Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions: Full Report Card Grades for Detroit

The Detroit Lions couldn't afford to give away a game against a divisional opponent. Despite their best effort to do so at times offensively, Detroit was finally able to beat Aaron Rodgers with a 19-7 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Mistakes were still a big problem for the offense, as the Lions gave the ball away three times for the second consecutive week. And injuries came close to tearing out the heart of the defense. 

But this was a day of overcoming the odds instead of one for singing a familiar tune. In the end, the defensive line, linebacker DeAndre Levy and cornerback Darius Slay keyed the early NFC North victory.

"

The Packers have only scored less than 10 points once (9-0 at Jets, 2010) in a game Aaron Roders has started and finished.

— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) September 21, 2014"

That's the short of it. Click through for an in-depth look at how each unit graded out.

Quarterback

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Matthew Stafford did not have a great game. He also didn't have a horrible game.

Decisive, right?

"

We've seen Good Stafford and Bad Stafford so far. He was good that drive. Took too many hits. OL needs to protect better.

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) September 21, 2014"

But it's the truth. The former Georgia boy had moments where he was playing the erstwhile point guard, happy to check down to Reggie Bush and move the chains. 

There was also the time he forced the ball into double coverage deep down the right side and the Packers picked him off. Yes, Calvin Johnson is capable of incredible feats of "thievery receiver-y," but Stafford was given a bevy of weapons so he could avoid those low-percentage, high-risk decisions.

There were also two other turnovers that weren't completely his fault.

"

That Stafford throw was high, but catchable. Not an impressive effort by Fuller. INT and Packers are in business.

— Bob Wojnowski (@bobwojnowski) September 21, 2014"

Aside from the slight overthrow, a strip-sack by personal nemesis Julius Pepper has to fall mostly on Garrett Reynolds, who might as well have not even lined up on that play. Still, Stafford needs to be aware of the pressure and dump it off or tuck the ball.

He raised his grade by completing all five of his passes on the game-clinching drive. He finished 22-of-34 with 246 yards, no touchdowns and three turnovers.

Grade: B-

Running Back

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The offensive MVP of this game has to be Bush. There's no two ways about it, unless you're talking about his efficiency as both a runner and pass-catcher. 

Bush had taken a lot of heat this season because he hadn't made much of an impact. The play you'll see on SportsCenter will be his 26-yard touchdown scamper, but it was the smaller plays that really shone through.

"

That 7-yarder was the best Reggie Bush run I've seen this year. Put his head down and hit the hole.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) September 21, 2014"

He's actually been doing that all season. He's much more decisive about the hole, and he's attacking, picking up a few yards rather than losing a couple looking for the big gain.

And Bush was particularly effective in the passing game. He finished with six catches, and two of those were for big first downs on the second-to-last drive.

Bush finished the game with 99 total yards and that big score. Joique Bell wasn't particularly effective, which was surprising since Green Bay's interior defense is horrid. He posted just 2.2 yards per carry.

Theo Riddick had one nice run, but he was limited to just three carries and 16 yards.

Grade: B

Wide Receiver and Tight End

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Allow me to be the 3,416th person to remind you that Detroit brought in Golden Tate to take the pressure off of Johnson. Well, it's true.

"

Golden Tate might get upgraded to Platinum Tate if he continues the way he has early in the season.

— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) September 14, 2014"

That tweet isn't from the Green Bay game, but it could be. He grabbed five passes for 51 yards and put on a yards-after-catch clinic on a key third-down pickup in the fourth quarter. He caught a quick screen with at least two Packers in front of him and still picked up the necessary seven yards.

But this unit still goes as Megatron does. Luckily for Detroit, the big man paced the team with 82 yards, made one incredible catch in the first half and played the decoy on Tate's third-down conversion after getting banged up.

"

There's Calvin Johnson's first catch. One of those head-scratchers Shields talked about. WR just plucks it over the CB's head for 26.

— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) September 21, 2014"

Corey Fuller and Jeremy Ross played the part of complementary receivers, the first snagging a 52-yarder toward the end of the first half and Ross catching all three balls thrown his way while making some moves after the catch.

Still, there were at least two drops, one of which resulted in Stafford's first interception.

Grade: B

Offensive Line

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

The onus for the offense performing poorly should probably be split between Stafford and the offensive line. 

And the line has to take at least 75 percent of the blame.

The Packers had given up 176.5 yards per game on the ground through two weeks. While Detroit did muster 115 yards, it took them 38 carries to do so (3.0 average).

Plus, the pass protection—the presumed strength of this unit—was mediocre at best.

"

Might as well put a traffic cone in there at this point. RT @kmeinke Cornelius Lucas has replaced Garrett Reynolds at right tackle.

— Pride Of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) September 21, 2014"

A lot of that blame has to fall on right tackles Reynolds and Cornelius Lucas. Neither of them should be starters, but injuries force teams to do crazy things like start Kris Durham at wide receiver.

Stafford did well to deal with the heat, and his linemen need to buy him dinner instead of the other way around. 

However, when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter, the offensive line did just enough to allow the Lions playmakers to take over the game. Timing really is everything.

Grade: C

Defensive Line

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

General manager Martin Mayhew has emphasized the defensive line since he took over, and Sunday's win is the reason why. This is the engine that drives the defense

Yet again, there was no room for opposing running backs, as Eddie Lacy, James Starks and DuJuan Harris combined for 76 yards on 22 carries. The reason is because Green Bay's offensive line couldn't keep the defensive tackles from penetrating.

