Unfortunately we got another laugher on Thursday night -- Green Bay throttled Minnesota 42-10 -- but don't dismiss the Packers' dominance just because the Vikings played possum from the get-go. 

The Packers were outstanding, giving them eight consecutive quarters of high-level football. Everyone should be sufficiently relaxed.

Aaron Rodgers played after halftime, but it wasn't particularly necessary. He only attempted 17 passes the entire game (for just 156 yards), completing 12 of them with three going for touchdowns. 

Eddie Lacy was a force on the ground, thumping Vikings defenders into oblivion with his trademark physical, nasty running style. At one point in the middle of the third quarter he had more yards than the Vikings.

The defense played extremely well, too, and that really might be the most important thing we saw tonight. The Packers, before Christian Ponder plunged in for a fourth-quarter touchdown, helped put the finishing touches on a 66-0 run over the past two weeks against Chicago and Minnesota.

Eddie Lacy killed a dude.
Eddie Lacy dominated on Thursday night. (Getty Images)

Strong, strong stuff. The seven points Green Bay's offense produced against the Lions in Week 3 feels like a different season. 

2. Lacy sets the tone
Plenty of people questioned Lacy's outstanding rookie season after the standout back averaged three yards a carry and totaled 161 rushing yards through the first five weeks. Those concerns look comical after Lacy's game Thursday.

He finished with 105 yards and a pair of rushing scores but the numbers don't do his work justice. Lacy was eating all night long and produced the stat line on just 13 carries (8.1 YPC). 

The big man was also putting a massive hurt on Vikings defenders. He knocked Xavier Rhodes out for a bit then came right back and smashed safety Robert Blanton.

Naturally Blanton learned his lesson and didn't try to stop Lacy ag-- NOOOOOO.

Lacy's first TD run was almost as impressive, if only because of the horizontal distance he covered when he cut back to the other side of the field before diving into the end zone.

Good luck trading for Lacy in your fantasy league this week. Ain't happening.

3. One Big Catch
Jordy Nelson didn't do much to crank up his NFL lead in receptions or receiving yards on Thursday but if he's looking to lead the league in average yards per catch he did real well, hauling in a 66-yard touchdown catch for his only reception of the night. 

The Packers run game was working well so a play-action fake on a stretch run got the defense out of position and a double move by Nelson finished things off.

By the time Rodgers was releasing the ball, there was zero chance Nelson wasn't scoring.

Like I wrote in the TNF preview, Nelson's one of the best wideouts in the league. His lack of big-time volume on Thursday was more about the Packers not needing to throw than anything else. He was a pass interference call away from catching another one for an easy score too.

3. Having said that ...
This Vikings defense played ... well? Well might be strong. Again, they were smashed by Lacy and torched by Rodgers and his wideouts. But they were repeatedly given short fields and spent a ton of time on the field; despite the quick scores from Green Bay, time of possession was fairly even, 32 minutes for Minnesota to 28 for the Packers.

Rhodes made some more impressive plays in the secondary a week after doing excellent work on Julio Jones. Harrison Smith recorded his third interception of the year (granted against Matt Flynn, but still). 

And, um, Blanton managed to live? 

Sharrif Floyd also recorded a sack on Rodgers, so that's a positive.

There wasn't much this defense could do: dealing with wet weather against a high-octane offense running at max efficiency while trying to bail out a completely unproductive offense routinely coughing the ball up? No one's defense is surviving that.

It's not a great unit, but it's a better unit than Minnesota's fielded in a while, and Zimmer deserves credit for coaching them up. 

4. More Good Defense
And I'd be completely remiss if I didn't mention what Dom Capers unit did. They sacked Christian Ponder six times and bottled up a Vikings run game that impressed in a big way last week against the Falcons.

It bears repeating a lot: Ponder was terrible and most defenses would've had a nice day against him. The Minnesota gameplan on offense wasn't designed properly and Capers' crew reaped the benefits, sacking Ponder six times, recovering a Matt Asiata fumble and picking off a pair of passes.

Specifically Julius Peppers, who picked off a pressured Ponder pass and took it to the house for his first Lambeau Leap*.

*Leap is a relative term

The score -- an impressive jaunt to the end zone by Peppers -- was his first since 2009, way back when he was playing with the Panthers. If he really starts clicking at his new position the Packers will have something to work with there.

5. Third Weapon for Packers
Nelson and Randall Cobb are studs. But the Packers need a third weapon to emerge to max out Rodgers production. Richard Rodgers looked like a possibility last week, but what Davonte Adams did on Thursday should provide hope for Packers fans.

Ted Thompson flat-out turns second-round wide receivers into Pro Bowlers, so expectations are high for Adams.

Come for the touchdown, stay for the slip.

6. Ponder a QB Change?
It feels like piling on to rip Christian Ponder's effort Thursday -- they did lose 42-10 and he did average five yards per passing attempt despite garbage time stats -- but he was just terrible.

His line (22/44 for 222 yards and a pair of picks) doesn't do his performance the negative justice it deserves.

The reality is he doesn't have a strong enough arm at this point, folds under pressure too easily and doesn't anticipate throws well at all. 

On the bright side he did score a rushing touchdown, which means he outscored Tom Brady in fantasy last week. Watch out Teddy!

7. Just Kidding
Clearly there's no controversy. It stinks too because there was significant excitement over Bridgewater's debut against the Falcons last week. It was muted by Thursday's struggles, which exacerbated the talent difference on two teams in the same division.

Bridgewater was at the game, though, which means lots of sideline shots. Poor fella.

8. Milestone for A-Rod

Aaron Rodgers threw his 200th touchdown pass on Thursday night, making him the second-fastest quarterback to do so in NFL history. Pretty decent company.

9. Why Kick?

With the Vikings trailing 42-7 and in the red zone, Mike Zimmer kicked a field goal. Good for Blair Walsh's fantasy owners but kind of weird from a morale perspective. I guess get it to double digits but if you're playing to win it doesn't mean a whole lot, you know?

10. CHEEEEEEEEEESE

Hey, ladies.

And the REEEEEEEMIX (click the volume button for the full experience):