Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions: Green Bay Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Green Bay Packers won in thrilling fashion Thursday night when they beat the Detroit Lions, 27-23, on a Hail Mary with no time left in the game.
The victory represents more than just a remarkable comeback for Green Bay (8-4) in a divisional grudge match. It gives new life to a season that's been in shambles lately during a stretch where the Packers lost four of five games coming into Week 13.
The Packers now sit a half-game back of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North standings as they avoid a second loss to the Lions in 2015.
For Detroit (4-8), the loss not only ruins any playoff hopes it had for this season, but it's also a heart-breaking one considering it had a 17-0 lead at halftime.
Thursday's game nearly ended in a Detroit win if not for a facemask penalty that gave Aaron Rodgers one last untimed down to heave a pass into the end zone. Rodgers' 61-yard touchdown bomb to tight end Richard Rodgers on the next play won it with the clock reading 0:00.
The victory wasn't all pretty for Green Bay, though—in fact, Rodgers and Co. looked terrible for the majority of the night and probably deserved to go home with the L.
Let's get to the position grades and other notes and quotes from the Packers' Week 13 road win over the Lions.
Position Grades for Packers
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| Position | Grade |
| Quarterback | A |
| Running Back | C- |
| Wide Receiver | C+ |
| Tight End | A+ |
| Offensive Line | D- |
| Defensive Line | B- |
| Linebacker | A |
| Defensive Back | C |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | B |
Quarterback
Even with a makeshift offensive line in front of him and—for the most part—poor receiving options, Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to four second-half touchdown drives to steal a victory in Detroit. His eight-yard scoring strike to Davante Adams in the third quarter gave Green Bay life and a 17-yard touchdown scramble in the fourth made the comeback realistic. Nothing beats his Hail Mary heave at the end to win it, though—no matter how much luck was involved.
Running Back
When the quarterback is the team's leading rusher, you know it was a rough night for Green Bay's backfield. Surprisingly, James Starks got the start at tailback over Eddie Lacy—and promptly saw carries on the first three offensive plays. Starks was more of a threat in the passing game, as he caught five passes for 45 yards. Lacy, coming off back-to-back 100-yard performances, finished with just five carries for four yards. Interestingly enough, John Crockett—who was signed off the practice squad hours before the game—provided a change of pace at tailback and turned his five carries into 22 rushing yards.
Wide Receiver
Another week and another game where Green Bay's receivers struggled to get open downfield. Adams, who's been crushed by the media following his three-drop game a week ago, bounced back with his first touchdown reception of the season. Randall Cobb also made a heads-up play when he jumped on a Starks fumble in the end zone for the Packers' first score of the night. Other than that, Aaron Rodgers opted to throw to his tight end and tailbacks more than his wideouts on Thursday as the unit continues to struggle.
Tight End
Richard Rodgers was far-and-away the best receiver for the Packers on Thursday. Not only did he come down with the 61-yard Hail Mary at the end of the game to win it, but he also led all Green Bay pass-catchers with eight receptions for 146 yards.
Offensive Line
Before the game even started, it didn't look good for this unit. Starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga and right guard T.J. Lang both sat out due to injuries and their replacements offered almost no help. Backup tackle Don Barclay routinely had trouble blocking the Lions' defensive end Devin Taylor and allowed two first-half sacks—both coming on third downs. Then starting center Corey Linsley left the game in the second quarter when he re-aggravated a sprained ankle and his backup, JC Tretter, got called for a holding penalty on the next play. Overall, the offensive line struggled to keep pressure off Rodgers as the Packers' quarterback was consistently forced to make plays on the run out of the pocket.
Defensive Line
The D-line struggled early on—then again so did the rest of the Packers. The Lions—normally a terrible rushing offense—had their way on the ground as rookie tailback Ameer Abdullah finished with 67 yards on 13 carries. In the fourth quarter, though, the line made some big stops to force a few punts while Detroit tried to run out the clock.
