In two games against the lowly Detroit Lions this season, the Green Bay Packers never took a snap with the lead.
They rallied from a 13-0 deficit at Lambeau Field in October to win on Mason Crosby's walk off field goal 23-22. At Ford Field on Sunday, Green Bay fell behind 17-3 at halftime but rallied again and Mason delivered from 33 on the final snap to give the Packers a 23-20 victory that propels them to 13-3 on the season, good for the number two seed in the NFC playoffs and earns them a bye into the divisional round in two weeks.
The thrill of yet another nail biting victory shouldn't be diminished but it was a frighteningly listless Packer team in the first half as they gave up explosive runs, got fooled by another flea flicker when receiver Danny Amendola took a reverse and threw a 19 yard touchdown pass to third string rookie quarterback David Blough for the early 7-0 lead. Kerryon Johnson's one yard run doubled the advantage and after the Packers finally got on the board with a Crosby field goal with only 20 seconds left in the half, the defense shockingly gave up 40 and 11 yard runs to Ty Johnson that set up Matt Prater's 42 yard field goal giving the 3-12-1 Lions a stunning 17-3 advantage at the break.
The second half was dominated by the Packers however, especially on defense as they gave up only a field goal, a 56 yard bomb at that from Prater, set up by a 30 yard pass interference penalty on Jaire Alexander.
The offensive plan going into the game was to stretch Detroit's NFL worst pass defense with long bombs but Aaron Rodgers continually overshot open receivers. In the second half, a quicker rhythm passing game produced results as Green Bay drove 95 yards for their first touchdown, a pretty 20 yard post-corner route from Davante Adams.
The teams traded field goals in the 4th quarter and then Blake Martinez made two big plays in succession. First he sacked Blough for a loss of 7 and then in a deep dropping cover 2, he picked off a dreadfully short deep pass, returning it 22 yards. A unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play on Amendola put the Packers in great field position and Rodgers cashed in with a 28 yard touchdown to Allen Lazard who went up high to pull down the deep post. That tied the game at 20 and both teams had two possessions in the final 5:19.
The Packers quickly forced a punt but Rodgers deep ball at the two minute warning for Jake Kumerow was intercepted by Amani Oruwairye at the Detroit 26. The defense got another three and out and Green Bay got it back at their 17 with 1:20 to play.
On first down, Rodgers scrambled and got hit on the slide drawing a 15 yard penalty against Tavon Wilson. Two short passes put the ball at the Packer 49. Under heavy pressure, Rodgers somehow found Aaron Jones on a screen pass in a crowd by he escaped and picked up 31 yards to the 20. Two short runs by Jones forced Detroit to burn their final timeouts and a Rodgers kneel down brought the clock to three seconds.
After missing five kicks at Ford Field a year ago, the script couldn't have been written any better for Crosby who despite a high snap from Hunter Bradley and a great put down by J.K Scott, buried the 33 yarder for the win.
How this team managed to win 13 of 16 games with uninspired play against the likes of the Giants, Redskins and twice against the Lions is anyone's guess but Matt LaFleur's team found a way, again:
(Audio: Matt LaFleur)
The Packers will be the number 2 seed in the NFC because San Francisco stopped a Seattle rally inches from the goal line with 9 seconds left to win 26-21 to capture the NFC West and finish 13-3 but by virtue of their blowout of the Packers in November, earned home field advantage throughout.
There can be no disagreement however that the Packers must find a way to be sharp from the opening kickoff because the 5 NFC playoff teams will all be formidable.
Rodgers was uncharacteristically off target most of the game, completing 27 passes but had a staggering 28 incompletions. Adams caught 7 for 93 yards, Lazard and Jimmy Graham each had four.
Jones gained exactly 100 yards on the ground and became Green Bay's first 1000 yard rusher since Eddie Lacy.
The Packers entered the game without Jamaal Williams and Danny Vitale in the backfield, inactive with injuries. They also lost two starting linemen as Corey Linsley departed early with a back injury and Bryan Bulaga suffered a concussion.
Linsley was replaced by dependable backup Lucas Patrick who was given a two year contract extension for 3.6 million dollars on Saturday. That proved wise as he played well. Jared Veldheer, coaxed out of an 11 month retirement in November, got his first action in place of Bulaga at right tackle. Another fortuitous signing.
As poorly as the defense played early on against Blough, an undrafted rookie from Purdue, the completely bottled up the Lions after the break, allowing 12 completions in 29 attempts for a passer rating of 39.7. The defense gave up 117 rushing yards in the first half but only 54 after intermission.
Somehow, some way, the Packers seem to find a way and they now have two weeks to regroup, heal up and see who comes to Lambeau Field.
The Wild Card weekend matchups in the NFC will have 6th seeded Minnesota heading to number three seed New Orleans while 4th seeded Philadelphia which captured the NFC East with a rout of the Giants, hosting the 5th seeded Seahawks.
The Packers will play the highest remaining seed after those two games while the Niners will host the lowest remaining seed.
Bring 'em on.
