It wasn’t easy for the Packers on Sunday in Detroit. But they’ll take it.
Green Bay struggled with penalties and missed field goals and trailed most of the game against the Lions, but in the end an Aaron Rodgers hit Randall Cobb on a 22-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to take the lead, and the Packers would go on to win 24-20.
The win improves the Packers to 7-3 and keeps them in the hunt in the NFC North, while the Lions fall to 4-6, effectively ending any slim playoff hopes they might have had.
Packers kicker Mason Crosby really struggled, with a couple of missed field goals that were so off-kilter they looked like the wind took them -- which is never a good sign when you’re playing in a dome. But Crosby did hit a 39-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the game.
And Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford struggled even more, throwing two interceptions (one of which M.D. Jennings returned 72 yards for a touchdown) and losing a fumble. Stafford routinely missed open receivers and had several miscues when trying to hit Calvin Johnson, who had 139 receiving yards and a touchdown but left many more yards on the field.
If the Lions wanted to put themselves in the playoff conversation in the NFC, they absolutely had to have this game. Instead, they threw it away, while the Packers will leave Detroit having strengthened their playoff position.