Mike McCarthy
To most of us, the Green Bay Packers final play in their 27-23 come-from-behind win over the Detroit Lions is referred to as a “Hail Mary”. Mike McCarthy calls it a “Rebound Pass”.
The Packers work on it every week, the day before a game and its more of a defensive drill because the Packers don’t want to get any of their receivers hurt the day before a game.
The Packers got new life when the Lions were called for a facemask penalty against Aaron Rodgers. It gave the Packers one more play with no-time on the clock.
Even then, the Lions decided to rush only three, which allowed Aaron Rodgers to scramble around, buying time for his receivers to get down the field.
It goes down as a 61-yard-touchdown pass from Rodgers to tight end Richard Rodgers. But Aaron Rodgers had the ball in the air for roughly 70-yards.
The Lions thought the Packers were going to run the lateral play again. They’re weren’t prepared to cover the “Rebound Pass” like they normally would. Under normal circumstances, if Detroit is expecting the “Hail Mary” or “Rebound Pass”, they would have put wide receiver Calvin Johnson in the end zone to out jump everybody and knock the pass down. They also would have had defenders in front of the end zone, instead of playing behind the Packers receivers.
Because the Lions didn’t see the “Hail Mary” coming, Richard Rodgers was able to jump up freely to come down with Rodgers pass.
It gave the Packers a much needed win, improving their record to 8-4 and moving them within a half-game of the Vikings atop the N-F-C North division with four games left to play. The Vikings play this Sunday against Seattle.
The Packers finished their stretch of four straight division games with a 2-2 record, winning road games at Minnesota and Detroit and losing home games to the Lions and Chicago Bears.
The Packers have given the players the weekend off. They’ll return to work on Monday to start preparing for the Sunday, Dec. 13 game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field.
AUDIO: Mike McCarthy discusses the final play in the Packers 27-23 win :42