Packers shock Lions on last second hail marry play

“I’m out of breath”, Aaron Rodgers said immediately after in a TV broadcast interview. “I was like, ‘Really?’ I know how the Hail Mary stuff goes”.

At one point in the second half, the Packers had four backup offensive lineman in the game, with left guard Josh Sitton as the only starter still standing.

“Unfortunately, this counts as one win”, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

Green Bay (8-4) is now only a half-game behind first-place Minnesota in the NFC North. The Lions (4-8) had a three-game winning streak snapped.

“Tough one to lose”, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said.

Green Bay (8-4) were upset a couple of plays before the Hail Mary when they felt Detroit safety Isa Abdul-Quddus should have been whistled for pass interference on a downfield throw.

After staking the Lions to a 20-0 lead, the defense buckled down and it started with Julius Peppers’ strip of Matthew Stafford after the Packers’ first score.

Aaron Rodgers passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on a 17-yard scramble for Green Bay, which rallied from a 20-point deficit.

Possibly Staffords biggest pass of the night was on a third-and-12 from Detroits 18 when he found TJ Jones for a 29-yard gain just before the two-minute warning. The penalty gave Green Bay one more untimed down, and you don’t give Rodgers one more shot at anything.

Facing a desperation 3rd and 10 from their own 21-yard line, they managed to keep the play alive with two laterals before Devin Taylor tackled Rodgers close to the line of scrimmage.

“I wasn’t able to get away from those guys, but luckily my facemask was grabbed”, the two-time MVP said. Richard Rodgers Sr. threw two laterals on the final play of the Cal-Stanford game in 1982, when the Golden Bears went through the Stanford band and reached the end zone. Stay tuned for Packers vs Lions updates.

“I knew I was going to have to buy some time to allow them to get into the end zone”, Rodgers said after the game.

Now the trick for Green Bay will be keeping the momentum from the “Miracle in Motown” as they wait a week and a half before welcoming the Dallas Cowboys to Lambeau Field.

It was the kind of game that made you feel bad for Rodgers because he was out there by himself, getting beat up.

He has now much to Caldwell’s chagrin. Rodgers threw 19 yards down the left side to James Jones, who threw back 16 yards to Richard Rodgers, who threw back to Aaron Rodgers at the Packers 24.

Stafford continued his resurgence, throwing for two touchdowns without an interception.

Prater, who has booted 17 this season, hit a 51-yarder in the first quarter and added field goals of 34 and 42 yards. That’s why Calvin Johnson remained on the sideline, which proved to be the wrong decision with no one big enough to contend with tight end Richard Rodgers at the goal line.

He was brought down by defensive end Dean Taylor for no gain and the game appeared to be over as time expired.