The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night, and I saw a poll among fans to determine what was the most important thing accomplished. The choices were getting into a tie for first place, finally winning a close game, and beating Brett Favre.

Guess which one was selected more than half again as much as the other two combined...

Love him or hate him (or love him and hate him, as many of us do), Brett Favre once again proved his mental and physical toughness. He played through a stress fracture and an avulsion fracture in his ankle, either one of which would send many quarterbacks to the trainers.

Leaving aside the off-field issues-especially the retirement drama that has tried the patience of all but the stoutest of Favre fans-there are reasons to love and hate Favre on the field, too. He makes plays that are amazing, like the apparent go-ahead touchdown at the end of the game that was rightfully called back. He also makes plays like the pick-6 he threw to Desmond Bishop that gave the Packers the lead he was trying to come back from.

If the Vikings play a hobbled and turnover-prone (14 in six games) Favre over a healthy and relatively gifted Tarvaris Jackson against New England next week, we know who really runs that team. We also know Favre is lying when he says the consecutive games streak (291 in the regular season and counting) is not important to him.

But enough on the next game of the last team. It is time to look at how this team performed in that game, one unit at a time...

Quarterback: D+

This was not a bad performance from Aaron Rodgers statistically: He was 21-34 (.618 completion percentage) for 295 yards (8.7 per attempt) and two scores but two picks. He had three carries for 14 yards and was not sacked.

But that is just it-he was under no pressure all day. He was up against a terrible secondary and had open receivers to throw to. And he was continually not on the same page with them; when it happens with one or two guys, it might be the receivers, but it is the quarterback when it is epidemic.

Worse, the two picks he threw-including his first in 173 attempts in the red zone and first ever as a starter-were inexplicable. Each took at least three points off the board.

Running back: C-

Brandon Jackson led the way with 13 carries for 58 yards (4.3 average) and caught three passes for 46 yards. But while John Kuhn had a huge fourth down conversion, he failed on the next attempt and finished with only 12 yards on seven carries; thus, Green Bay's backs only ran for 70 yards on 20 carries, a 3.5-yard average, but 116 yards of total offense in 23 touches-a 5.0-yard average.

Receivers: B

Packers receivers avoided dropped balls, and got away with one in the endzone. With Donald Driver no more than a decoy because of a torn quadriceps, others stepped up.

James Jones had four catches for 107 yards (26.8 average), Greg Jennings had six for 74 (12.3) plus a score, and Jordy Nelson added four for 25. Donald Lee stepped back into the starting tight end role with two catches for 27 yards, and Andrew Quarless had two for 16 with a touchdown; however, he would have had another from Matt Flynn had he not tripped over his own two feet.

Offensive line: A-

For once, the line was the shining star of the offense. Minnesota might not be getting as much pressure this season as in the past, but they still possess four true pass-rushing threats, even if Ray Edwards is really only a threat because he is the guy never double-teamed. To give up no sacks is incredible, and rarely was Rodgers even hurried or flushed from the pocket.

Chad Clifton performed at a Pro Bowl level Sunday, shutting down Pro Bowl end Jarred Allen

That being said, one reason the backs did not generate much on the ground was the holes were not what they could have been. Still, facing a very good run defense with only your third-down back and fullback, the job their production was at least adequate.

Defensive line: D

Considering how thin the line was-even backup offensive guard/tackle T.J. Lang had to fill in, getting one assist-they did not do badly. C.J. Wilson played lights out in relief, with five tackles and three assists; the rest of the unit combined for five and two, but Jarius Wynn added the only sack of the game at a very opportune time.

Still, Adrian Peterson had 131 yards on 28 carries (4.7 average) and a touchdown. Okay, he is Adrian Peterson, and will wear down healthy defensive lines, but Toby Gerhart had 24 yards on five carries (4.8) and Percy Harvin added 41 yards on three carries (13.7) and a score. This means the line's primary responsibility-run contain-was not met, as they allowed a whopping 196 yards on 36 carries (5.4 average).

Linebackers: C

The inside linebackers had the Packers only good performers in this lot: A.J. Hawk had six tackles, five assists, and an interception; Desmond Bishop had five, three, and one returned for a touchdown, respectively, and the latter came on one of two plays I noticed in which he successfully covered Randy Moss!

The entire rest of the unit managed just eight tackles and two assists. Running backs, whom this unit has full responsibility for covering, burned the Packers to the tune of four catches for 56 yards (counting H-back Jim Kleinsasser as a back rather than a tight end). They also bear some responsibility for Visanthe Shiancoe's three catches for 30 yards.

Secondary: A-

Nine catches for 125 yards and just one score to a wide receiver corps that includes Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Greg Camarillo is exceptional. Even Shiancoe's production speaks well of the safety play, and Nick Collins added a pick for good measure. The unit kept the yellow hankies more or less off the field, and they added 18 tackles and three assists.

Special Teams: C-

The Vikings average kick return of under 17 yards is misleading, as the Packers gave up on kicking deep early in the second half with mixed results: Two squibs gave the Vikings the ball just beyond their own 30, which is exactly where they averaged on the previous punts and kicks combined.

Green Bay gave up 13 yards on one punt return and downed the other kick inside the 20 while averaging 45 yards per punt. Packers returners had just ten yards on two punt returns and 104 on five kick returns.