The Packers improved to 10-0 for the third time in their storied history at Lambeau Field Sunday afternoon. However, that distinction didn't come without a great deal of angst as the vaunted Green Bay offense sputtered after halftime; and the Packers defense, which was so good last Monday night against the Vikings, failed to hold a Tampa Bay offense that had been struggling mightily all year long.

As is the case with every game, there are things that to build on, things to learn from, and things that just made us all cringe. With that, I give you this week's edition of the good, the bad, and the ugly from Sunday's Packers 35-26 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Good

Well, 10-0 is 10-0. At times it wasn't pretty, but as the old sports adage goes, you are what your record says you are. After the Packers got off to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, you got the feeling this could be another cakewalk.

Of course, that wasn't meant to be, but we'll get to that.

Aaron Rodgers again put up good numbers, throwing for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns. The one interception he threw will linger with him because that goes against everything Rodgers holds dear as an NFL quarterback. Nevertheless, he still finished with a quarterback rating of 112.3 for the game. For those keeping track at home, the Packers quarterback has a rating of 130.7 for the season, which is still an unprecedented number in NFL history.

One of the the things that has aided Rodgers all season long has been his ability to spread the ball around. Sunday, nine receivers were targeted, with eight different players making at least one reception.

This, to be sure, was a pedestrian effort from a quarterback that has lit the NFL on fire for the first half of the season. And while he is still the league's clear-cut choice for MVP if the season were to end today, don't tell him that.

"I'm just frustrated," Rodgers said in his post game news conference. "I'm not trying to be ridiculously humble right now. I'm frustrated the ball didn't come off the way I wanted it to today. I missed some guys I shouldn't."

Suffice it to say, when your quarterback doesn't have his best stuff and you can still rack up 35 points, there are probably a lot of things going right.

One of those things that has been going right all season has been the play of wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who continues to have a breakout season. Sunday, Nelson caught six balls for 123 yards and two touchdowns. When Nelson was drafted, the consensus was that he could play in the NFL as a possession receiver, but probably not as a touchdown maker. However, Nelson has worked hard to earn the trust of his quarterback and that trust is paying off.

"It's obviously growing and continues to grow," Nelson said after the game. "It's obviously been a process. A lot of people believe getting in here the hard part is learning the playbook. The playbook is the easy thing. It's being on the same page as your quarterback."

Also in the "good" category was the continued minimization of self-inflicted wounds. Green Bay was only penalized five times for 37 yards, which most coaches can live with; they were also a solid 7-12 on third-down conversions, which most coaches would be thrilled with.

After the Buccaneers cut the Packers lead to 21-19 in the fourth quarter, Green Bay embarked on an eight-play, 85-yard scoring drive to swing momentum back towards the home sideline. After the Packers defense allowed Tampa Bay to march right back down the field for yet another score, Rodgers engineered a quick-strike three-play, 46 yard drive, highlighted when he found Nelson streaking down the left sideline for a 40-yard touchdown.

Finally, Green Bay's 80 percent red zone efficiency (4-5) was excellent.

The Bad

The tackling on LeGarrette Blount left something to be desired. Blount is certainly a load to bring down, but his 54-yard touchdown run is a play that will be dissected ad nauseam in film study leading up to the Lions game on Thursday.

First, Desmond Bishop missed Blount at the Buccaneers 46, right at the line of scrimmage. Then, at the Packers 48, Morgan Burnett and Tramon Williams failed to bring him down. Ryan Pickett failed to grab Blount's ankle on a diving attempt 11 yards later, then Sam Shields took a bad angle and failed to stop him at the 30. At the 10-yard line, Erik Walden met Blount, only to be dragged into the end zone.

"We can't give up the big plays like that," Pickett said afterward. "Once we eliminate that from our total defense, we'll be fine. We just have six more games to get that right, so we feel good about our chances."

Overall, Blount ran for 107 yards on 18 carries. "He ran with passion," head coach Raheem Morris said in his postgame remarks. "He ran hard, he ran tough, he ran physical, he ran strong, he ran powerful, and he ran smart."

You wouldn't know it by the way Green Bay played defensively at times, but the Buccaneers are a team that has struggled all season long, particularly on offense. Beyond Blount's incredible touchdown run, there was an overall failure on the Packers part to step on the necks of an opponent that has been a overall disappointment in 2011.

Remember, the Packers and Buccaneers had identical 10-6 regular season records last year, but Tampa Bay's loss to Detroit knocked them out of the tiebreaker with Green Bay on Dec. 19. After Sunday's game, quarterback Josh Freeman, someone who had very high expectations entering this year, has thrown just 11 touchdown passes as opposed to 15 interceptions.

Nevertheless, Freeman engineered drives of 91 and 50 yards for scores in the final quarter of the game, and carved up the Packers secondary for 342 yards.

One final "bad" was Mason Crosby missing a 29-yard field goal attempt off the right upright with 1:40 left in the game. Crosby doesn't miss many and the game was already in hand, so no real need to dwell on one miss. As long as it remains just that – one miss.

The Ugly

Punters should never run with the football because usually, bad things happen. Fortunately that was not the case when Green Bay's Tim Masthay pulled it down under a heavy rush from Tampa Bay's Jacob Cutrera (and a missed blocking assignment by John Kuhn, who failed to pick Cutrera up). Masthay, standing on the Packers 7-yard line, wisely saw that the punt was going to be blocked and ran right. At the 11, the ball simply slipped out of his hands. Alertly, he scooped it right back up at the 15 yard line and kept going. Still untouched, the second-year man from Kentucky then dropped the ball again at the 25, and spent the next six yards flopping and flailing away at it until the ball trickled out of bounds.

Masthay was "credited" with two fumbles on the play, which was more comedy than he bargained for. The end result was good; the Packers avoided the blocked punt and got a first down out of it.

However, this fits the very definition of "ugly" because of two things: Kuhn's missed blitz pick-up, and Masthay's comical attempt at running with a football. He probably won't live that down in the locker room anytime soon.

On Green Bay's first touchdown drive, Rodgers took a hit that had Wisconsin's entire collective hearts stopping. Just days after coach Mike McCarthy stressed how important it was to keep Rodgers upright and clean, he took a heavy shot from Ronde Barber on the 1-yard line that spun him around. Fortunately Rodgers was not hurt, but you could feel the energy in the stadium get vacuumed out in that one instant.

One final ugly: rookie D.J. Smith losing himself in field awareness when Tampa Bay's Michael Koenen attempted an onside kick in the second quarter. In high school you are taught that the ball has to travel 10 yards on a kickoff before it is a free ball. Smith, in his haste to make a play, lost himself for a moment and attempted to field the ball after it had only trickled seven yards off the tee.

Fortunately, replay showed Koenen illegally touched the ball just one split fraction of a second before Smith did, averting disaster.

Offensive grade: B

Defensive grade: B-

Special Teams grade: B-

Overall grade: B

Thanksgiving Day: at Detroit