Packers run the table to win NFC North

Week 17
January 1, 2017 - 7:30 p.m. - NBC
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

Packers 31 - Lions 24

Aaron Rodgers said it and the Packers did it.

The Green Bay Packers ran the table and finished the season as the NFC North division champions.  Once 4-6, the Packers won their last six games to punch a ticket to the postseason.  Rodgers was excellent throwing for 300 yards and four touchdowns.  Geronimo Allison was the leading receiver with 91 yards and a touchdown.  Davante Adams also had a nice game hauling in a pair of touchdowns.

It should be noted that due several successful playoff scenarios during the early NFL games, the Packers clinched a playoff spot prior to the start of the Lions game.  However, the Packers wanted more.  The division crown.

The Packers will face the New York Giants at Lambeau Field during next week's Wild Card round.

Rodgers' back on track in home opener

Week 3
September 25, 2016 - 12 p.m. - FOX
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 34 - Lions 27

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense found rhythm as they outlasted the Lions 34-27.  Rodgers threw four touchdowns in the first half with two of them going to Jordy Nelson.  A banged up defense made it interesting late, but the Packers survived to move to 2-1 with a much needed bye week upcoming.

Packers shut down in Detroit

Week 3
September 21, 2014 - 12 p.m. - FOX
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

Packers 7 - Lions 19

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense was stifled against the potent Lions defense.  The Packers scored only seven points against the Detroit Lions.  Seven points is the lowest amount of points scored in a Packers game that Rodgers has completed in the Rodgers era in Green Bay.

Photo credit: Paul Sancya

The defense came to play on Sunday.  Pressure was applied all day long on Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.  The defense forced Stafford into three turnovers including the first interception by first round draft pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.  Newcomer Julius Peppers also got involved in the turnover mix with a strip sack and fumble recovery.  Looking at the last three years, you would be hard pressed to find a Packers game where the defense out shined the offense.  Unfortunately, that very fete took place.

The second offensive snap for the Packers resulted in an Eddie Lacy fumble returned by Don Carey 40 yards for a Detroit touchdown.  Later in the half, the offense even gave up their second safety of the season.  The offense really did nothing until the defense stepped up with the Clinton-Dix interception.  The offense drove the field 59 yards and found the end zone with a Rodgers toss to Andrew Quarless.  That was it from the Packers offense.   The Packers had 223 yards of offense.  Rodgers finished the game 16/27 for 162 passing yards.  Lacy rushed for only 36 yards on 11 carries.  Jordy Nelson hauled in five balls for 59 yards.

The offense appears to be in a worry of trouble.  Aaron Rodgers has struggled through the first three games, other than the second half against the New York Jets, with inaccurate passes.  The rushing game has gone missing in action for all of the running backs for the Packers.  Other than Jordy Nelson, there hasn't been another playmaker on offense to show up this season.  The play calling from Mike McCarthy has been puzzling.  Just about everything that could be wrong with the Packers offense is indeed, wrong.

The Packers hit the road again next week in Chicago.  Hopefully we see some major adjustments on offense and some consistency from the defense.

Detroit Lions  2-1
Chicago Bears  2-1
Green Bay Packers  1-2
Minnesota Vikings  1-2

Lions embarrass Pack on Turkey Day

Week 13
November 28, 2013 - 11:30 a.m. - FOX
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

Packers 10 - Lions 40

The Packers suffered a drubbing at Ford Field by the hands of the Detroit Lions in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving Day.  In a game the Packers needed badly to keep up in the NFC North playoff race, they dropped the turkey leg.

The defense was absolutely dreadful.  And the offense was missing in action.  The Packers defense gave up a total of 561 yards of offense to the Lions.  The Lions had 320 passing yards and added 241 rushing yards.  The defense couldn't stop anyone. Another scary stat, the Lions possessed the football for forty minutes.  The Lions possessed the football for nearly three total quarters of the football game.  One of the worst performances I've seen from this defense in a long time.  No heart. No effort.

