GREEN BAY — Mike McCarthy went into Sunday's game against Indianapolis with a vision.

The Green Bay Packers coach wanted his team to be aggressive, his offense to control the ball, his defense to rise to the challenge presented by one of the league's most explosive offenses. He wanted to make a statement before the Lambeau Field faithful, which had endured back-to-back home losses, and re-establish some measure of homefield advantage. And he wanted to go into the upcoming bye week with the momentum of an all-around good performance.

While McCarthy's Packers still have their flaws, their 34-14 victory over the Colts sure came close to what the coach had in mind as Aaron Rodgers outdueled Peyton Manning, Ryan Grant carried the load and the much-maligned defense made big play after big play.

"That's what it looks like right there," said McCarthy, whose Packers (4-3) remain tied with Chicago atop the NFC North with the victory. "It's the way you want to go into the bye."

More importantly, it's the way you want your team to be playing after a three-game losing streak — bookended by home losses to Dallas on Sept. 21 and Atlanta on Oct. 5 — threatened to derail a promising season.

"We're coming along," veteran right tackle Mark Tauscher said. "It's just good that we've been able to bounce back. We obviously were struggling and falling off a little bit and a lot of bad things were happening (during the losing streak).

"If you look at the beginning of the season, and you look at the schedule and see at Seattle and Indy at home, those are going to be tough tests — and they were. But we were able to kind of get back on track and I think play our best football heading into this bye week. Now we're going to have some confidence. We know what it takes to win games. It's all part of a process, and I think we're on the right track."

The Packers got a pair of interception returns for touchdowns — a 62-yarder by safety Nick Collins on the first series of the second half, and a decisive 99-yarder by safety Aaron Rouse with the Colts threatening to make things interesting late in the fourth quarter — while Rodgers completed 21 of 28 passes (75 percent) for 186 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 104.2.

"This one was very sweet for us," said Rodgers, who played his third straight game with an injured right (throwing) shoulder and finished with a passer rating higher than 100 for the third consecutive week. "There was no doubt that we needed to be 4-3 going into this bye. I think it's just a big confidence boost for our team."

Manning, meanwhile, threw the two pick-six interceptions, repeatedly complained to officials and didn't throw a touchdown pass — although he did have two taken away in the final 2 minutes by replay booth reviews — and finished the day having completed 21 of 42 passes for 229 yards and the two INTs for a rating of 46.6.

The Packers defense limited wide receivers Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison to four combined catches for 35 yards, one week after they had 11 for 201 yards and three TDs. It marked just the 20th time in Manning's 166-game, 11-year NFL career in which he failed to throw at least one TD.

"That's unheard of for Peyton Manning," Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. "A lot of people counted us out, knowing what kind of offense Indianapolis has. I think a lot of people kind of dismissed us this week as not being able to play with this team."

Said Manning, whose Colts (3-3) only scored on their opening and closing possessions: "It got pretty frustrating. We didn't get anything going, and I certainly didn't do enough as quarterback. Disappointing game by us."

The key for the Packers was keeping the Colts' offense off the field. Grant ran 31 times for 105 yards — eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the first time this season with a 9-yard run in the closing minute. The Packers held a 20:25-9:35 advantage in time of possession for the first half and finished with a 33:46-26:14 differential.

"Our offense did a great job of controlling the ball, running, passing -- they ate a lot of time off the clock," said Collins, who also had a criticial tipped pass to prevent a likely touchdown. "We had a nice game plan. They're great players, but we had opportunities to make plays and we made 'em. We did more than they did."