Linebacker
Julius Peppers came up with the biggest play Thursday—outside of the Hail Mary, of course. After the Packers had just scored to make it a 20-7 game in the third quarter, Peppers strip-sacked quarterback Matthew Stafford on the first play of the Lions' ensuing drive with rookie linebacker Jake Ryan recovering. The play majorly shifted the momentum in the game as the Packers scored a touchdown three plays later to make it a one-score contest.
Defensive Back
On Detroit's first touchdown of the game, tight end Eric Ebron has left wide open in the end zone for an easy score as someone in the Packers secondary clearly blew an assignment. Then in the fourth quarter, Green Bay was out of timeouts and badly needed a stop on third-and-12 to force a punt and give Aaron Rodgers as much time as possible. Quinten Rollins dove unsuccessfully to break a pass up, and TJ Jones converted with a 29-yard reception. Luckily for the rookie cornerback, a Hail Mary bailed him.
Special Teams
Mason Crosby hit the uprights on a 41-yard field-goal try in the second quarter to give the Packers their first points of the night. The veteran kicker is normally automatic from that distance—and if the kick is good, the three points would've made a Green Bay victory come that much easier.
Coaching
It was certainly odd to see the Packers start Starks at running back despite Lacy's strong numbers the last two games. It was even more perplexing when the Packers opted for Starks pitch plays on two different third-and-1's—both ending in losses. Head coach Mike McCarthy made a gutsy call in the fourth quarter to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Packers' own 25. A Rodgers-to-Randall Cobb completion proved McCarthy right and Green Bay's touchdown later in the drive made it a one-score game.
Packers Win on Hail Mary
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If you somehow missed it, here's the last play of Thursday night's game.
"Aaron Rodgers + Richard Rodgers: Walk-off 61-yard #HailMary FOR THE WIN! #GBvsDET https://t.co/Mmm1tzljx5
— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2015"
And here are a few more angles of the Hail Mary that won it for the Packers on the last play of the game.
"61 yards. One Throw. This is how one of the craziest finishes in NFL history went down. #GBvsDET https://t.co/01AamoDd8J
— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2015"
It's one of the most improbable and exciting finishes of the NFL season as Green Bay hadn't led all game until the final play. Let's quickly backtrack a moment to what led to the game-winning touchdown.
The Packers began the final drive on their own 21-yard line down 23-21 with 23 seconds remaining. Two incomplete passes later left them with one last prayer and just six seconds left on the clock.
Aaron Rodgers opted for a quick completion to James Jones, who lateraled to Richard Rodgers, who then oddly threw it all the way back to his quarterback. With two Lions defenders right in front of him, no one to pitch it back to and zero time left in the game, Rodgers tried to make a move but was brought down by his shoulder pad in a swinging fashion by defensive end Devin Taylor.
Watching the play live it looked like Taylor tackled Rodgers by the face-mask—the officials saw it that way and awarded the Packers one more, untimed play after the 15-yard penalty.
Yet, replays showed Taylor simply grazed Rodgers' face-mask while grabbing the shoulder of the quarterback.
Either way, Green Bay had one more play to win it from their own 39-yard line—and the rest is history.
"I'm out of breath," Aaron Rodgers said soon after the play on the CBS broadcast. "Most amazing game of my life....When [Rodgers] caught it, I blacked out."
McCarthy and Other Packers on Dramatic Win
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Green Bay's miraculous touchdown to win Thursday's game gave it a much-needed victory. The team avoided losing their fifth game in six weeks and falling further behind Minnesota in the NFC North standings.
After the game, a number of Packers voiced their excitement about the final play and what this win means for the team going forward.
"We needed a win like that," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said, via Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "This team has a lot of fight, and my goodness, can Aaron Rodgers throw the football."
According to Nickel, McCarthy says they practice that kind of play every Saturday.
"When you throw with that arc, you’ve got a chance," he said of the Hail Mary. "It gives guys a chance to fight for position...Richard is the perfect guy, big body, you see his basketball skills to go up (and get) the football."
Aaron Rodgers told reporters after the win that he'd never thrown a successful Hail Mary in his football career—until now.
