Packers QB Aaron Rodgers happy playing 'meaningful games'

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Imagine how Rodgers felt when he left Florida with a three-game winning streak after Sunday's upset of the Miami Dolphins.

Rodgers said it was better than a few weeks ago. I think it was four weeks ago.

A member of the Packers' staff was asked by Rodgers.

Do you think it's good? Rodgers made a statement. Getting better. There were a lot of things that happened to us.

That may be an overstatement.

The Packers were able to get all the help they needed before they took the field at Hard Rock Stadium. The four teams in the race for the playoffs lost on Christmas Eve.

The Packers' third comeback of the season was the most in one year with Rodgers at the helm. Heading into their final two games, both at home against the Vikings and Lions, they are at 8-7 and have a chance to make the playoffs.

"I would like to be 10-5, 11-4, but considering where we were a few weeks ago, a lot of has happened in our favor." The games that needed to be played in a certain way were all done that way. We won all three of the games we played in December. We have to win the games we play in January.

If the Packers want to make the playoffs, they need to win out and get help from the Commanders with one more loss or the Giants with two more losses. If the Packers split their remaining two games, they will still have a chance to make the playoffs.

The Packers were 3-6 when they lost their fifth game of the season. The Packers had a 9% chance of making the playoffs at that time. They were 4-7 after Week 12. It's at its highest since Week 8. It would have fallen to 3% if the Dolphins had lost on Sunday.

The locker-room celebration after Sunday's win was indicative of a different vibe around the team. The Packers came up with four turnovers despite giving up big plays to Jaylen Waddle.

The Dolphins helped the Packers by having quarterback Tua Tagovailoa play Santa Claus. They picked him off on three separate occasions. Jaire Alexander was the first Pro Bowl player to get him. Linebacker De' Vondre Campbell followed. Finally, the game-clincher by the defensive back. In the second quarter, defensive tackle Jarran Reed forced a fumbled and recovered the ball for a touchdown.

Douglas said that they keep building their confidence. A confidence-based team is what we are at the moment. Continue to get confident by the week.

Rodgers helped as well. He pointed out to the Dolphins why they don't often use a defensive strategy against him. Rodgers has been hit on 26 of his dropbacks in the last year. Rodgers threw for 192 yards on 17-of-23 passing and a touchdown on those plays for his second-most passing yards against the rush over the past five seasons.

There were also ribbons and bows on Sunday. In the red zone, the Packers converted just two of five trips into touchdown and lost two of their best players in the first half. Coach Matt LaFleur had no updates after the game. Right tackle Yosh Nijman and defensive tackle Dean Lowry were both injured. Jones has dealt with a number of injuries in recent weeks and his touches appeared to be limited.

In the first half, he had six catches, two more than his previous high, for 49 yards, and he was done.

Rodgers hoped Christian wasn't too serious. I don't know what his status will be, but we had a lot of guys banged up, and a lot of guys stepped up.