Eddie Lacy gashed the Minnesota Vikings for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 16 touches Thursday night, doing the majority of his damage by running through or bouncing off defenders at the second level of the defense.
"I thought he was a beast in the open field," coach Mike McCarthy said after the game, via Fox Sports Wisconsin. "We blocked well and Eddie ran very well."
Lacy passed the credit along to his offensive line, emphasizing that the holes were "just crazy big" and enabled him to "run the ball 10, 20, 30 yards down the field."
As NFL Media analysts Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks pointed out Friday on NFL Now, Lacy is the linchpin for Green Bay's offense because his success opens up downfield opportunities for Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and rookie Davante Adams.
"Aaron Rodgers might be the best play-action, deep-ball thrower we have in the NFL," Jeremiah explained. "We saw the deep throw to Jordy Nelson for the 66-yard touchdown based right off of that run game."
Lacy was the 2013 Offensive Rookie of the Year for a good reason. We can surmise from 21 games worth of film that he's one of the NFL's best in yards after contact and forced missed tackles.
Thursday night's performance was a reminder that it is the combination of Lacy and Rodgers working in tandem to put the defense in a bind that had McCarthy crowing that his offense stacks up well with any in the NFL.
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