Green Bay Packers def. Detroit Lions: Week 13 Reaction
By Erik Lambert
Dec 3, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah (94) pressures Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
What a way to kick off week 13 of the NFL season between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
Perhaps the greatest Thursday Night Football game was played. It had everything.
Bitter rivalry.
High-stakes drama.
A thrilling comeback.
And an improbable finish for the ages.
In the end the Packers got away with a 27-23 win that may have just saved their season while the Lions and their midseason surge may have just been dealt a deathblow. Here are some takeaways from the action.
Lacking The Killer Instinct
There were a lot of reasons Detroit lost the game but the biggest one was their own fault. This was a team that was rolling in the first half. They put the Packers down in a 17-0 hole with plenty of time left to go and had a number of opportunities to extend it with Aaron Rodgers and the offense struggling to do anything.
Instead a couple of key sacks by the Green Bay defense helped slow the Lions offense enough to get to halftime. After that they never seemed to get back their rhythm and the inability to score more than six points in the next two quarters turned out to be their doom.
The Cal Connection
Rodgers to Rodgers was the story of the night for the Packers offense. Tight end Richard Rodgers played absolutely out of his mind, constantly making key catches to help extend drives and then of course making the play that will be on highlight reels the rest of the year, hauling in the Hail Mary from Aaron Rodgers with no time left on the clock. Seems so fitting that the two not only have the same last name, but also went to the same college at Cal University.
The Zebras
In fairness, none of the penalty calls on the night by the referees were so egregiously bad as in previous weeks. That doesn’t mean they weren’t crucial. Julius Peppers lined up offsides pretty much cost his team the game until another penalty saved him. That was the phantom facemask on Rodgers with no time left on the clock that extended the game one more play.
In truth it wasn’t really a facemask, but it’s hard to blame the refs because of how fast the game was going, the fact it was a quarterback and that it looked a lot like a facemask. Besides, the refs weren’t the one who only rushed three defenders on Rodgers the next play, giving him enough time to wind up a throw to the end zone.