Miracle Finish Saves Green Bay, but Big Problems Still Loom for Hobbled Packers

Happy birthday, Aaron Rodgers.

On a night when it appeared that the reeling Green Bay Packers were about to be dealt another devastating blow, their MVP quarterback reached back (quite literally) and propelled his team to a 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field that kept the Pack in the thick of the NFC North race.

But while Rodgers' 61-yard Hail Mary throw to Richard Rodgers will be celebrated by giddy Cheeseheads and no doubt played ad nauseam on highlight shows from now until the next Hail Mary completion, there are a few shadows among the sunlight.

Yes, the Packers won the game. But that doesn't change the fact all is not well in Titletown.

Might as well get this out of the way.

Yes, it's a great play. The sort of miraculous finish that makes the NFL so fun to watch. The latest chapter in the Book of Aaron.

But if you sweep away the confetti from the celebration, the fact remains the Packers should have dropped their fifth game out of the last six after starting 6-0.

This was a contest the Packers started about as sluggishly as you can begin a game, falling behind the surging Lions 17-0 before some fans had even found their seats.

A surge, coincidentally, that got rolling when the Lions stunned the Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 10, back when everyone was still writing off consecutive losses against the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers as nothing more than road setbacks against two of the NFL's best teams.

Yes, the Packers battled back after trailing by 20 to get within two. But had the Lions not been in the mood to give Rodgers and Green Bay a gift at the end of the game, the comeback would have fallen short.

On the final play of regulation, after the ball was lateraled back to Rodgers, Detroit defensive end Devin Taylor slammed him to the turf. Flags flew. Fifteen-yard facemask penalty. One untimed play. Hail Mary. Game over. Drive home safe.

Because, you know, Detroit.

Only it might actually have been the officials who gave the gift since replays showed Taylor may not actually have grabbed Rodgers' facemask:

Yes, I know. The very idea that there could be bad officiating at an NFL game is just kooky—said no one ever, especially not this year.

Who gave the gift doesn't matter. If it hadn't been given, a jubilant Rodgers wouldn't have been able to gush after the game.

As a giddy Rodgers told CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson (via ESPN's Rob Demovsky) after the game, "I'm out of breath. Most amazing game of my life. ... When he caught it, I blacked out."

In Rodgers' defense, it was a heck of a throw. But it's the only thing he should be jubilant about.

As Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette tweeted at halftime, the first 30 minutes didn't offer much for the Packers to smile about:

In that first half the Packers scored a grand total of zero points against a Detroit defense that entered Week 13 ranked 28th in the National Football League in scoring defense. And as Trey Wingo of ESPN pointed out, it's been a little while since Green Bay posted a goose egg in the first half:

There have been innumerable theories posited as to why a Green Bay offense that was unstoppable in September was anything but in November.

The running game has been inconsistent at best and nonexistent at worst. That was certainly the case in Week 13. The team's leading rusher on the night? Rodgers, with 27 yards. Eddie Lacy and James Starks combined for all of 19 yards on 14 carries. This after Lacy topped 100 yards in each of the team's past two games.

And don't try to blame the "ankle injury" Lacy left the game with:

"

What Nantz and Simms just relayed about why Eddie Lacy has been buried tonight is intriguing. Mystery practice incidents are always juicy.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) December 4, 2015"

Starks at least contributed 45 receiving yards on five catches. That's more than can be said for top wideout Randall Cobb. In fact, it's almost more than can be said for Cobb and James Jones combined—they had 48 yards between them.

Jones was a key piece to the Packers' early-season success. The prodigal son returned home to help compensate for the loss of Jordy Nelson before the campaign. The Pack's recent swoon, though, has seen Jones vanish. In Green Bay's four losses, the ninth-year veteran has three catches for 59 yards.

That's not his average, mind you. That's the four-game total.

The offensive line has been beset by injuries. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga and right guard T.J. Lang were inactive against Detroit. Left tackle David Bakhtiari was injured during the game, leaving Josh Sitton as the only Green Bay starter protecting Rodgers for part of the contest.

Even Rodgers hasn't looked like himself of late. His numbers against Detroit (24-of-36, 273 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) were good but not great. Take away the Hail Mary, and they are positively pedestrian.

And it isn't just a one-game thing. Before Green Bay's Week 7 bye, Rodgers had posted a passer rating of over 100 in four of six games, with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions. He completed over 65 percent of his passes four times.

Since the bye, Rodgers has tossed 11 scoring strikes against three interceptions. He's completed 65 percent or more of his passes once (Thursday). That's the same number of times he's completed less than half of his throws. And he's yet to post a triple-digit passer rating.

This, from a player whose rating for the season in 2014 was over 110.

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

The Packers won the game, some will say. The Panthers and Broncos are good teams. Losses to Detroit and the Chicago Bears at Lambeau were aberrations.

Never mind that aberrations that happen repeatedly aren't really aberrations.

No, the aberration was that miracle play in the form of a gift handed to Rodgers and the Packers on Thursday night.

The reality is that, excluding that miracle play, a Green Bay team labeled as an offensive juggernaut as recently as October has scored more than three touchdowns in a game just twice since its bye. The run game is hit-and-miss. The line is banged up. And Rodgers' receivers aren't getting open.

And unless Green Bay gets that fixed quickly, Rodgers is going to run out of miracles.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter, @IDPSharks.