Good morning, everyone. On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers took on the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. I thought that this game was going to be a blowout win for Green Bay. It turns out that the Packers needed a comeback to win and clinch a first-round bye. Let’s get things started with a recap of the game.
The Packers defense forced the Lions to punt on their opening possession, despite a roughing the passer penalty on Za’Darius Smith on the first play. When the Packers got the ball, they went three-and-out and punted back to Detroit. It did not help that Jimmy Graham dropped an easy catch on first down. Aaron Rodgers threw the pass out of bounds on third down, which forced Green Bay to punt it back. The Lions then proceeded to go down the field for the first touchdown of the game. WR Danny Amendola got the ball on the reverse and threw to a wide-open David Blough (the Lions’ QB) for a 19-yard touchdown that gave Detroit a 7-0 lead. Tyler Ervin returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Green Bay 43 yard line. They got to the Detroit 29 before penalties killed the drive. First, Davante Adams was called for offensive pass interference on a third and 6 pass to Aaron Jones. Next, there was somehow an illegal substitution penalty on Green Bay. On third and 21, Aaron Rodgers once again threw incomplete to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The punt by JK Scott pinned the Lions at their own 7 yard line. The defense forced the Lions to go three-and-out after David Blough threw incomplete on third down. After the punt was fair caught by Ervin, the Packers had the ball at their own 37. The drive started promising after a third down conversion, but it was stopped shortly after that. Lions head coach Matt Patricia (who is coming back next year) challenged a catch by Davante Adams that was ruled complete. It was very obvious that Adams did not have both of his feet inbounds. The pass was ruled incomplete, saving Detroit a timeout. On third and 8 from the Detroit 43, Aaron Rodgers was sacked for a loss of 11 yards by Will Harris. As a result, the Packers were forced to punt back to the Lions. The defense forced the Lions to punt after only 4 plays on the next drive. Unfortunately, the Packers punted again after 4 plays on their next drive. On third and 7 from the Lions’ 49, Rodgers once again threw incomplete to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, which sent out the punting unit out. The punt went into the end zone for a touchback, giving Detroit the ball at their own 20. From there, they went on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kerryon Johnson. The touchdown gave the Lions a 14-0 lead with 3:13 left in the first half. The Packers responded by going down the field for their own score. They had to settle for a field goal after 2 straight incomplete passes by Rodgers, including an overthrow to Aaron Jones that would have been a touchdown. Even with 20 seconds left, the Lions got their own field goal before halftime thanks to a 40-yard run by Ty Johnson to the Green Bay 35. At the end of the half, the Packers trailed by a score of 17-3.
The Packers started the second half on offense, hoping to decrease the Lions’ lead. They got to the Detroit 33 before the drive ended with another overthrow by Aaron Rodgers (this time to Tyler Ervin). The field goal try by Mason Crosby as barely wide to the left, keeping the score at 17-3. Luckily, the defense forced the Lions to punt on their first possession of the second half. The punt was downed at the Green Bay 5, meaning that the offense had 95 yards to go to the end zone. Despite the bad field position, they did just that on a 12-play drive that involved a lot of quick passes that worked. On third and 10 from the Detroit 20, Aaron Rodgers connected with Davante Adams for a touchdown pass that cut the lead to 17-10. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense had a chance to tie the game on their next drive. They got to the Detroit 22 yard line before three incompletions forced them to settle for a field goal. On third down, Lions defensive back Tracy Walker deflected a pass intended for Packers tight end Jimmy Graham. The field goal by Mason Crosby cut the lead to 17-13. The Lions went down the field for another score on their next drive. Jaire Alexander was called for defensive pass interference on the first play of the drive. That ended up being a smart penalty because that big pass play would have been a touchdown for Detroit. 4 plays later, David Blough threw the ball away on third and 2. The 56-yard field goal by Matt Prater gave the Lions a 20-13 lead with 11:13 left in the fourth quarter. After a three-and-out by the Packers offense, the defense was put on the field again. They responded with a sack and a turnover on back-to-back plays. On first and 10 from the Green Bay 44, Blake Martinez sacked Blough for a 7-yard loss. On the next play, Martinez intercepted a pass from Blough and returned it to the Green Bay 45. The interception was possible thanks to a pressure by Za’Darius Smith, who should be in serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to the return yardage, 15 yards were added thanks to an unnecessary roughness penalty on Danny Amendola, giving the Packers the ball at the Detroit 40. The offense faced a fourth and 1 after Aaron Jones was stuffed on third down. They converted the fourth down (their second of the game) with a short pass