"

Wow. Nick Fairley was in backfield before the ball was. Great penetration #Lions

— Denny Kapp (@DennyKapp) September 21, 2014"

Nick Fairley continued his stellar play as of late, forcing a fumble and logging a quarterback hit. Ndamukong Suh added a sack and was a general pain in Rodgers' side all day.

But the story of the preseason added another chapter against the Packers.

"

Lions hold on fourth-and-5, take over on downs. Big play was second-down run stop by George Johnson. Great job holding the edge vs Bakhtiari

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) September 21, 2014"

A Mohammed Seisay holding call wiped out his only sack, but it didn't matter. The latest addition to the dominant defensive line finished with five tackles, including one for a loss.

Grade: A

Linebackers

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Levy isn't making a case for the Pro Bowl. That "argument" is already over.

Instead, it's time for the Lions' standout linebacker to get some All-Pro love, meaning he is the best at his position.

Levy was a major reason that Rodgers was frustrated all day. His coverage inside kept both Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson bottled up. He also led the Lions with 10 tackles and two passes defensed.

But his signature moment was representative of the entire day for the Lions defense.

"

DeAndre Levy blankets Jordy Nelson on 4th & 5, incomplete. He's a legit candidate for Defensive Player of the Month.

— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) September 21, 2014"

Stephen Tulloch was on his way to a nice game as well when he suffered an injury while celebrating his sack.

"

Tulloch said he didn't have any swelling in the knee, which is a good thing. Will be evaluated Mon.

— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) September 21, 2014"

Tahir Whitehead came on and performed decently, but the Packers picked up the bulk of their rushing yards after the defensive captain went down. 

Grade: A-

Secondary

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Members of the media have been quick to note that Detroit's secondary has suffered a rash of injuries. While they're lamenting Detroit's inability to stay healthy, they're missing Slay come into his own.

Slay was a monster against Green Bay.

"

Darius Slay afterward to #Lions media: "We already knew they had a great quarterback, but our thing was to stop Jordy. We did that."

— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) September 21, 2014"

The aforementioned Nelson couldn't find room to operate all day. He was the league's leading receiver coming in but finished with just five catches for 59 yards.

Oh, and Slay also supported the rushing defense with six tackles.

While Slay's performance was the most noteworthy, it take a collective effort to stop Rodgers, and that's exactly what Detroit's secondary did. 

"

Aaron Rodgers threw for just 162 yards, or his second worst total in a game he's started and finished (142 v. MIN in 2008).

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) September 21, 2014"

Danny Gorrer—who was picked up so recently that I still have to look up how to spell his name—was also quite sticky in coverage. Even practice-squad promotee Seisay made up for his holding call by blanketing his assignment the next play.

And Glover Quin was the quarterback in the back, never letting anyone beat him deep and challenging any pass thrown down the field.

Grade: A

Special Teams

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

First, the good.

Sam Martin continues to toil in relative obscurity, which is exactly how it should be for a punter. He punted twice and averaged 52 yards. He also pounded his kickoffs, hitting the crossbar on a kickoff that was called back due to a nonexistent offside penalty.

Jeremy Ross averaged 28 yards per kick return and came close to breaking one. It feels like it's just a matter of time before he weaves his way through and heads to the end zone.

Feeling good about things? Great, because maybe Nate Freese's rough start to the season won't seem as bad now.

Freese missed his initial 41-yard field goal. He kicked a straight one from the left hash that never made its way inside the post.

"

Caldwell on Kicking situation: "We have to evaluate it." I expect a move this week.

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) September 21, 2014"

He did tack on a 30-yarder later. However, as my buddy said during the game, field-goal range for the Lions only extends to the 10 now.

Grade: C-

Coaching

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Critics couldn't contain themselves from bringing up the "Same Old Lions" theme after the Carolina loss. Their arrow wasn't far from the mark for that particular contest, but head coach Jim Caldwell didn't let that carry over.

Yes, his offense still had three turnovers, and that was a huge part of the problem in prior seasons. But when Stafford was slipping into bad habits and taking unnecessary risks, his coaches changed the game plan.

"

Stafford must be a tough guy to coach. So much talent, so many frustrating throws.

— Andrew Brandt (@adbrandt) September 21, 2014"

In the second half, Detroit utilized better balance and gave Stafford easier throws to get things rolling. And the signal-caller responded by moving the chains as Detroit held on to the ball for almost 20 minutes.

Additionally, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin deserves a heap of praise for how his defense performed. The Lions defense deserves the high ranking it's received thus far, and it starts at the top.

Grade: A-

Final Grades

Leon Halip/Getty Images

Positional Unit	Grade
QB	B-
RB	B
WR/TE	B
OL	C
DL	A
LB	A-
Secondary	A
ST	C-
Coaching	A-
Cumulative Grade	B

There was a lot to like in Detroit's win over Green Bay.

The defense was outstanding. From the defensive line to the secondary, every unit worked together to keep one of the most feared offenses in the league under wraps.

The offense and special teams did not measure up to the standard set by the defense. Turnovers and a missed kick resulted in just 19 points for an offense that should explode against inferior opponents.

However, a win is a win, and there is plenty that the team can build upon. The offense responded when it needed to, and the defense continued its assault on the league.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.