It’s another divisional game for the Green Bay Packers. The Packers looked to get on a winning streak after they beat the Buffalo Bills last week. For the fifth consecutive game the Packers offense started out slowly. It seems like the rest of the NFL is playing Madden while the Packers are playing Tecmo Super Bowl. Mason Crosby missed three field goals, which is uncharacteristic for him and the offense turned the ball over three times all in the first half. The Packers were down 24-0 at halftime, which is the largest halftime deficit of Rodgers career as a starter and largest since December 3, 2006 against the New York Jets. The defense has shown signs of life, but still makes plenty of errors, like face mask penalties, unsportsmanlike calls, lack of tackling, offsides, etc, that must be cleaned up for this team to improve as the season goes on. During the game, reached 40,000 passing yards for his career and 300 touchdowns in 154 games, he did it the fewest amount of games in NFL history. For everything that did go wrong for the Packers, they left 13 points on the field, all on missed Mason Crosby field goals and an extra point. The Packers like they have done all season, showed effort and better execution in the second half in an attempt to comeback.
Here’s the full recap:
1st quarter
Well the first quarter was absolutely disgusting. The Packers defense opened up by forcing the Lions to punt on their opening drive. From there, it was all down hill for Mike McCarthy and his troops. Kevin King muffed the punt and the Lions recovered on the Packers one yard line. The very next play, Matthew Stafford handed off to LeGarrette Blount for a quick touchdown to give the Lions the early lead. Rodgers started off his opening drive with two handoffs, one to Williams and one to Jones. This drive featured a lot of Williams and Jones as Rodgers tried to even the score, but the drive stalled and the Packers were forced to try a field goal, which Mason Crosby missed. Four plays later the Lions were back in the end zone. The big play here was a 60 yard pass to Golladay that the defense gave up. With the Packers quickly down by two scores, things continued to get worse. As Rodgers was being sacked he lost the football and the Lions recovered, and that is how the quarter came to an end. It was the first turnover of the game for the Packers offense. Packers 0 – Lions 14
2nd quarter
The second quarter started with the Lions having the football from an Aaron Rodgers fumble. The Packers defense held their ground and forced the Lions to settle for a field goal. The Packers offense then seemed to have found a groove and drove the field but could not punch it into the end zone and ended up settling for a field goal try by Mason Crosby which sailed wide and hit the right upright for his second miss of the day. The defense was doing everything it could to keep the Packers in the game. The Packers next drive which featured more of Aaron Jones and Devante Adams, showed signs of life that this offense can get it going. Again, the offense had to settle for another field goal try and again the Mason Crosby kick sailed wide on him. After a lions punt, Rodgers and the offense were pinned deep into their own territory. With the offense looking inept, Rodgers rolled to his left to escape pressure, but gets hit from behind and losses the football, and the Lions recovered. This was the Lions third forced turnover. After another Rodgers turnover, the Lions had the football with great field position. The defense was trying to force the Lions to just a field goal to end the half but Matthew Stafford found Marvin Jones wide open on a blown coverage in the secondary as Kevin King left him wide open for a touchdown. That is how a dismal first half came to a close. Packers 0 – Lions 24
3rd quarter
Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers came out in the second half looking to get things going and they turned to their no huddle offense. Rodgers ended up being sacked twice on the opening second half drive. Instead of going trying a field goal on 4th and 11, McCarthy went for it down 24-0 and they converted a 12 yard pass play to Davante Adams. The first points of the game came on the opening drive of the drive of the second half when Rodgers found Valdes-Scantling for his first career touchdown. The Packers then converted the two-point conversion. This defense is doing everything it can to keep the Packers in it and get the back back Rodgers. After a missed 55 yard field by the Lions, Rodgers took over near midfield. On 4th and 4, Crosby starts running out onto the field and McCarthy says, I don’t think so and calls a quarterback draw that converts for a first down. This drive was all, Rodgers, Adams, Montgomery, and Valdes-Scantling but ended with a one yard touchdown pass to Lance Kendricks. Rodgers had 135 yards passing in the third quarter compared to 141 passing yards in the entire first half. The third quarter was completely dominated by the Packers and they gave themselves a fighting chance heading into the fourth. Packers 14 – Lions 24
4th quarter
The fourth quarter started with the Lions driving and scoring a touchdown to pad their lead. Rodgers answered with a strike of his own to Davante Adams. The kicking game continued to struggle as Mason Crosby missed the extra point. It was his fourth miss of the day. The defense continued to fight and not quit, something that stands out is the adjustments that Mike Pettine makes during the game and the fight in this team to try and come back. After the defense forced the Lions to punt, Rodgers got and the ball and tried to engineer another Motor City Miracle. Down 11, instead of going for it on fourth down, McCarthy decided to give Mason Crosby another chance and try a 56 yard field goal. The kick again sailed wide right, as it was Crosby’s 5th miss on the day. That is 13 points that the Packers left on the field, all by Mason Crosby. If he converts all of those, which he is capable of, the game would have been completely different. In an effort to boost Crosby’s confidence and get his kicker back on track, McCarthy ended the game by having Crosby try a 41 yard field goal, which was good. Final Score: Packers 23 – Lions 31
Up Next: Green Bay returns to Lambeau to face the San Francisco 49ers in a primetime matchup on Monday Night Football on October 15th.
Anthony Haag is a writer for PackersTalk.com. He has been a Packers fan since the day he was born and truly bleeds green and gold. He makes annual visits to Lambeau Field and has attended his fair share of games. You can follow Anthony on Twitter at @anthony_haag
