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When the Green Bay Packers were 4-6, you buried them.

When the Packers were 4-6, you were among the many who were questioning Aaron Rodgers.

And you, like so many, were probably calling for the head of coach Mike McCarthy.

Look, they weren't playing good football. I get it.

But Rodgers came out that week and said to calm down, that he felt his team could run the table. Three weeks later, three victories later, the Packers are 7-6 and have the look of a team that can indeed run the table.

They blew out the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to the tune of 38-10, turning Russell Wilson into a turnover machine while Rodgers threw three touchdown passes to give him 32 for the season. That, by the way, leads the NFL. Not bad for a guy who a month ago some were wondering if his best football was behind him.

That was foolish then, and it's even more so now. Rodgers is still an elite quarterback who was struggling some early this season for a variety of reasons. His receivers weren't winning. His defense was putrid, which put pressure on the offense to score every possession. That led to mistakes and a pressing quarterback.

Not this week. Rodgers and the Packers beat up a good Seattle team that came in as one of the best in the NFL.

It wasn't just Rodgers. The defense, which has been rightfully maligned for much of this season, got after Wilson and made him throw five interceptions. This is a defense that was 23rd in scoring and 31st in yards per pass play.

Injuries in the secondary impacted the Green Bay defense for much of the season, but the Packers are getting healthier back there, and it showed up against Wilson.

Don't fool yourself, though, this team is still about Rodgers. His ability to create plays in the passing game will still dictate where the Packers go this season.

The next three games are at Chicago, home against the Vikings and at the Lions to close out the season. Those are all winnable. They trail the first-place Lions by two games, but the Lions play at the Giants this week, then at Dallas before finishing with the Packers.

Would it surprise anybody to see the Lions -- especially with Matthew Stafford suffering an injured finger on his throwing hand this week against the Bears -- lose all three? If the Packers win the last one, and tie the Lions for victories, they win the division after beating them earlier this season.

I think the Packers will run the table and get into the playoffs thanks to another loss by the Lions. Once they get in, Green Bay will be dangerous.

The Packers aren't as good as they looked against the Seahawks on Sunday, but with Rodgers doing his usual Rodgers thing and the defense getting better, they will be dangerous come playoff time -- if they get in, which I think will happen.

More musings from around the NFL:

Houston Texans

The bad news is the AFC South stinks.

The good news is there is a division race -- so the division has that going for it.

Somebody is going to win the division, and host a playoff game, and there was conventional thinking that Andrew Luck and the Colts would be that team.

But Sunday changed that thinking as the Houston Texans went to Indianapolis and beat the Colts to stay atop the division race. The Tennessee Titans beat the Denver Broncos to also get to 7-6, tied with the Texans, although Houston beat Tennessee earlier this season.

With three weeks to go, looking at the remaining schedules, the Texans are the favorites to win the division.

The interesting thing there is they would do so with Brock Osweiler, the worst quarterback of the three teams in the race.

The Texans play at home against the 2-11 Jaguars, home against the 4-9 Bengals and at Tennessee to close out the season. The Colts play at Minnesota, at Oakland and then home against the Jaguars. The Titans play at Kansas City, at Jacksonville and then finish up with the home game against the Texans.

I think the Texans will win the division, but the Titans sure are making it interesting.

Miami Dolphins

You hate to see a team like the Miami Dolphins, who are making a playoff push, lose their quarterback to a major knee injury in December. Ryan Tannehill suffered what appears to be a torn ACL against the Cardinals on Sunday, which means he's gone for the year.

The 8-5 Dolphins beat the Arizona Cardinals, but losing Tannehill is a big hit for a team that has been one of the biggest surprises this season. The Dolphins will now turn to Matt Moore, a veteran backup with starting experience. He last started a game in 2011 for the Dolphins, going 6-6 as the starter.

He came off the bench to go 3 for 5 for 47 yards and led the Dolphins to the winning field goal in the closing seconds.

He isn't as good as Tannehill, but he is capable of winning games for the Dolphins. He's confident and he will throw the football down the field. The Dolphins close with three AFC East games. They play at the Jets this week, then at Buffalo and play at home against New England.

If they win two of three, they will likely make the playoffs. If they do, it would be one heck of a story. It's just too bad Tannehill won't be around to be a part of it.

Los Angeles Rams

I just don't understand how the Rams will bring back coach Jeff Fisher for another season. Their latest debacle, a 42-14 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons, looked like a team waiting to get to the end of the season.

That's three straight games where the defense, which was the calling card for this team, has been bad. The offense has been a season-long issue.

Fisher tied Dan Reeves for most losses in NFL history. That means he has coached a long time. It looks like he will be back next season after getting an extension, but one wonders why.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mike Smith has done a really nice job with the Tampa Bay defense. He should -- and likely will -- get some head-coaching consideration again. Maybe the Jaguars, where he was a defensive coordinator before leaving to be the head coach in Atlanta, would make sense when Gus Bradley is let go.

The Bucs have won five straight games heading to a big one next Sunday against the Cowboys.

And finally ...

I am a big believer in allowing players to celebrate. I used to love the Fun Bunch in Washington and all the fun stuff players used to do. Now with word that the NFL's competition committee might review relaxing the celebration rules, here's what I think about that: It's about time.

Let's bring back some fun to a game that needs it.

Oh, and just what we need: More deflated-football talk. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.