"It’s the greatest feeling," Rodgers said, via ESPN's Jason Wilde. "We’re blessed to be able to play this game, and it reminds you at times how special this game is. You live for days like this, to be able to have something miraculous happen."
The guy who caught the game-winning touchdown—tight end Richard Rodgers—appeared nonchalant about the play afterwards.
"I just try to make the most of my opportunities," he said, via Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel. "Anyone can be in that situation. Whenever Aaron tries to throw the ball, I try to catch it."
Rodgers also provided some details on what his job actually was on that final play.
"Really Davante [Adams] is supposed to jump and I'm supposed to box out and wait for a tip," he said, via Silverstein. "I don't know who was behind him, but it didn't work out that way. I went and caught it."
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Rodgers, Lions' Taylor and Others on Facemask Call
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The Packers' miracle win wouldn't have been possible if not for a controversial penalty that gave Aaron Rodgers and the offense one more chance at victory.
Lions defensive end Devin Taylor appeared to have tackled Rodgers by the facemask on the previous play as time expired, and the referees awarded Green Bay 15 yards and a final untimed down.
Replays afterward showed the penalty could have just as easily gone uncalled as Taylor slightly grazed Rodgers' cage and mostly used the jersey and shoulder pad to bring him down.
After the game, both Rodgers and Taylor sounded off on if it really was a facemask violation or not.
"It's whatever the refs call," Taylor said, via Michael Rothstein and Rob Demovsky of ESPN. "I can't control whatever they decide. I can just play ball, keep going."
According to the article, the Detroit defender went on to say the refs never told him what exactly he did wrong, just that it was a face-mask penalty.
"I didn't believe I touched it," Taylor said when asked if he grabbed Rodgers' facemask.
Rodgers, of course, took the opposite stance.
"It was a face mask," he said, via Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I was looking for the flag afterwards. I don't really, you know, flop any calls or anything. That was a legit face mask."
NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino also weighed in on the call.
"Hand up to the mask, quick grab with finger and head gets turned," Blandino tweeted Thursday night. "At full speed official is going to make that call almost every time."
Lions head coach Jim Caldwell offered his opinion as well.
"Didn't think it was [a penalty], but because you don't think it was or I don't think it was, it was called," Caldwell said, via ESPN. "Therefore, it is, and we just got to find a way to make a play."
Green Bay Offense with First Half to Forget
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Although the Packers won Thursday, they found themselves down 17-0 at halftime after arguably their worst start to a game this season.
Whatever Aaron Rodgers and the offense tried to do in the half, it seemed they couldn't get out of their own way in making things worse.
First off, Green Bay began the game with a banged-up offensive line—starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga and right guard T.J. Lang were both inactive—and finished the first half with just two of their regular starters in the game. Center Corey Linsley had to leave in the second quarter when he re-injured his ankle that kept him out of last week's game against the Bears.
The replacements for each had a tough time adjusting, too. Don Barclay gave up two third-down sacks in the first half as Detroit defensive end Devin Taylor smoked the backup right tackle. Then, on the play right after Linsley had to be helped off the field, backup center JC Tretter was called for a holding penalty after the Lions' Haloti Ngata blew right past him.
Things weren't much better outside of the offensive line, either.
The backfield continues to confound all Packers fans. Despite reeling off back-to-back 100-yard rushing days in each of the past two weeks, Eddie Lacy didn't see an offensive snap until the third series. Instead, James Starks got the start at running back.
On the first series, Starks' five- and six-yard carries to open the game were quickly overshadowed when he got stuffed for a one-yard loss on a third-and-1 toss play.
Fast-forward to the end of the first quarter when a scrambling Rodgers tried to hit James Jones downfield on a second down pass. The throw sailed high and went right through the veteran receiver's hands—only to be intercepted by Detroit safety Glover Quin, who returned it to the Green Bay 17-yard line.
When it was all said and one, the offense gained just 78 yards in the first half, averaging 2.4 yards per play. It was also the first time the Packers had been shut out after the first two quarters in 56 games, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The last time it happened? Ironically, the "Fail Mary" game back in 2013.
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