Holy Hail Mary!

Week 13 in the NFL kicked off Thursday Night with an NFC North battle between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.  The Lions were looking to sweep the season series against the Packers for the first time since 1991 and looked to build on their 3-game winning streak.  If you turned the game on anytime around halftime, you probably turned it right off.  If you did, I feel sorry for you because you missed one of the greatest finishes to a football game we’ve seen in years.  Yes, the Lions were winning  20-0 in the 3rd quarter, but the Aaron Rodgers led Packers stormed back into the game in the 2nd half.  And with 6 seconds left in the game, the Packers were down by 2 (23-21), on their own 21-yard line, and had time for seemingly one more play.  Rodgers threw a 19-yard pass that got laterelled back and forth a few times until the ball ended up back in his hands.  A Lions defender caught up to Rodgers and brought him down with no time left on the clock.  But wait, what is this?!  That’s right a penalty flag for a facemask against the defense.  Devin Taylor was called for an EXTREMELY QUESTIONABLE facemask penalty while bringing Rodgers down to the ground.  This allowed the Packers to run one last, untimed play from their own 39-yard line.

If you haven’t seen this unbelieveable play yet, follow the link below to YouTube to watch it.

As you can see, Aaron Rodgers ran around to avoid tacklers and launched a pass from his 35-yard line.  This Hail Mary landed in the hands of his brother from another mother Richard Rodgers for a game winning, 61-yard touchdown.  Obviously, allowing a Hail Mary is inexcusable, but there is always more than one play that contributes to blowing a 20-point lead in the 2nd half.

The Lions defense fell apart in the 2nd half.  The Packers four scoring drives only took a combined 9 minutes and 6 seconds.  That may not sound impressive, but if you think about it, that’s 4 pretty quick touchdowns.  And, in my opinion, the turning point in the game was the Matthew Stafford fumble in the 3rd quarter.  The Packers had just scored a touchdown and then you hand all the momentum over to the Packers with a costly turnover.  You can’t do that Mr. Stafford!

In the end, the Rodgers-to-Rodgers connection was the difference, and the Packers’ NFC North title chances remain alive and well (standing at 8-4).  As for the Lions, well they look a lot like the Lions.

Was this the craziest ending to a football game you’ve ever seen??  Let me know in the comment section below.

Since you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!