“That was a special moment,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of his 400th career touchdown. 

It was another evening of milestones for the Packers, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 30-16 to climb to 9-3 on the season. Rodgers threw three touchdowns on the night, bringing his total to 36 and making him the first quarterback in NFL history to have five seasons with 35-plus touchdown passes. 

“I can remember all the hundred notches,” said Rodgers, adding that the record is evidence towards career longevity and consistent play at a high level. He’s the seventh player in NFL history to throw for 400 touchdowns and the first to do so before throwing 100 interceptions. 

Wide receiver Davante Adams hauled in 10 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns, including Rodgers’ 400th, bringing his total to 13 on the season in only 10 games. Those 13 touchdowns tie his career high from 2018.

“To be able to get 400, man, it’s awesome,” said Adams, who also caught Rodgers’ 200th career touchdown. It was actually his first touchdown so Adams shared that Rodgers let him keep that ball. 

“Those guys are two phenomenal players. You could argue they’re the best at what they do,” said Head Coach Matt LaFleur of the duo. 

They have a chance to set more records together this season with four games remaining. Adams is currently on pace for career highs in yards per game and catch percentage, with 358 yards needed to set a new career high there, too. 

While the passing game remained explosive, the ground game also got rolling for a second straight week. Aaron Jones finished the day with 130 total yards and a new career-long 77-yard touchdown. 

When the game got close towards the end of the fourth quarter at 23-16, Jones broke free for the longest touchdown of his career and sealed the victory for Green Bay. 

“We’ve talked about it the past couple weeks, playing four quarters and finishing,” said Jones. “We knew we had to get out there and finish. We let a team back in, gave them some hope, and the most important part is we finished. We just have to do that four quarters and not let the team back in.”

On the national broadcast, the announcers commented on the closeness of this Packers team and how the players always celebrate together after a score. Adams mentioned the “BYOJ” (bring your own juice) attitude the team has and the way they rally around one another. 

“That’s what I love about our football team, is guys playing for one another,” said LaFleur. 

One play in particular that stood out to the head coach was the blocking of Marquez Valdes-Scantling on Jones’ touchdown run. “He had no catches, but what’d you see on that 75-yard run? You saw a guy that was battling his butt off making key blocks down the field, and that is the epitome of team. And that’s what I want us to be all about.”

Despite a few errors on the first drive of the game with a fumble and sack to go three-and-out on the team’s opening possession, LaFleur felt his team is playing some of its cleanest football to date. 

“I would say this about the last two games. It is by far the fewest mistakes that we’ve had on the offensive side of the ball all year long, in two years. I think we had five mental errors two weeks ago and four in this game,” he said, adding that you always want to keep the errors under 10 while acknowledging that mistakes do happen. 

Defensively, the Packers were able to bring pressure all game. Regardless of who was in at quarterback for the Eagles, the Packers swarmed the passer and tallied seven total sacks on the day. 

“We had a field day today,” said Za’Darius Smith, who leads the team with 10.5 sacks. 

Second-year defensive lineman Kingsley Keke had his second two-sack game of the season. He now has four sacks on the year and is tied for second on the team with Rashan Gary. 

“Just to be on a team like this that is so talented, we can affect the quarterback pretty well. Seven sacks, that’s a big accomplishment for us,” said Keke, listing players like Smith, Gary, Preston Smith, and Kenny Clark as key contributors and guys who can generate lots of pressure. 

The defense wanted to get back to basics going into this week, with defensive captain Smith telling the media post-game that he went to defensive coordinator Mike Pettine early in the week and asked if they could simplify things and get back to pressuring the quarterback. 

“When something’s not working and we see it on the field, it’s just the communication with them to help us change it. As you can see we get a lot more turnovers and a lot more sacks,” said Smith, adding that Pettine was receptive to the changes and that the coaches are good at listening to their players. 

“I definitely think there’s an openness there and we have to be willing to listen,” LaFleur said of listening to the suggestions of his players.

Keke felt the defense had a great week of practice, adding that stopping the run has to be every defense’s priority first and foremost. “Once you stop the run we can affect the quarterback like we did.”

In the secondary, Darnell Savage snagged his third interception of the season, giving him a new career high. LaFleur heaped plenty of praise onto both of his team’s 2019 first-round picks during his presser, complimenting Savage’s football IQ and Gary’s ability to rush the passer. Both players are still ascending for the Packers defense. 

The Packers will travel to Ford Field on Sunday to face off against the division rival Detroit Lions. 

“I think we’re in a good position as a team,” said Rodgers. “The first goal is always the North, and we’re up three with four to play.”

If the Packers take care of business against Detroit and the 6-6 Vikings lose on the road against the Buccaneers, Green Bay will clinch the NFC North for the second consecutive year. 

Rodgers will look to add to his touchdown total Sunday, and he’d need 10 more on the season to set a new career high at 46. 

“I’m proud obviously of 400. I’m glad I got the ball. I’m gonna hold onto that one. Now I can see if I can get to 500 before I throw 100 picks maybe,” said Rodgers, who has 88 interceptions to date in his career. 

When pressed further about that possibility, Rodgers smiled. 

“Anything’s possible,” he said quoting Kevin Garnett. “I think that would be sweet. I haven’t necessarily identified that as a goal. I’m just living in the moment with this year, trying to enjoy it as much as possible, and hopefully I’ll still be playing to have 500. But we’ll see.”