Detroit Lions victimized by another late controversal call

“I will just say this: At least our guy really caught the ball in this one”, McCarthy said after the game, referencing the so-called Fail Mary pulled off by Seattle at the Packers’ expense in 2012.

“I think he’s got me”, he said of his son’s game-winning grab, which came on an untimed down.

With the ball at the Green Bay 39, Detroit rushed only three players, leaving the other eight to cover the expansive territory between the line of scrimmage and the end zone. So when he went up and hauled in a 61-yard Hail Mary on Thursday Night Football from Aaron Rodgers, Rock Rodgers knew his son had it.

Even with time expired, this gave the Packers one more down, which is all Aaron Rodgers needed to throw his deep bomb. The Packers were in desperation mode and started performing laterals with no time left.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the Lions had real reason to complain. Linebacker Josh Bynes dropped back away from Richard Rodgers to cover another potential target, allowing the tight end to drift into the end zone and haul the ball in at the front of a pack of players, with no Lions in great position to knock the pass down. “It always rivals The Play, so why not have my son be better than me as opposed to the Flutie play?”

There was no need for all that. The team was on its way to sweeping the Packers for the first time since 1991, and a win would have kept their very slim playoff hopes alive. The Bears lost the NFC North championship in 2013 with a loss to Green Bay; had Chris Conte been able to defend Randall Cobb, the Bears would have finished 9-7 and one-half game of an 8-7-1 Packers team. There were 6 seconds left when Green Bay snapped the ball from its own 21. “And then I saw Rodgers the quarterback throw it to Rodgers the tight end”.

In order to get the ball into the end zone, Rodgers was going to have to throw the ball about 70 yards, typically the upper-limit for most top quarterbacks.

No matter how unlikely or freaky the winning play might have been, there are legitimate questions about the strategy the Lions used that aided the Packers in winning the game.

Carolina Panthers assistant defensive backs coach Richard “Rock” Rodgers can spot his son anywhere.

DEFENSIVE PUSH Green Bay’s banged-up offensive line is in rough shape.

“A lot of times, we practice it from like the 50 or maybe the (minus) 45”, Rodgers said.

That doesn’t look like much of a facemask to me. A replay appeared to show contact, but it wasn’t excessively violent. I think you see the way his teammates react to him and just the energy that he brings.

LUCKY BOUNCE: The end of the fourth quarter wasn’t the only point when fortune smiled on the Packers. That was obvious to everyone but Detroit’s coaches, who called a defense that sent only six defenders to the end zone.

“Defensively, it’s sort of the reverse of that”.

Stafford was 23 of 35 for 220 yards and two scores.