Mike McCarthy is convinced the Green Bay Packers weren’t lucky to win and he’s convinced his players of that, but they certainly had some good fortune on their sides after being outplayed by the Detroit Lions in the Packers 28-26 win at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Aaron Rodgers threw three first half touchdown passes and it looked like the Packers were going to pull away and dominate. But they couldn’t sustain any drives and couldn’t get off the field on defense. Rodgers was later picked off twice in the second half and kick returner Jordy Nelson fumbled twice.
In the end, Detroit had run 75 offensive plays, to the Packers 38. The Lions racked up 454 yards in total yardage to the Packers 273. And the Lions enjoyed a huge time of possession advantage, 37:37 to 22:23.
The reason the Lions didn’t finish it off with a win is because they had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. Jason Hanson booted four field goals in the second half. Had one of them been a touchdown, the Packers would have lost. QB Aaron Rodgers said they clearly need to be better.
AUDIO: Aaron Rodgers says they need to get better. :27
The Packers ground attack made slight improvement overall, but they were able to close out the game with some big runs, which in the end is what you need to be able to do. So John Kuhn and Brandon Jackson passed this test.
And the Packers defense got another solid outing from the reigning MVP, Charles Woodson. He picked off a pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown. It’s the 10th interception returned for a touchdown in Woodson’s career and the 8th as a member of the Packers. That passes Herb Adderly’s previous franchise record of 7. It was also the 3rd straight season in which he has had an interception returned for a touchdown against the Lions, which is an NFL record.
This is a game that the Packers shouldn’t have won and did. That’s a good thing. But as veteran center Scott Wells said, they still have a lot of work to do.
AUDIO: Scott Wells said they have a long way to go :18
The Packers improved t0 3-1 and will travel to Washington DC next weekend to face the Redskins.