This is how close Rodgers’ Hail Mary came to hitting the rafters

“Didn’t think it was, but because you don’t think it was or I don’t think it was – it was called, so there it is and we’ve just got to find a way to make the play, ” Caldwell said.

Welcome to another edition of Highlight of the Week, where we feature videos of heart-stopping sports plays, such as last week’s CFL game-winning touchdown. QB Rodgers hutted the play, scrambled around the pocket, avoiding a sack, and threw a 61-yard Hail Mary pass into the endzone.

Prater got the scoring started with a 51-yard field goal, the first of three for him in the game.

Borderline call, but the Lions have to make the next play.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the Lions had real reason to complain. The Lions couldn’t increase their lead and chose to punt the ball to the Packers and hope that their defense could shut down the Packers’ offense.

NOTES: The Packers scored their first points with 5:44 left in the third when James Starks fumbled and Randall Cobb recovered it in the end zone….

The Packers got the chance for the Hail Mary after Detroit defensive end Devin Taylor was called for grabbing Aaron Rodgers’ facemask on a tackle on what would’ve been the last play. It capped a second-half comeback from 20 points down, the largest in Rodgers’ eight seasons as a starter. When Aaron Rodgers released the ball, Richard Rodgers was at about the 10-yard line. Why weren’t any Lions players standing at the goal line trying to bat the ball down before it reached the end zone? The game is 21-23 with the Lions still holding on the lead, so their best chance was to score and increase their lead.

With the ball at the Green Bay 39 and no time left following a questionable Lions penalty, it seemed obvious the Packers would try a Hail Mary.

Detroit coach Jim Caldwell said after the game that despite Aaron Rodgers’s big arm – his pass traveled some 70 yards in the air – they were concerned about a shorter pass and a series of laterals.

“Tough one to lose”.

“I know there’s a lot of things that they’ll say, ‘Hey, why didn’t you do this or that, ‘ and there’s always hindsight and that kind of stuff”, Caldwell said. “Obviously it’s just what you’d expected, a quiet locker room where our guys are upset because they gave so much of themselves in this game”.

Although TV cameras didn’t get a great shot of how high the ball went, a fan at the game, who filmed the play on his phone, got a great angle, and here’s how close the ball came to hitting the rafters (The red arrow is where the ball is).

“Leading up the game, frankly, there’s an internal football decision that was made”, McCarthy said.

Sixty minutes was just not enough.