The Green Bay Packers clinched a second straight NFC North Division championship and got some help to climb into the enviable number one seed position in the Conference race by beating the Detroit Lions 31-24 at Ford Field on Sunday.
When Tampa Bay beat Minnesota 26-14 in a noon kickoff, the Packers knew a win would secure back to back division crowns and when Philadelphia beat New Orleans 24-21, Green Bay’s 10-3 record puts them atop the NFC with three weeks left in a season where only the top seed earns a first round playoff bye.
I’m not sure how often we can talk about another virtuoso performance from Aaron Rodgers but he delivered another with three touchdown passes and one rushing to lead the Pack to the win against a feisty Lions team playing a second game under interim Head Coach Darrell Bevell. It was Detroit who struck first on Matthew Stafford’s 1 yard shovel pass to T.J. Hockenson to cap a game opening 75 yard drive.
Rodgers would need only three snaps to get the game even. From the 44 he fired a back should pass up the right sideline that Davante Adams grabbed and he immediately stepped inside one defender into the open field. Another cut lost the safety and 56 yards later, the game was tied at 7. For Adams, it was his 8th straight game scoring a touchdown breaking a franchise record held by the immortal Don Hutson.
The second series ended two plays into the second quarter when Marquez Valdes-Scantling made a terrific back shoulder grab with a defender draped on him for a 14 yard touchdown for the lead. The Packers drove 69 yards in 12 plays with Rodgers hitting all 8 passes in the game’s first two possessions.
Detroit got even at 14 on De’Andre Swift’s three yard touchdown run late in the second quarter and were looking to cash in again before the half until Darnell Savage and Kenny Clark came up with the third and 4th sacks of Stafford to end the threat.
It was the opening drive of the third quarter where the Packers seized control, driving 75 yards (actually gaining 90 because of two holding penalties) over 14 plays, consuming 8:49 on the clock. Valdes-Scantling made another key play, gaining 21 yards on third and 14 and from the 6, Rodgers ran untouched to the left corner of the end zone for a 21-14 advantage. For Rodgers, it was his 30th career rushing TD, moving him past another Packer legend, Tobin Rote, for the franchise record.
The defense delivered a quick three and out and the Packers went 79 yards in another dozen snaps using 7:49 of the clock to make it a two score game with just over 12 minutes to play. Robert Tonyan’s 4 yard scoring catch was his 9th of the season that made it 28-14.
Defensive miscues allowed the Lions to stay alive as the unit committed five penalties on the ensuing drive capped by Kerryon Johnson’s 2 yard run with 6:30 to play. The play before the touchdown, Stafford scrambled to the two and was hit hard by Kenny Clark. He wouldn’t return.
Green Bay drove to the Detroit 34 and called on the field goal team for a 52 yard attempt. A false start penalty pushed it back to 57. On the sidelines, special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga was ready to send out the punt team but Matt LaFleur asked Mason Crosby if he could make it. Crosby replied, “Yes.” He did, from 57 yards away with plenty to spare to make it 31-21.
The special teams made another big mistake, allowing Jamal Agnew to take the next kickoff 71 yards. Josh Jackson forced Agnew to the sideline where Crosby belted him out of bounds. With backup Chase Daniel now at quarterback, the Lions reach first and goal from the 9. Daniel scrambled for an apparent touchdown from the 4 put the play was called back on a holding penalty. The defense made a third down stop so Matt Prater kicked a 32 yard field goal to make it a one score game with 1:49 to play.
The onside kick was a spinner that everyone watched angle toward the sideline when Agnew finally tried to pick it up. A booth review was needed to determine Agnew and the ball were barely out of bounds which gave the Packers possession. A third and five completion to Tonyan moved the chains one last time and allowed Rodgers to kneel out the final minute.
LaFleur is now a division champion in each of his first two years at the helm:
Rodgers continued his run toward a possible third MVP award by completing 26 of 33 passes for 290 yards, three scores, without a sack and a passer rating of 133.6.
Adams continued to dominate secondaries with 7 catches for 115 yards and his 14th TD of the year.
Valdes-Scantling, who’s last catch before today was the overtime fumble in Indianapolis, may have played his best game of his career with six catches on six targets for 85 yards and a touchdown.
After a slow start, Aaron Jones put up 69 yards on 15 carries.
The Packer offense piled up 410 yards, with 35:30 of possession time and converted 8 of 11 third down plays.
The defense gave up points, but surrendered only 293 yards, just 51 on the ground and had four more sacks giving them 11 in the past two weeks.
For Rodgers, this is the 7th division championship team that he’s directed and this one feels different:
The Packers apparently came out of the game relatively injury free although LaFleur said Rashan Gary couldn’t finish because of an undisclosed “issue.”
Tavon Austin made his debut fielding both punts with one, two yard return and he also caught two passes for 8 yards.
Savage was the leading tackler with 8 stops and he, along with Clark, Dean Lowry and Gary had the sacks.
Penalties helped keep the Lions alive as Green Bay was flagged 12 times for 68 yards.
The inactives were Jordan Love, Ka’Dar Hollman, Jonathan Garvin, Simon Stepaniak, Malik Taylor and Jace Sternberger.
But it was a T-shirt worn by Adams after the game that summed it up best, a dark green T with white letters across the chest “Won Not Done”.
The Packers play two of their final three at Lambeau Field beginning Saturday night with the Carolina Panthers. In the Rodgers era, they’ve finished the regular season as a one seed before but got upset in the divisional round by the Giants in 2011 as defending Super Bowl champs. They’ve played in four NFC Championship games, all on the road, winning one, in Chicago on their way to the Super Bowl XLV title. The Kings of the North in 2020 desperately want to play for that George Halas Trophy at home and book a late January trip to Tampa, Florida. They took a big step today in Detroit.