Photo credit: detroitlions.com

Because they are the Detroit Lions, Matthew Stafford and company did their best to keep the Packers in the game in the first half.  Despite dominating the Packers defense, the Lions could not capitalize on long drives in the first half and committed several turnovers to give the Packers some type of hope.  On the opening possession of the game, the Lions were driving, but Reggie Bush fumbled inside the Green Bay 10-yard line.  In the second quarter, Nick Perry sacked Stafford and forced a fumble which was recovered by Morgan Burnett and returned for a touchdown.  On the very next possession, Tramon Williams intercepted Stafford in Green Bay territory.  Of these three turnovers, the Packers scored seven points, which happen to come from the defense (Burnett touchdown).  The Lions scored two touchdowns to finish the half leading 17-10.  And the Packers only trailing by seven at halftime was a miracle.

The Packers would have been better off staying in the locker room eating turkey than returning to play the second half.  The team was blasted as they were outscored 23-0 in the second half.  Detroit just took it to Green Bay as the Lions won on Thanksgiving for the first time in ten years.  Matt Flynn was horrible.  Flynn finished the day with 139 passing yards, one interception, and two fumbles.  Flynn was also sacked seven times, including one for a safety.  Eddie Lacy was shut down with only 16 rushing yards on the day.

The playmakers for Detroit got the job done.  Matthew Stafford threw for 330 passing yards and two touchdowns.  Reggie Bush rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown.  And Calvin Johnson hauled in six balls for 101 yards and a touchdown.

The season is truly on ice from this point forward.  There is still a slim chance, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting dimmer.

#LifeWithoutAaronRodgers

Detroit Lions  7-5
Chicago Bears  6-6
Green Bay Packers  5-6-1
Minnesota Vikings  3-8-1

Defense sacks Lions to extend streak

Week 5
October 6, 2013 - 12:00 p.m. - FOX
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 22 - Lions 9

The Packers extended their winning streak in Wisconsin over the Detroit Lions to 23.  Coming off a bye week, the Packers looked like they were sleep walking in the first half and most of the third quarter.  Not a lot of excitement or much to cheer about at Lambeau Field as the Packers took a 6-3 lead into halftime.  The Lions were without their number one offensive threat Calvin Johnson, who as inactive due to a knee injury.  With that factor, the Lions offense looked like a team who had no idea what to do out there.  Thanks to that, the defense dominated the Lions all day long.

Matthew Stafford was sacked five times in this match up.  The following players recorded a sack for the Packers: Nick Perry (2), Mike Neal (1), Clay Matthews (1), and Brad Jones (1).  AJ Hawk did not record any sacks, however, he did have nine tackles and played well.  Hawk is having a great start to the season.  The defense didn't give up anything all game.  The Lions scored a late touchdown in garbage time to narrow the score, but the Packers won this game handily.  With Calvin Johnson out, the Lions next best offensive weapon, running back Reggie Bush, was held in check.  Bush only rushed for 44 yards on 13 carries and only caught four passes for 25 yards.  The only thing missing defensively from this game was a turnover.

Photo credit: packers.com

The Packers offense was a different story in this ballgame.  The first two drives for the Packers were solid, however, were stalled in the red zone.  The Packers were forced to settle for Mason Crosby field goals.  The offense played well in between the twenties today, however, struggled once they got to or inside the red zone.  Very uncharacteristic for Aaron Rodgers and company.  The offense made its way into the end zone once when Rodgers connected with James Jones on an 83-yard touchdown.  Randall Cobb made some great catches along with a 67-yard rushing play.  Jordy Nelson had another solid game catches five balls for 82 yards.  The biggest positive note from today's game was the success of the running game again.  Eddie Lacy was back and rushed for 99 yards on 23 carries (4.3 average per carry).  Give Lacy one more yard and the Packers would have had three consecutive games with a 100-yard rusher.

Mason Crosby appears to be in a groove in 2013.  After a horrendous 2012 campaign, Crosby had started the year nine for nine.  In today's game, Crosby hit from 26, 52, 31, 42, and 45 yards.  Give him a game ball for today's performance.  Keep it up Mason.

As always, the Packers suffered some injuries in this ballgame.  Brad Jones left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury.  His replacement, Robert Francois, unfortunately ruptured his Achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the season.  Clay Matthews also left this game in the third quarter with a broken thumb.  It is unclear at this time whether Matthews will need surgery on the thumb or if he will be able to continue to play with the injury.  A major blow for the Packers defense regardless if Matthews misses time or not.

This was a big win for the Packers getting back to .500.  This game was quite the snoozer.  But, the Packers have pulled to within a half game of the Lions and Bears for the NFC North division lead.

