There was something about the way Mike McCarthy looked last night, in his spotless white Color Rush hoodie with its trendy black pentagon thing – and were those dress pants?! – that made me think he might actually have a little special stuffed up his sweatshirt sleeves.

And so during his Thursday Night Football halftime interview with CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson, with his injury-ravaged team having managed a measly six points and the offense again appearing impotent against Chicago, even though I couldn’t hear what McCarthy was saying in the noisy bar I was at – something grumbly about fundamentals and execution, no doubt – I imagined he was yelling, "Running backs? We don’t need no stinking running backs!" and, "You want offense? I’ll give you some damned offense!" with a forcefulness typically reserved for rebuking those that question his heretofore faltering attack.

Whatever he said at the break, and whatever he did in the second half, well, it worked.

The Packers scored 20 points in the third and fourth quarters, their best output in a half since Sept. 25 against the Lions, effectively using spread-out formations and a short passing scheme to dink-and-dunk the Bears to death, despite the absence of a conventional running game. Aaron Rodgers finally looked to be in rhythm, and his wide receivers finally seemed to get open; but, more broadly than that, Green Bay just seemed to be, at last, doing what it was trying to do with the ball. Put more ineloquently, it was accomplishing stuff.

In a nationally televised game under the bright lights of Lambeau Field, the Packers looked good in their sleek Color Rush uniforms; more importantly, in their 26-10 win over the bumbling Bears, they looked competent. They almost looked like themselves again.

Four days after an ugly performance against the Cowboys that had the sports world wondering what was wrong with McCarthy, Rodgers and the rest, they had an immediate bounce-back opportunity in the 193rd overall meeting between Green Bay (4-2) and Chicago (1-6). At home against a depleted and defective opponent, the Packers contented their fans and quieted their critics – at least for this week – with some recognizably capable quarterbacking and the emergence of two relatively unproven players as bona fide playmakers.

Second-half Rodgers resembled the two-time MVP, wide receivers Davante Adams and Ty Montgomery – sorry, that’s running back Ty Montgomery, for now – shed their, respectively, inconsistent and injury-prone labels and became dangerous weapons, the Packers went with a more up-tempo attack and the defense did what it was supposed to do against a Bears offense forced to use its third-string quarterback that couldn’t get anything going.

Here’s everything you need to know, or just forgot, or missed because you muted the TV so you wouldn't have to listen to Phil Simms anymore, plus all kinds of other wacky whatnots, from the Packers’ Week 7 win over the Bears on Thursday.

Who starred?

Take your pick of Rodgers, Montgomery or Adams. I’ll go with Adams, the much-maligned third-year wideout who frequently got separation, found space and led Green Bay with 132 yards and two scores. Cleared earlier in the day from the league’s concussion protocol, he caught a career-high 13 of his 16 targets, which suggested he’s earned Rodgers’ trust and more opportunities. Adams’ third-quarter touchdown reception, in which he reached back and caught the ball around – and within the arms of – his defender, looked like the kind of play usually made by Jordy Nelson, and it gave Green Bay a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Who stunk?

Given all the injuries – the Packers ruled out seven players before the game, meaning they had exactly 46 healthy players for their 46-man active game-day roster, and were without their top three cornerbacks and top two running backs – no one really played all that badly. And, considering I selected him as the team’s MVP last year, this hurts to say, but Mason Crosby wasn’t good. The veteran, who has become one of the best kickers in the league over the last couple years, missed an extra point and had a low field goal attempt blocked in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, this doesn’t get to him mentally and signal a return to his slump-ridden 2012 season.

Unsung hero

Linebacker Nick Perry continues to impress. Green Bay’s leader in sacks (5.5) added another one Thursday – it was the team’s only quarterback takedown of the game – among his four tackles. He also made a nifty late interception that had the fifth-year former first-round pick grinning. His 2016 performance has him on track to receive much more than the one-year, $5 million contract he signed in the offseason.

McCarthy Score

(Mike McCarthy isn’t renowned for his play-calling, having fired and then rehired himself for that role last year, but he does try his best. Here we rate his coaching performance, on a score from one to 10 McCarthy heads.)

