The Detroit Lions closed in on Aaron Rodgers, and there was nobody nearby he could lateral to.
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Green Bay went in at the half way point without a point on the board and were behind by 17.
“It’s tough to swallow”, Detroit receiver Golden Tate said.
There was so much at stake – a “sweep streak” extending back to 1991, headway in the NFC North, and playoff implications were just a few.
Playoff teams win those games at home against lesser opponents.
As both teams entered into their second consecutive Thursday night contest, their respective arrows were pointing in opposite directions.
“We had plenty of guys back there”, Caldwell said.
Heading into the locker room without a single point on the board was … mortifying. Unfortunately for the Packers, it wasn’t last week when he missed curfew and saw a practice squad player named John Crockett given some of his carries against the Lions.
“He went up and got it”, McCarthy said. The Packers’ offense is at its best when Aaron Rodgers has a big-bodied weapon in the middle of the field. A-Rod, bringing back memories of Favre in the Super Bowl, ran down the field with his helmet off to join his jubilant teammates.
Opponents have figured out that playing press coverage and doubling the slot receiver have gone a long way in disabling the Packers.
Midway through the third quarter, however, the tide began to turn. Somehow, in the mob of humanity in the Detroit end zone, R-Rod got in front of all the defenders and snagged the pass before tumbling to the ground. His right arm hooked Stafford’s right arm as the quarterback was preparing to pass, and rookie inside linebacker Jake Ryan fell on the fumble at Detroit’s 12-yard line.
Rodgers connects with Rodgers for a 61 yard Hail Mary that has another Rodgers (Richard Rodgers Sr.) reminscing about The Play.
Holding a seven-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, Chicago’s defense allowed 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert to scramble 44 yards for a touchdown.
Actually, the clock had hit zero on the previous play, but the game still wasn’t over because Detroit’s Devin Taylor was called for a facemask – a penalty the Lions disputed after the game.
The result will be a relief for the Packers, who had lost four of their last five, and will be setback for the Lions, who had won three straight games coming into the game.
Rodgers calmly took the field, depleted offense in tow, and put the team on his shoulders.
_Why wasn’t Glover Quin told to stay at the goal line once it was clear that the play was a desperate launch to the end zone? Aaron Rodgers and Richard Rodgers had huge games, while Eddie Lacy and Randall Cobb were nonexistent.
After the LIons’ painful loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, the speculation as to the future of coach Jim Caldwell seemed to heat up. The Packers defeated the Lions 27-23. “The (linemen) did a good job of holding their blocks, and I knew once I got outside to the right, I was going to be able to set up and throw”. Did defensive coordinator Teryl Austin make the call or was Caldwell himself in charge at the moment?
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The touchdown was as magical a play as can be recalled in recent memory.