Detroit Lions  3-2
Chicago Bears  3-2
Green Bay Packers  2-2
Minnesota Vikings  1-3

#gopackgo

Packers take care of Lions at home

Week 14
December 9, 2012 - 7:20 p.m. - NBC
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 27 - Lions 20

Things did not start off well for the Packers against the division rival Detroit Lions on a snowy night at Lambeau Field.  Approaching the six-minute mark in the second quarter, the Lions had a controlling 14-3 lead.  The Packers hadn't really shown anything to that point.  Then, Matthew Stafford gave Mike Daniels and the Packers the ultimate gift.

The Mike Daniels' defensive touchdown sparked the momentum shift the Packers needed going into halftime.  Aaron Rodgers and newly added running back DuJuan Harris added touchdown runs in the second half to give the Packers a 27-20 victory.  This win gives the Packers 22 straight victories against the Detroit Lions at home, which is the longest streak in the NFL.

This game will definitely go down as an ugly win for the Packers.  But in Week 14, a win puts us one game closer to a second consecutive division title.

Green Bay Packers  9-4

Chicago Bears  8-5

Minnesota Vikings  7-6

Detroit Lions  4-9

#gopackgo

Packers win ugly in Detroit

Week 11
November 18, 2012 - 12:00 p.m. - FOX
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

Packers 24 - Lions 20

Photo credit: packers.com

The Packers continued their winning streak to five games with a victory against the division rival Detroit Lions, but it wasn't easy.  Today's game from an offensive perspective was an ugly win for the team in green and gold.  Coming off the bye week, the offense was almost nonexistent.  This game continued a trend for the Packers offense struggling and seeming to not be on the same page.

Late game heroics by Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb jolted the Packers to victory as Rodgers hit Cobb for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Packers the lead for good with 1:55 remaining in the 4th quarter.  Cobb had an outstanding game with 9 catches for 74 yards and the game winning touchdown.  Jermichael Finley also had a decent game with 3 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Also note: there was a little defensive by the Packers in this matchup as safety M.D. Jennings had an interception of Matthew Stafford and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown.

Green Bay Packers  7-3
Chicago Bears  7-3
Minnesota Vikings  6-4
Detroit Lions  4-6

#gopackgo

Flynn's historic day beats the Lions

Week 17
January 1, 2012 - 12:00 p.m. - FOX
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 45 - Lions 41

Photo credit: packers.com

Okay, first off, Aaron Rodgers got the day off to prevent injury and rest up for the playoffs in two weeks.  So Matt Flynn made his second career NFL start and he certainly turned some heads with his performance.  Flynn threw six, count them, six touchdowns in the Packers thrilling 45-41 victory over the Detroit Lions.  Folks, that is a Packers record for most touchdown passes in a single game.  No other quarterback in Packers history has "ever" done that.  Not Bart Starr.  Not Brett Favre.  Not Aaron Rodgers.  Flynn was one touchdown pass short of tying the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a single game.

Jordy Nelson had himself quite the game as well.  He caught three of Matt Flynn's touchdown passes and totaling 162 receiving yards.  There was ZERO defense in this football game.  Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 520 yards and five touchdowns himself.  A good ol' fashion shootout.

Some interesting notes from this final regular season game of 2011:  This game between the Packers and the Lions was the first time in NFL history that both starting quarterbacks threw for 400+ yards and 5+ touchdowns.  The Packers tied the NFL single season record for most touchdowns passes as a team.  With Aaron Rodgers taking the day off, he officially finishes the season with a 122.5 quarterback rating which broke the single season record set by Peyton Manning of 121.1 set in 2004.  Packers finished the season 15-1 and set a franchise record with the most wins in a single Packers regular season.

Reactions to Matt Flynn's performance:

Matthew Stafford: "Flynn played a great game.  Their guys were making plays all over the field and scoring points."

Mike McCarthy: "It was clearly one of the best performances I've been a part of.  No doubt about it.  I can't say enough about Matt Flynn.  The whole world got to see what we see every day."

Photo from packers.com

James Jones: "He's a great player, great quarterback.  He just showed the world what he can do."

What an amazing performance by Matt Flynn.  I think it will definitely help him as he hits free agency this offseason and I do not think he will be wearing a green and gold uniform next season.  But I am very fond and happy for Matt and will always be a fan (Unless he is playing the Packers).