The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Season-Ending Loss To The Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions’ playoff dreams died 40 minutes before they took the field against Green Bay Sunday night. The Packers, on the other hand, had everything to play for.

Detroit coach Dan Campbell wasn’t changing his game plan, though. The Lions and their old-school coach had one goal and one goal only.

“We don’t want them to go,” Campbell said of the Packers. “That’s our motivation.”

Well, the Lions didn’t let the Packers go.

Detroit played smarter, harder and better and ended the Packers’ playoff dreams with a shocking 20-16 win at Lambeau Field.

Green Bay’s four-game winning streak was snapped, it fell to 8-9 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2018. Detroit finished the year 9-8, and its win allowed Seattle — and not Green Bay — to capture the NFC’s seventh and final playoff spot.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from Detroit’s stunning win over Green Bay.

THE GOOD

CHRISTIAN WATSON: The Packers’ rookie wideout eclipsed the 100-yard barrier for the third time this year — all coming since Nov. 13.

Watson caught five passes for 104 yards, highlighted by an acrobatic 45-yard reception late in the third quarter at the Lions’ 14-yard line. Two plays later, Rodgers fired a 13-yard TD pass to Allen Lazard to give Green Bay a 16-13 lead.

MASON CROSBY: The 38-year-old Crosby is the second-oldest kicker in the league, behind only San Francisco’s Robbie Gould (40). But Crosby continues to perform at a high level.

Crosby made three field goals Sunday — kicks of 22, 49 and 48 yards. Crosby’s lone miss came from 53 yards when he hit the crossbar, and the ball bounced back towards the endzone.

Crosby finished the season 25-of-29 on field goals (86.2%), the fifth-best year of his 16-year career.

THIS AND THAT: Robert Tonyan made an acrobatic, 21-yard catch in the second quarter that led to Mason Crosby’s third field goal of the night. … Quarterback Aaron Rodgers used a hard count to get Lions rookie defensive end James Houston to jump off sides late in the second quarter. … Matt LaFleur won a challenge when he protested a 15-yard Amon-Ra St. Brown reception. The catch would have given the Lions a first down, but instead it forced Detroit to punt. … Rookie first round defensive end Devonte Wyatt, who entered the game with 0.5 sacks this season, had his first full sack of the year.

THE BAD

CARELESS RODGERS: Aaron Rodgers had just 13 total interceptions from 2019-2021. On Sunday, Rodgers threw his 12^th interception of 2022, the second most in his career.

The only season Rodgers threw more interceptions came in 2008 — his first year as a starter — when he threw 13.

The 12^th interception for No. 12 came late in the fourth quarter with the Packers in a 20-16 hole. Rodgers took a deep shot for wideout Christian Watson, but Detroit safety Kerby Joseph read the play perfectly and intercepted Rodgers.

Joseph also intercepted Rodgers twice in Detroit’s Week 9 win over Green Bay. That made Joseph the first player in history to intercept Rodgers three times in a season.

RED ZONE, DEAD ZONE: The Packers entered the game ranked 23^rd in red zone offense, scoring touchdowns on just 51.9% of their trips inside the 20.

Things weren’t any better on Green Bay’s first drive of the night. The Packers had first-and-goal from the 5, but two run plays and an incomplete pass netted just one yard.

Crosby then made a 22-yard field goal.

ALL GAS NO BRAKE: Matt LaFleur first used the phrase “all gas, no brake” during his rookie season of 2019. Aside from losing his nerve in the 2020 NFC Championship, LaFleur has been extremely aggressive ever since.

Often times, though, that approach can backfire — and it did early on Sunday.

The Packers had a fourth-and-1 on their own 32. Green Bay brought wideout Allen Lazard in motion, handed him the ball, but he was dumped for a 1-yard loss by linebacker Alex Anzalone.

The Packers’ defense held, but Detroit did get a 37-yard field goal from Michael Badgley that tied the game, 3-3.

BUTTER FINGERS: Green Bay led, 9-3, late in the first half and was driving to take a two-score lead.

On a second-and-4, Rodgers checked down to Aaron Jones for an 8-yard gain. But Jones fumbled and Detroit’s Will Harris recovered with 1:16 left in the half.

That was the fifth fumble of the year for Jones, the second-most among all running backs in the NFL.

THIS AND THAT: Packers right tackle Yosh Nijman allowed two first half sacks to Lions rookie defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, then was benched for rookie Zach Tom. … Detroit’s Kalif Raymond caught a 43-yard pass from Jared Goff to Green Bay’s 1-yard line. One play later, former Packer Jamaal Williams had his 16^th rushing TD of the year. Williams would later score the game winning TD — his 17^th of the season, which set a new Detroit record. … Wideout Romeo Doubs had a pair of critical drops. … Return ace Keisean Nixon was held to 19.8 yards per kickoff return.

THE UGLY

QUAY WALKER: Green Bay’s rookie linebacker was disqualified midway through the fourth quarter after he pushed a member of the Lions’ medical staff.

Detroit running back D’Andre Swift was receiving attention when Walker foolishly shoved one of the Lions’ medical team members. Walker was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, then disqualified.

Walker was also hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty and thrown out of the game in a Week 8 loss at Buffalo. There, Walker pushed Buffalo practice squad tight end Zach Davidson on the Bills’ sideline.

Walker had a dreadful score of nine on the 50-question Wonderlic test before last year’s draft. That raised red flags with several general managers.

And while Walker has had a solid rookie season, his inability to keep his emotions in check are a huge problem moving forward.

RASUL DOUGLAS: The Lions trailed, 9-3, with 2 seconds left in the first half and kicker Michael Badgley lined up for a 48-yard field goal. Midway through the second quarter, Badgley had missed a 46-yarder.

Before Badgley’s kick, the Packers called timeout and Douglas inexplicably came to grab the football. There was some light shoving between the teams, then Douglas shoved the facemask of offensive lineman Dan Skipper.

Douglas was flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness, shortening the field goal attempt to 33 yards. Badgley drilled that and trimmed Green Bay’s lead to 9-6 at halftime.