GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers gave Eddie Lacy the ball a season-high 25 times on Sunday and their second-year running back delivered a performance that was deemed the best in the NFC over the weekend.

Lacy turned those 25 carries into a 125-yard effort — accomplished while battling a gastrointestinal issue — and ran five times for 27 yards during the final 3 1 /2 minutes to run out the clock in the Packers' 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday. And that effort was good enough for him to be named the NFC's offensive player of the week Wednesday morning.

It is Lacy's second NFC offensive player of the week award, having won one last year. Lacy, who was the NFL offensive player of the year as a rookie last year, is the first player in Packers history to win the award in each of his first two seasons.

"He was great. He's a workhorse. We need him in the winter months," Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "He runs really hard, he's really tough to tackle, never goes down with the first contact, he's really good in the passing game too. He's agile for a guy of his size, he's got a great spin move, takes care of the football, does all the things you want."

Lacy scored a pair of touchdowns, one on a 1-yard dive and another on a 10-yard shovel pass from Rodgers. He had 70 of his 125 yards after contact, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Jason Wilde  wrote: