Aaron Rodgers’ ‘Hail Mary’ gives Green Bay win over Detroit

RAMS: Case Keenum has not been cleared to play as he recovers from a concussion and Nick Foles will start at quarterback for the second straight week. We know refs tend to call that penalty if they see a motion like that, so Detroit really can’t expect to get the benefit of the doubt. Richard Rodgers, the receiver, caught eight passes for a team-high 146 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Rodgers took two quick steps backward and caught the ball cleanly a yard inside the end zone – no Lions defenders had ever gotten between him and his quarterback.

“It’s written in the playbook that it’s my job to box out and Davante’s supposed to jump and I’m supposed to wait for a tip”, Richard Rodgers said. “I went and caught it”. “But Richard had other plans and it was a great plan”. The Lions shutout the Packers offense in the first half, holding Green Bay to just 78 yards at the break.

HISTORICAL PARALLEL: Richard Rodgers’ father played a role in another famous game-winning touchdown.

Only one play before the Rodgers to Rodgers connection, the game was extended by a 15-yard facemask penalties on Devin Taylor. But in that third quarter, he seemed to accept that he was playing by himself and was ready to deal with it. He seemed to tell his teammates, “You guys can play with me if you want to but I’m not going to lose this game!”

That call would have moved the Packers into field-goal range with time to spare. “We played a good game, just one play”. Sometimes, when they don’t play as well, they beat you up. Rodgers, who probably has the best hands on the team, made a decision to go for it anyway.

“Well…” Janis laughed when asked. He also led the team in rushing with 27 yards and a touchdown as well. “It was one of the turning points in the game”, Peppers said. The Detroit Lions kicker missed practice this week but was well enough to play. They led 17-0 at halftime and 20-0 after a Matt Prater field goal in the third quarter.

Green Bay guard T.J. Lang (shoulder) and tackle Bryan Bulaga (ankle) were inactive for the game, and center Corey Linsley left in the first half with an ankle injury.

Green Bay would get the ball back with:23 seconds left at the Detroit 21-yard line. We’ve got four games left. “I’m just in shock mode”. “There was nobody behind me, so I knew I needed to get rid of it, but luckily my facemask was grabbed”. That’s insane, but it just shows that the game is not over until there are zero seconds on the clock and even sometimes then, it’s not over.

The ending was fluky, sure, but the fallout is no less important.

But Rodgers came up big in the Packers 23-21 miracle victory against the Detroit Lions Thursday night at Ford Field.

The exhilaration of the Hail Mary overshadows an otherwise woeful performance by Green Bay. The call, which was controversial, was the correct one. The truth is, they were as stunned as everyone else.

In the third quarter the Packers began their comeback.

And we already noted the Jones’ grab late in the game, but it was impressive the young receiver was able to pull in the rocket away from his body. “You live for days like this”.