and the team’s early success allowed him to rest for most of the fourth quarter.

Two second quarter touchdowns, a one-yard plunge by Ty Montgomery and a nine-yard catch by Jordy Nelson, but the Packers up 21-3 at halftime, but the rout was only just getting started. Green Bay tacked on two more touchdowns and a Mason Crosby field goal in the second half to extend their lead to 28 points. Rodgers found Nelson for the second time midway through the third quarter, and Jeff Janis scored on a 19-yard reverse that was perfectly executed to end the scoring for the day.

While Rodgers enjoyed his best game of the season, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson endured one of the worst games of his entire career. He threw for 240 yards and one touchdown on 22/39 passing, but was sacked three times and threw a career-high five interceptions. In fact, Wilson had the same number of interceptions as Rodgers had incompletions. The five picks by the Green Bay defense were its most in a game since 2006.

Damarious Randall accounted for two of them, one that prevented a would-be touchdown and another on a dropped ball. Morgan Burnett jumped a pass intended for Jimmy Graham for an interception of his own, Quinten Rollins picked Wilson off in the end zone off a deflection, and Micah Hyde took advantage of another bobble for the final interception. Christian Ringo forced a fumble on the Seahawks’ final drive to bring Seattle’s turnover count to six.

Despite being slightly outgained (355-330) and out-possessed (31:50-28:10), Green Bay’s game was nothing short of dominating. The 28-point loss was the worst for the Seahawks since 2010, and the Packers more than doubled Seattle’s points given up per game (16.2) through their first 12 games.

The recent success from the Packers gives Rodgers the longest active streak of games with at least two touchdown passes (8) and the most passing touchdowns in the NFL (32), silencing the “washed up” talk from earlier this year.  Meanwhile, Nelson now boasts the most receiving touchdowns (12) in the league, bolstering his Comeback Player of the Year campaign.

The victory didn’t bring Green Bay any closer to overtaking Detroit in the NFC North, but it feels good for players and fans alike to earn such an impressive win against what has been the Packers’ most bitter rival over the past few seasons.

The Packers simply have to continue winning on their quest to running the table and hope that the Lions slip up against either the Giants or Cowboys in the next two weeks.

There’s a lot of work that remains if Green Bay is going to sneak into the postseason, but a resounding rout of a division-leading team is undeniably a huge step in the right direction. The Packers hit the road for a matchup against the Chicago Bears, who fell to the Lions 20-17 to drop to a woeful 3-10 on the year. Despite the poor record, Green Bay can’t afford to overlook the Bears as the Packers continue their push to the playoffs.

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Sean Blashe is a Packers fan who grew up in Bears territory and is currently a journalism and history major at Marquette University. Sean is a writer with PackersTalk.com and you can follow him on twitter at @SeanBlashe .

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