to Davante Adams for 3 yards. Three plays later, Aaron Rodgers connected to Allen Lazard for a 28-yard touchdown pass that (along with an extra point kick by Mason Crosby) tied the game at 20-20. After the defense forced the Lions to punt, the offense had a chance to take the lead with 3:34 left. On second and 10 from the Green Bay 40, Rodgers threw incomplete to Jake Kumerow. The worst part was that Kumerow was called for offensive pass interference, giving the Packers a second and 20 to deal with. After an incomplete pass to Valdes-Scantling, it was third and 20. Rodgers threw to Kumerow for a potential deep connection. Unfortunately, Rodgers was picked off because he under threw the pass to Kumerow, who had Amani Oruwariye beat by a step or more. The defense forced a three-and-out in response, giving the offense another shot at the game-winning score. On the first play, Rodgers scrambled for 2 yards before getting hit by Tavon Wilson. Wilson was called for unnecessary roughness on the play, giving the Packers 15 more yards and a first down. After getting a first down 2 plays later, they had the ball at their own 49 yard line. Rodgers found Aaron Jones on a short pass on the play, despite getting pressured. Jones took the pass all the way to the Detroit 20, putting the Packers in field goal range. 3 plays (and 2 timeouts) later, Mason Crosby was called upon for the game-winning field goal from 33 yards away. The kick was good, giving the Packers a 23-20 victory over the Lions.
With the win, the Packers finished the regular season at 13-3. That record includes sweeping the NFC North opponents for the first time since 2011. They also get a first-round bye in the playoffs, meaning that they don’t have to play on Wild Card weekend. For most of the game, the Packers did not look like a team that was playing for a bye. This was especially true on the offensive side of the football. Aaron Rodgers did not play well for most of the game. He was either overthrowing to receivers or throwing the ball behind the intended target (which makes it easier for the defender to break the pass up). Early on, there were a couple of drops by the receivers, which did not help matters. When it mattered most, Rodgers made the clutch throws that set the Packers up to win the game, including the screen pass to Aaron Jones that went 31 yards to field goal range. He threw for 323 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day (plus the pick). He finished his season with 4002 passing yards and 26 touchdown passes (with only 4 picks). Aaron Jones finished the game with 100 yards on 25 carries, plus 43 yards on 2 catches. He finished his year with 1084 yards on the ground and 19 total touchdowns. Davante Adams finished his season 3 yards shy of 1000 receiving yards on the year, despite missing 4 games with a toe injury. He had 7 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Allen Lazard came up clutch once again with a few catches, including the 28-yard touchdown catch that tied the game. I am sure he will be fine after he left the game with an injury. With the Packers not having to play until the Divisional Round, I think that everyone will get healed up on offense before the game. Before I move on to the defense, I have to give credit to Lucas Patrick and Jared Veldheer for doing well after Corey Linsley and Bryan Bulaga exited with injuries.
Despite allowing the Lions to go down the field for a touchdown a couple of times, including a trick-play touchdown, the defense made sure that the Packers were still in the game with clutch stops. Blake Martinez pretty much saved the game with his sack and interception on back-to-back plays. Despite not getting a sack, Za’Darius Smith kept David Blough under pressure for most of the game. He forced Blough into throwing the interception to Martinez. There is no question that Za’Darius Smith was the leader of the defense from the start, not just on the field but off of it as well. He, along with Preston Smith, changed the vibe within the organization. I loved every single second of it. I have no doubt that the defense will be ready for anything come playoff time. On Special Teams, the Packers did well against Detroit, despite not having a good punt return. Tyler Ervin did have a good kickoff return in this game, getting all the way to the Green Bay 43. JK Scott pinned the Lions deep in their own territory a couple of times with his punts. Mason Crosby was the hero of the game with his game-winning field goal (which was set up by the screen pass that went 31 yards). After last year’s game at Ford Field (in which he missed a total of 5 kicks), he responded over the next season and a half missing only a couple of kicks. I am very thankful that Crosby is still the kicker for the Packers, especially with some other teams having some bad kickers over that same span. I am sure that he will be a hero again in the postseason when he is called upon for another game-winner.
Overall, it was a thrilling comeback victory for the Packers over the Lions. They now get to rest up before their next game on January 12th against the highest remaining seed from the Wild Card round. The best part is that the game will be at Lambeau Field. Stay tuned for future posts over the next week or two. For now, it is the last Victory Monday of the regular season for the Packers. Have a great day, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL's YouTube page.)
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