Big things coming out of Packers' current 3-game winning streak

The Green Bay Packers are 8-3-1 after winning three straight games, including Thanksgiving Day's 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. The win streak has given the Packers a legitimate chance to earn the No. 1 seed over the final five games, but a big stretch is coming up with two games against the Chicago Bears and a visit to Denver to play the Broncos over the next three weeks.

What are the encouraging signs for the Packers coming out of the win streak?

Stars leading the way

How do you get your season back on track? Lean on the stars. Jordan Love has thrown six touchdown passes without a turnover and leads all quarterbacks in PFF's passing grade over the last three games. His individual performances against the Giants and Lions were among the best of his three-year starting career in Green Bay. On defense, Micah Parsons has produced 6.0 sacks and 22 pressures over the last three games, including multiple sacks in all three games. If Love has been the run producer, Parsons has been the closer. Love and Parsons have powered the turnaround, and a quarterback and a pass-rusher playing at an elite level is usually among the most important ingredients to a Super Bowl run.

Christian Watson

Over the last three games, Watson leads the team in targets (22), catches (13), receiving yards (175) and receiving touchdowns (3). He's averaging 2.4 yards per route run, an elite number, and six of his 13 catches have been considered "contested" by PFF. Watson is winning down the field and coming up big in important spots, including on third down. Losing Tucker Kraft set the offense way back, but Watson's emergence as a reliable threat has helped the passing game steady in a big way. Big, fast and versatile, both as a receiver and blocker, Watson remains a perfect fit in this offense with Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love.

Offensive line

The Packers offensive line has been responsible for one sack and one penalty over the last three games, while the run game is averaging over 130 rushing yards per game since Week 11. Left guard Aaron Banks is healthy and playing vastly better, Sean Rhyan has provided a boost in the run game at center, Anthony Belton has brought real physicality to the right guard position despite some inconsistencies down to down, Darian Kinnard has provided value as the sixth offensive lineman in the jumbo package and Zach Tom and Rasheed Walker remain a reliable pair of offensive tackles. The Packers are starting to run the football more consistently (offense has nine runs of 10+ yards, Josh Jacobs is averaging 5.1 yards per carry over the last three games), and any time the Packers keep Jordan Love clean in the pocket, good things are likely to follow in the passing game.

Takeaways

If you count turnover on downs as takeaways, and you probably should, then the Packers have nine total takeaways over the last three games, including four stops on fourth down. This stretch even includes the win over the Giants, which featured as many as four dropped interceptions. The Packers are starting to take the ball away after a dry start to the season, and the turnovers are coming in big spots. In New York, the defense got an interception in the end zone and a strip-sack to clinch the win. Against the Vikings, the Packers harassed J.J. McCarthy into two interceptions, made a fourth-down stop in the red zone and got a game-changing takeaway on special teams. In Detroit, the Packers produced a pair of crucial fourth down stops, including one to open the second half with the game still tight and another in the fourth quarter with the Lions on the doorstep of the red zone.

Red zone

The Packers offense is finishing drives with touchdowns. Over the last three games, the offense has scored touchdowns on 8-of-10 trips inside the 20-yard line. The easy math: that's 80 percent, and the Packers rank third overall in touchdown percentage in the red zone (67.4). The self-inflicted mistakes are becoming less common, and Matt LaFleur is dialing up a lot of good stuff for Jordan Love in the confined spaces of the red zone. One of the two "failures" inside the red zone came in the second half against the Vikings when the Packers were running out the clock on a comfortable win.

Overcoming injuries

The Packers didn't have Josh Jacobs for the better part of two games during the two-game win streak, but Emanuel Wilson stepped in and produced 188 total yards and three scores, including a 107-yard performance during the win over the Vikings. The Packers haven't had linebacker Quay Walker over the last two games, but Isaiah McDuffie stepped in and produced 22 tackles (including a team-high 12 stops) and an interception and was in on two sacks. Sean Rhyan also fits in here as the backup for Elgton Jenkins at center; the position has arguably improved since Rhyan stepped in three weeks ago. Dontayvion Wicks stepped up big in Detroit with Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden and Savion Williams out.

Brandon McManus

Veteran kicker Brandon McManus has been completely healthy in back-to-back weeks, and he connected on all four field goals and all six extra points during wins over the Vikings and Lions. While Lucas Havrisik was a nice story for a few weeks, the best-case scenario for the Packers was always McManus getting healthy and re-establishing himself as a reliable veteran kicker. It appears this is happening. McManus is 2-for-2 on kicks of at least 40 yards over the last two games.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Big things coming out of Packers' current 3-game winning streak