Aaron Rodgers‘ patented heroics (with the help of some questionable calls) pushed the Green Bay Packers ahead of the Detroit Lions, 23-22, to tie a bow on NFL Week 6 on Monday Night Football.
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Final Score
Green Bay Packers 23, Detroit Lions 22
Green Bay Packers
Free agent addition Zadarius Smith kept Matt Stafford under duress all night, consistently winning with a bull rush that he has so often gone to this season. Defensive tackle Dean Lowry was a force in the run game, where he won with power and made a number of defensive stops.
The Packers' secondary played aggressively throughout the night, although they were certainly bailed out late in the game when defensive back Will Redmond interfered with receiver Marvin Jones down the field forcing an incompletion.
Aaron Rodgers had some bad interception luck when he threw a pass to Darrius Shepherd who slipped when trying to catch it and had the ball bounce up in the air where Justin Coleman snagged it. Rodgers made a gorgeous big-time throw to Allen Lazard on a vertical route in the fourth quarter for a 35-yard touchdown. Lazard came up big for the Packers with four catches in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Jones had a rough first quarter. He fumbled to end the Packers' second drive of the game and then dropped a wide-open pass which would have led to a touchdown in the second quarter. Jamaal Williams came in for Jones and made some big plays. Williams caught a five-yard jet sweep touchdown and made two defenders miss along the way. Williams then ripped off a 45-yard run on the next drive.
Detroit Lions
Stafford played a good game in what ended up being a heartbreaker filled with questionable calls (and no-calls) that went against the Lions. Early on, the Lions successfully executed a flea-flicker for a big gain to Kenny Golladay on a drive that ended in a field goal. They followed this with another explosive play on the first play or their second drive to wide receiver Marvin Hall, which set up a Kerryon Johnson touchdown a few plays later.
The Lions tried to establish the run all night long but were unable to outside of a few solid gains. The offensive line couldn't get the job done in the run game and struggled pass blocking as well, particularly as the tackles did a poor job on bull rushes from Packers defensive ends.
Justin Coleman’s interception was impressive, but so was the battle between Coleman and Allen Lazard in the fourth-quarter. Coleman had a nice pass break-up on a vertical route for Lazard. However, Lazard beat him for a 35-yard touchdown on the next play.
Damon Harrison snuck inside a double-team block on a play-action pass for a sack of Aaron Rodgers in the third quarter. Harrison also made a run stop in the fourth quarter. Sadly, the big takeaway for the Lions’ defense is the two illegal hands to the face penalties called on Trey Flowers shouldn’t have been called, as his hand never made it David Bakhtiari’s face on either play.
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