There’s little argument that Aaron Rodgers‘ talent is such that his Green Bay Packers probably should have won more than one Super Bowl by now.For quite some time Justin McCray Jersey White , there have been those who blamed coach Mike McCarthy for the lack of titles more than credited him for steering the team to that title.Now the world will find out just what Rodgers and the Packers are capable of without McCarthy, who was fired after a 20-17 loss at home to the lowly Arizona Cardinals on Sunday that dropped Green Bay to 4-7-1, its worst start since 2006. It was an abrupt end for McCarthy — who did win a championship, after all — and rare upheaval for a model franchise that last changed coaches during a season 65 years ago.It’s likely other coaches who are in trouble around the league will get a chance to ride things out through Week 17, but Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis, Jacksonville’s Doug Marrone, the Jets’ Todd Bowles and Carolina’s Ron Rivera all should be wary. When Rivera was asked whether he’s concerned about his job security after a 24-17 defeat at Tampa Bay dropped the Panthers to 6-6, this was the reply: “I’m not going to address that question. Do not ask that question again, please.”Alrighty, then.Rodgers is a two-time NFL MVP Marwin Evans Jersey , and he was the Super Bowl MVP when the Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the big game in 2011, all under McCarthy.Year after year more recently, though, Green Bay would reach the postseason only to wind up with so-close-but-so-far exits.“We’re just not executing well,” Rodgers said, “and it’s the same things over and over.”Not long after those words were spoken, team president Mark Murphy released a statement announcing that McCarthy was gone. Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin will fill in.This season is essentially over; the Packers are a half-game out of last place in the NFC North. Now they can start pondering their future — as can McCarthy.He likely will get another chance elsewhere. Presumably, Rodgers will be given some input on Green Bay’s choice of a new coach. He turned 35 on Sunday, and the opportunities to win a second Lombardi Trophy are fading.In case you missed it, here are other top topics after the NFL season’s 13th Sunday:HUNT NOT QUESTIONEDThe league’s handling of Kareem Hunt’s role in an assault of a woman at a hotel in February is under scrutiny after the reigning rushing champion said he was never interviewed by anyone conducting the NFL investigation of the matter. After the Ray Rice case Nick Perry Jersey White , in which he punched his then-girlfriend (and now wife), the league hired additional staff to handle such inquiries — but all these months later, Hunt was still playing until TMZ Sports posted video from a hotel security camera. And he told ESPN on Sunday that the league hadn’t spoken to him about what happened. Hunt also acknowledged lying about it to the Kansas City Chiefs, who released him.BIG MAN TD TIMES TWO!It was a good day to be a big man in the NFL (as long as winning isn’t the most important thing, that is). Two, um, larger guys got into the end zone: Bears defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, listed at more than 330 pounds, plunged in from the 1 for a score that brought back memories of Chicago’s William “The Refrigerator” Perry; Lions offensive lineman Taylor Decker, who goes 6-foot-7 and about 310 pounds Mason Crosby Jersey White , caught an 11-yard TD pass. Hicks became the third NFL player since 1982 with a sack and rushing TD in the same game (“Fridge” was one of the others); Chicago also got halfback Tarik Cohen’s 1-yard, tying touchdown pass off a lateral on the final play of regulation, but ended up losing to the New York Giants 30-27 in OT. Decker’s moment of personal glory also did little for Detroit in what became a 30-16 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, who clinched the NFC West.THIRD TIME’S A CHARMWacky ending to the night game: There were three offsides calls in a row as Chargers kicker Michael Badgley got three tries to make a game-winning field goal — pushing his initial attempt from 39 yards wide left, then getting blocked from 34, before finally succeeding from 29 (so the last flag for a too-early jump was declined) in a 33-30 victory over the Steelers. The Chargers (9-3) erased a 16-point halftime hole; Keenan Allen caught 14 passes for 148 yards and a TD. While the Green Bay Packers’ offense surely will have a real test this week against a dangerous Chicago defense, they couldn’t have asked for a better start to the Joe Philbin experiment.Giving Atlanta’s defense numerous looks early in the game, Aaron Rodgers and company were able to dink-and-dunk early while opening up the playbook as the game wore on. And with Green Bay’s franchise quarterback looking as close to his old self as he has since the first half of week two against Minnesota, the Packers were able to build a near-insurmountable lead by the end of the third quarter and cruise to a victory. But will they be able to begin a winning streak?Here are some Friday observations and items to ponder.Packers will try once again to pick up back-to-back winsIf Green Bay can defeat Chicago this week, a team that it was 19-7 against during Mike McCarthy’s tenure Nick Perry Jersey , the Packers will achieve their first stretch of back-to-back wins in the 2018 season. A second-consecutive victory has evaded the Packers thus far, with Green Bay coming up especially just short in week two against Minnesota and week eight at Los Angeles. The Packers have tallied back-to-back wins at least once in each of the past 12 years, last failing to do so during their 4-12 season in 2005 that saw Mike Sherman get the boot. Aaron Rodgers physically looked healthier than he has all seasonTo me, there was a noticeable pep in Rodgers’ step against Atlanta - one that we haven’t seen in quite some time.Going back to the tape, I counted 10 times during the game in which Rodgers either was forced to elude the pass rush or side-step defenders in the pocket. That doesn’t even account for designed roll-outs. Some of those instances included long rushes after being flushed out of the pocket and even a third quarter underhand heave while being taken down to avoid a sack. Rodgers’ knee sure looked back to normal as he was able to tear away from defenders and quickly get into his old gear as a runner as seen in the video below.Even on sacks, outside of the first one of the game in which Atlanta brought an untouched blitzer from the corner position, Rodgers put up an admirable fight in trying to escape. His mobility appears to be back.Tempo led to offensive successIn Philbin’s first game calling the shots, there seemed to be an emphasis placed on quicker tempo and getting the offense into a rhythm early in the game.After issues have been raised all season long with the Packers burning timeouts because of a dwindling play clock and looking unorganized at the line before the snap, Green Bay looked much more polished and aware of the game plan. Before purposely working the play clock around the midpoint of the fourth quarter, I counted just 11 plays in which the Packers snapped the ball with five seconds or less remaining. There were no delay of game penalties. There were no wasted timeouts. The Packers even almost got a “free play” after Rodgers made a defensive lineman jump on the hard count but made contact to attract a whistle. Those opportunities have been much fewer this season as the Packers have struggled with tempo Jaire Alexander Jersey , but they made a return Sunday.As far as rhythm goes, Green Bay’s first drive established just that. A nine-play, 75-yard drive resulted in a touchdown as the Packers took advantage of quick plays and never took the play clock lower than seven seconds. Green Bay opened with two quick passes to the outside with Equanimeous St. Brown before opening up the middle on a quick throw to Randall Cobb. They then tried to stretch the field with a playaction call and an isolated downfield pass to Davante Adams. The Packers then went with the running game on two of the next three plays with another quick screen to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in between. A quick slant to MVS drew a penalty before Rodgers completed a quick-hitter to Adams on the outside for a score.The Packers’ quick-strike passing game, mixed in with deeper shots and running plays, kept Atlanta very off guard on an up-tempo opening drive. Perhaps most importantly, the Packers got Rodgers and his top four wide receivers involved early and often.