Aaron Rodgers on Packers’ secret ingredient during rebound: ‘I believe very strongly in the force of the mind’

The Packers didn’t just beat the Vikings on Sunday to stay alive in the NFC playoff picture; they absolutely steamrolled them. Aaron Rodgers made timely decisions. Aaron Jones had lots of space. And Green Bay’s resurgent defense was all over the ball, with Jaire Alexander shutting down Justin Jefferson and three others picking off Kirk Cousins. But something else — something more mystical — has played a hand in the Packers’ improbable run as wild card hopefuls, according to Rodgers.

“I (always) had faith, much like (when we were) 4-6, I think in ’16,” Rodgers told reporters after Sunday’s 41-17 win, per NFL.com. “Sometimes you’ve got to fool yourself a little bit into believing a little bit more. But I definitely had faith I was going to go down scrapping, for sure. I do believe in the power of manifestation and I do believe in momentum and I believe very strongly in the force of the mind. And when you start to believe something strongly, some miraculous things can happen.”

This isn’t the first time Rodgers has attributed the Packers’ performance to something akin to “the force of the mind.” Earlier this year, he lightly scolded Alexander for even envisioning that Green Bay might lose back-to-back games, suggesting an optimistic locker-room approach can affect on-field results. In truth, lots of players and teams preach a similar message: keep believing.

“We’ve all seen some of the commentary on the outside as we went from 4-8 to 5-8 to 6-8 and nobody’s worried about the Packers and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Rodgers said Sunday. “Now, what are they going to say? … It didn’t look great for a while. And I was resigned to some of those realities being possible. And when I took my mind there, I had a peace about it. I had a peace about all of it. Whatever was supposed to happen, I was surrendered to that reality — with also the resolute mindset that we could still get back in this thing. And I think that’s what I’m most proud of, for myself and our team, is that there were a lot of different things that could happen, and we stuck together and we put ourselves in position to do something special.”

The Packers (8-8), once four games below .500, can clinch a playoff spot in Week 18 by simply beating the Lions in their regular-season finale. Detroit also has a path to the postseason, and can steal the final wild card spot with a win over Green Bay and a Seahawks loss to the Rams.