A lot has changed in the 5-6 weeks since the Buccaneers loss.
I'll start out by somewhat agreeing that the schedule has been pretty favorable in that span. I do not think that the Ravens are the only legit win. I think you have to atleast include Dallas in that category. I don't think San Francisco is a complete slouch of a team either. Then theres the Bears. They aren't very good but its a big rivalry and the teams always put their best effort to beat each other.
Yes some the success has to do with the opponents. But I don't think you can say the Packers just cakewalked for the last 5 games. I don't think that is a fair statement.
I think majority of the success the Packers are now experiencing comes from a couple different things.
1) And this is the big one. Mike McCarthy has balanced his play calling and returned to the short quick pass. Establishing a balanced attack has forced opponents to at least respect the run somewhat. Earlier in the season no one even bothered to try to defend against the run. You knew we were going to pass 75% of the game. Now we are a bit more balanced and the run game is getting going to the point where you may have to do a little more than just respect it. The quick passes I have talked about all year. They have been the bread and butter of this team since McCarthy took over. Then earlier this year he mysteriously forgot about them and they were complete absent. he kept trying to send everyone deep. I have complained about this all year and finally McCarthy has come around. He also has brought back the screen game which has been fairly successful. In my mind the #1 problem was McCarthy followed closely by the O-Line. McCarthy has been hands down better since the Bucs game.
2) The offensive line has been better. The run blocking has certainly been better. They deserve credit for that. The pass blocking isn't great but better. Some of that is contributed to having Clifton and Tauscher back as Senser mentioned. Another large piece is the return to the quick passes which makes them look better.
3) Rodgers hasn't held the ball as long majority of the time. He still takes a dumb sack here and there but overall much better. Again, he deserves credit for this but I attribute a lot of this to getting back to the bread and butter quick short passes. A lot of those early sacks he took holding the ball to long were the result of waiting for deep, long developing routes to develop.
4) The defense finally has started to blitz and apply pressure. Its not immense pressure but its usually enough. Realistically they probably aren't the #1 defense despite the stats but they have played much better. The play calling has been much better. And they are creating a lot of turnovers.
Those four things to me are the reason the Packers have really turned things around. A lot of them, at least offensively, are the result of #1. Its really a shame it took reaching the lowest of lows to get things turned around like this.
The NFC playoffs this year are going to be really fun to watch. Assuming things stay pretty much as they are Saints, Vikings, Philly, Cardinals, Packers, and Dallas, I really think any team is capable of beating any of the others. The Cowboys are a wildcard depending on if they decide to show up. But the other 5 are all capable.
Really all I want for the Packers is one more shot at the Vikings. Obviously we wouldn't be favored and i'm not saying we would win but I think we stand a better shot now than the fist two games. We're playing much better and its a difficult task beating a team three times.
