GREEN BAY – It's time for another round of Peak Performances, packers.com's review of the previous season that highlights some of the top individual efforts during the course of the year.
This time, the Peak Performances will be presented chronologically, with each segment covering a portion of the season, starting with the first four games.
Peak Performances will appear once per week until the entire season has been covered, with a poll (at the bottom of the page) allowing fans to vote for their favorite each week. The weekly winners will then be in the final poll for Peak Performance of the Year.
Selections were made in an attempt to highlight a variety of different victories and individual players throughout the season.
Games 1-4:
CB Damarious Randall at Jacksonville
In the final half-minute, it came down to fourth-and-1 for the Jaguars from the Green Bay 14-yard line in a 27-23 game. Randall was the first to get a hit on WR Allen Hurns on a bubble screen at the line of scrimmage, and a host of Packers helped bring him down to secure the season-opening win. Randall posted a season-high seven tackles in the game plus two passes defensed, including one on a deep ball to WR Allen Robinson.
DT Mike Daniels at Minnesota
The Packers didn't win this game, but it was through no fault of Daniels' effort. He lined up everywhere on the defensive line, and none of the Vikings' offensive linemen could block him. He was instrumental in holding RB Adrian Peterson to just 19 yards on 12 carries, and Daniels added four QB hits on Sam Bradford, including a 9-yard sack. Daniels flat-out dominated up front.
RB Eddie Lacy vs. Detroit
The Packers had just one 100-yard rushing performance through the season's first 13 games, and this was it, as Lacy carried 17 times for 103 yards, a hefty 6.1-yard average. He broke off a 25-yard run as part of a second-quarter TD drive, and he had four consecutive carries of 8, 6, 7 and 9 yards to start a third-quarter march to a field goal. Finally, after the Lions had rallied from a big deficit to get within 34-27, Lacy powered 9 yards on his final run of the day to move the chains and allow the Packers to kneel out the final two minutes.
LB Nick Perry vs. Detroit
It was impressive early in the season to see what a healthy Perry could do. He started the game with three tackles for loss against the run in the first quarter, and he finished it with two key sacks of QB Matt Stafford in the fourth quarter, both on third down to force a field goal and a punt, respectively, with the Lions trying to rally from behind.
WR Randall Cobb vs. New York Giants
The Packers' passing attack wasn't its most efficient in this game, but nine of QB Aaron Rodgers' 23 completions and 108 of his 259 passing yards went to Cobb, who proved tough for a banged-up Giants secondary to handle. Only two passes targeted for Cobb were incomplete. He thought he had a touchdown on a 12-man free play in the first half, but it was wiped out by an illegal shift penalty on Green Bay. He had a 21-yard reception on the final play of the third quarter to set up a field goal, and his 13-yard catch on third-and-10 late allowed Rodgers to kneel out a 23-16 win.
