Packers vs. Lions: Score and Twitter Reaction for 'Thursday Night Football'

The Green Bay Packers' season may have been saved by a facemask call.

With the team trailing by two points with no time remaining and a free play to its credit thanks to a defensive penalty on what appeared to be the final snap of the game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers heaved a desperation Hail Mary pass that was caught by tight end Richard Rodgers to give the Packers an improbable 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Thursday night. 

Aaron Rodgers summed up his thoughts on the final play in his postgame interview, per NFL Network's Ben Fennell and CNN's Rachel Nichols:    

The Lions led 17-0 at halftime and by nine with seven minutes remaining, but they took their foot off the pedal on offense and didn't have an answer for Rodgers on the other side of the ball. 

According to Sportsnet Stats, Thursday marked the first time since 1965 against the Packers that Detroit lost a game after leading by 17 or more at halftime.

Coming off a 13-point outing last week against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay stumbled hard out of the gate. The Packers didn't register first-half points, which was the first time they failed to do so since 2012, according to ESPN.com's Field Yates. 

Rodgers couldn't establish a rhythm working behind a patchwork offensive line in the first half, but he put forth a heroic effort in the second half to finish with 273 passing yards, an interception and three total touchdowns, including a rushing score that cut the deficit to two with just over three minutes remaining.

A James Starks fumble into the end zone recovered by Randall Cobb got the Packers on the board midway through the third quarter, and a Julius Peppers strip on the Lions' next play put Green Bay in prime position for a Rodgers touchdown pass to Davante Adams, per the NFL on Twitter:

The score was Adams' first since Week 11 of last season, per ESPN Stats & Info, and it cut Detroit's lead to six.  

The Packers also benefited from the semblance of a running game in the second half. After Starks (nine carries, 15 yards) and Eddie Lacy (five carries, four yards) were bottled up throughout the first 30 minutes, practice squad call-up John Crockett burst onto the scene for 22 yards on five carries in the third and fourth quarters as Green Bay found more balance during its marvelous comeback attempt. 

ESPN.com's Matthew Berry provided an update regarding Lacy's inability to stay on the field: 

Second-half surges aside, the Packers were simply manhandled throughout the first half. The Lions outgained their NFC North foes 133-52 over the first 15 minutes while building a 17-0 lead, which was highly uncharacteristic of head coach Mike McCarthy's squad. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the last time the Packers had trailed by 17 points in the first quarter entering Thursday night was 2004 against the Tennessee Titans. 

Detroit's first score came courtesy of a three-yard strike from quarterback Matthew Stafford to tight end Eric Ebron, which prompted Bleacher Report's Matt Miller to point out the appearance of a trend in the Lions' reformed offense under coordinator Jim Bob Cooter: 

The Lions poured it on following a Glover Quin interception that turned into a 17-yard Calvin Johnson touchdown grab on the very next play, per the NFL's official Twitter account:   

Green Bay's play-calling left plenty to be desired early, but the Packers were also decimated by injuries up front. Right guard T.J. Lang and right tackle Bryan Bulaga were both inactive for the divisional showdown, and Rodgers was forced to work in a muddy pocket on a regular basis. 

But in typical Rodgers fashion, the gunslinger stood tall and didn't get rattled despite a frustrating showing from the offense throughout the game's first 40 minutes. 

Now that those struggles have been wiped away by happy thoughts precipitated by the Hail Mary, perhaps Green Bay will be able to parlay its signature win into some positive momentum moving forward. 

The Packers appeared dead in the water and headed for back-to-back losses against NFC North foes, but the narrative has shifted completely thanks to the Rodgers-to-Rodgers connection. 

Detroit, meanwhile, had its faint playoff hopes all but squashed as a result of the deflating loss. The Lions would have been staring at four straight wins and an outside shot at 9-7 had it not been for the desperation heave, but the best they can do at this point is settle for .500. 

Although the Lions' four remaining games are against teams with losing records, wedging their way into the playoff conversation will be nearly impossible at this rate. 

Postgame Reaction

NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino was quick to provide an explanation regarding the Lions' costly facemask penalty: 

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the letter of the law wasn't technically broken since there needs to be evidence the facemask was "grasped." As Florio noted, "Devin Taylor grazed the facemask of Aaron Rodgers, at best. If there was any grasping (and there wasn't), Taylor immediately released the facemask."

"I think we had some karma saved up there after the no (pass interference)," Rodgers said regarding a non-call on one of his previous desperation throws, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Burke.  

"I mean, it's the greatest game I've been a part of - minus the Super Bowl," Rodgers added, per Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

However, Devin Taylor viewed things differently, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press: 

According to MLive.com's Kyle Meinke, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell sided with his defensive end: 

ESPN's Brian Burke provided a breakdown of just how improbable the Motor City miracle was: 

According to SportsCenter, clutch plays run in Richard Rodgers' genes: 

Furthermore, Green Bay's quarterback revealed the Rodgers duo practiced some long-distance heaves prior to the game, per the team's official Twitter account:

"I'm supposed to be boxing out and [Davante] Adams is supposed to be the jumper," Rodgers said, per NFL.com's Chris Wesseling. "But once I saw it in the air I realized I could get it. So I just went for it."

"We had plenty of guys back there," Caldwell said when asked why Johnson wasn't back defending the Hail Mary, according to the Detroit News' Josh Katzenstein. "We just didn't make a play. They did."