At times, especially recently as the team has struggled and his decisions have been increasingly debated, it seems that McCarthy is making calls based on what he thinks he should do, rather than what he believes or wants to do. Against the Cowboys on a third-and-1 last week, he chose a fullback dive with Aaron Ripkowski, didn’t get it, and then elected to punt rather than try again, perhaps because Green Bay’s go-to fourth-and-short call is that fullback dive. On the Packers’ first drive Thursday, he went for it on fourth-and-4 from the Bears’ 29-yard line – well within Crosby’s range – and got it on a Rodgers completion to Nelson. It was an aggressive call, which jolted the home crowd, but it was a bit of a head-scratching one. In the second half, though, McCarthy got in a groove, pushing the pace and dictating how Chicago’s defense could react, and his fist-pumping reaction to Adams’ first touchdown catch displayed emotion that has been mostly absent this season. So, seven heads!

One-word, punctuated reaction

Better!

Dumb #hottake

The Packers’ offense is back now and this team is a Super Bowl contender again!

Eddie Lacy, phat or fat

Unfortunately, the big man – who looks to have put back on all the weight he reportedly lost in the offseason – was placed on injured reserve before the game Thursday. Because he was the only active running back against the Cowboys last week, Lacy admirably played through an ankle injury, but exacerbated it, and now will miss at least eight weeks, if not the rest of the year. After that gutsy performance, though, he earned some cheese curds.

Who wore it best?

The NFL Color Rush uniforms can be a divisive subject. Some find the more flamboyant jerseys garish (we're looking at you, Jacksonville), others thought the Packers’ tidy-white selection was comparatively boring. Personally, I liked the look; it was understated, classic and fresh. 

Good quote

"We have lots of guys that can make big plays at any point in time. We’re battling some adversity right now, but good things bloom out of adversity. Adversity is just a chance to see what you got." – Ty Montgomery, who had 10 catches and nine carries for 126 total yards.

Best photo

Did they miss Josh Sitton this week?

A bit, but the injured guard – who signed with Chicago after Green Bay released him before the season – didn’t play for the Bears on Thursday, either. The Packers’ offensive line has been very good in recent weeks, giving Rodgers extended time in the pocket, even if it hasn’t produced great results, but it struggled against Chicago’s pass rush, allowing eight quarterback hits and two sacks, including one fumble that was recovered for a touchdown. Right guard T.J. Lang impressively battled through an injury, though, Lane Taylor again was serviceable and afterward Rodgers said he was "proud" of a line that’s "been playing really, really well."

Did the defense bend or break?

After quarterback Brian Hoyer – himself a replacement for injured starter Jay Cutler – broke his arm in the first half, third-stringer Matt Barkley entered and was entirely overmatched. The Packers only got the one sack, but they allowed Barkley just six completions for 81 yards and intercepted him twice. With cornerbacks Sam Shields, Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins out, backups Demetri Goodson and LaDarius Gunter stepped up, and Green Bay’s secondary shut down Chicago’s receivers, including keeping Alshon Jeffery to three catches for 33 yards. Rookie linebacker Blake Martinez, who had a team-high five tackles, as well as two passes defensed and an interception, was excellent in coverage.

Encouraging thing

The passing game. Rodgers set a franchise record with 39 completions, throwing for 326 yards – his first time surpassing 300 this season – with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. After entering the game ranked 26th or worse in the league in completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating, he completed nearly 70 percent of his throws, averaged 8.4 yards per attempt and finished with a passer rating of 102.2. That’s more like it!

Alarming thing

Even though Green Bay was impressive working around its lack of a legitimate ground game – running backs Don Jackson, promoted from the practice squad Thursday, and Knile Davis, acquired from Kansas City in a trade two days prior, carried a combined four times for seven yards – it’s difficult to imagine the team continuing to succeed against NFL defenses with a gimmicky, makeshift rushing attack. With Lacy out until at least Week 15 and James Starks sidelined for at least a month, the Packers will have to get their new backs up to speed if they hope to achieve any kind of offensive balance going into a difficult stretch of the schedule.

Looking ahead

After playing twice in less than a week, the Packers will now be off for 10 days. It’s a much-needed rest for a battered team, before it has to go on the road for four of its next five games against opponents with at least a .500 record. After hopefully getting a few of their injured players healthy, Green Bay travels to Atlanta for a showdown against the first-place Falcons (4-2) on Oct. 30 at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.