Packers Lose Focus, But Win Big

Coach Mike McCarthy and his staff will have plenty to work on despite the Packers' convincing 48-25 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field Sunday. The Packers not only repeated their problems in terms of penalties, but seemed to quit playing after Aaron Rodgers tossed his third TD of the first half to take a 21-0 lead.

The Packers opened the game with a very conservative approach, running into the middle of the line on their first two plays and following them with a dump-off to a back for a total of two yards on their first possession. But the defense held Detroit to two first downs and got the ball back inside their own 20.

From there, Mike McCarthy seemed determined not to get any offense, as he once again called running back Ryan Grant's number up the middle. But after facing 2nd-and-12, he began turning the page in the playbook. The result: a 16-play, 84-yard drive capped off by a touchdown pass to second-year receiver James Jones, the first of his career.

Incidentally, it took about six and a half minutes for color commentator Matt Vasgersian (who used to be an announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers before his national gig with Fox) to use the term "Favre-like." Tune in to my articles for the watch on that and similar terms ("Favre-ian" and "Favre-esque" are others).

The defense held the Lions on the next possession, and this time Rodgers found Driver for a TD. Rinse, repeat: Defense holds, and Rodgers hits rookie Jordy Nelson on a perfect deep ball for a 29-yard touchdown, and everyone but the Lions thought the rout was on.

Instead, halfway through the fourth quarter the Packers found themselves down 25-24.

How did they get there? They gave up a late field goal in the first half and an early one in the second. Then the Lions set up a third field goal, after stripping Rodgers from the blind side at the Packers' 30-yard line. Despite the defense driving the Lions back five yards, Jason Hanson (does this guy ever miss against the Packers?) split the uprights on a 53-yard field goal that could have been good from at least 60.

The Packers responded, driving deep into Detroit territory before having to settle for a field goal. But Detroit responded as well, driving for a touchdown to close it to 24-16. 

A penalty on the return pinned the Packers deep, McCarthy got conservative, and the Packers had to punt. Standing in his own end zone, Packers punter Derrick Frost let a slightly high snap go right through his hands and out of the end zone for a safety.

These were some of the concerns I was very livid about in the preseason, and I see I still have cause to be concerned. Mental mistakes are bound to happen on the league's youngest team, but they must be addressed before the playoffs.

Frost followed the safety with an unimpressive free kick that gave the Lions the ball on their own 45. A couple of plays later, Roy Williams was shaking a couple defenders and running past a few more for the go-ahead touchdown.

At this point, the Packers had to start at their own 20-yard line and moved backward on another false start, clearly flustered by the momentum and resulting crowd noise. But Rodgers promptly hit on a slant to Greg Jennings, who showed that the Packers still are the best in the league in yards after the catch, racking up over 40 on this pass.

The Lions held the Packers to a field goal and got the ball back, but Jon Kitna showed why I call him the poor-man's Brett Favre. He is a talented quarterback and good leader, but does not match Favre in either attribute; however, he does have Favre's lack of judgment. The play was well-covered by Charles Woodson underneath, and he had safety help, allowing him to be the aggressor and make the easy pick.

The Packers drove the short field to go up 34-25 with about three and a half minutes to go on a Brandon Jackson touchdown run. But the Lions still had time to recapture the lead with their potent offense...until Jon Kitna promptly threw another pick to Woodson a couple plays into the possession. This time there was no one to stop him from going all the way.

However, Kitna was not content to throw out his two-touchdown comeback performance with those two interceptions: He threw another interception to Nick Collins, also returned for a touchdown, before being pulled from the game.

In the end, Rodgers was called upon, as I said he would be, and he responded. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 328 yards to go along with his three passing scores.

He still has been sacked just once and has not thrown an interception in two games. Meanwhile, Brett Favre threw one early in the second half that led to the Patriots touchdown and 13-3 lead, and the Jets' passing game has struggled.

Rodgers now is 42 of 60 (.700) for 506 yards, four TDs, and no interceptions in two crucial division games. More than that, he beat the two quarterbacks in the division who people were saying were better than he was.

But the bottom line is that the Bears lost to give the Packers sole possession of first in the division. The Vikings, the consensus pick to win the division, also lost, joining the Lions two games behind the Packers.

The Vikings will have to turn their season around quickly, with a tough schedule facing them through the bye week. If they can't find a way to do that, the Packers could build an insurmountable lead with a relatively easy October schedule.