Lions fall 30-20 to Pack, will start playoffs as wild card
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Another trip to Wisconsin, another loss for the Lions.
At least Detroit gets to return home knowing it is still in the playoffs — though the Lions lost out on a golden opportunity for so much more.
A limping Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes to Randall Cobb, Eddie Lacy gashed Detroit's defense for 100 yards. and the Packers claimed a fourth straight NFC North title with 30-20 victory Sunday.
Matthew Stafford was 20 of 41 for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including a 6-yard score to Theo Riddick that drew Detroit (11-5) within 30-20 with 1:45 left.
But an attempted 2-point conversion run failed, and the Packers ran out the clock. Detroit will start the postseason at Dallas next Sunday. The Packers will play the following Sunday.
"We're 11-5, and it's a new season," coach Jim Caldwell said. "We've got to look forward."
Detroit lost out on a first-round bye that instead went to the Packers (12-4) with the victory. Rodgers will surely appreciate the rest.
Bothered by a lingering left calf injury, Rodgers was carted to the locker room after tossing his first score to Cobb late in the second quarter.
He hobbled back on to the field in the third quarter with the game tied at 14. Rodgers led Green Bay on a seven-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard score to Cobb with 3:33 left in the quarter. The Packers didn't look back from there.
"It's clearly an MVP performance — another MVP performance — by Aaron Rodgers," coach Mike McCarthy said. Rodgers won the award in 2011.
Rodgers plunged across the goal line from 1 yard out with 8:45 left to help Green Bay regain a two-touchdown lead.
"We anticipated that he would come back. He's one of those guys that you're not going to keep him down — particularly in a game like this," Caldwell said.
Rodgers finished 17 of 22 for 226 yards. He was out of the game for about a 7-minute stretch between the second and third quarters. In between, receiver Calvin Johnson had touchdown catches of 4 and 20 yards on consecutive drives to help the Lions roar back from a 14-0 deficit.
Detroit hasn't won a division title since 1993. It hasn't won a road game against the Packers since 1991. For a few moments while Rodgers was out, it looked like both those streaks might come to an end.
"We got some momentum going, it's just we didn't sustain it, with Rodgers on the field or without him," Johnson said.
After blocking Mason Crosby's 52-yard field goal attempt, the Lions lost the ball when Stafford fumbled on what looked like an aborted handoff to Joique Bell. The Packers cashed in with Rodgers' 1-yard sneak into the end zone on their next drive.
Rodgers felt more pain later in the quarter after Detroit's 305-pound defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh, stumbled back and stepped on Rodgers' left ankle while the quarterback was on the ground at the end of a play. There was no penalty, and Rodgers tried to shove Suh back as the defender walked away.
Rodgers said referee Walt Anderson told him he thought Suh was blocked into the quarterback. McCarthy didn't see the play, but heard enough from others to very unhappy with Suh.
"There's no place for that," McCarthy said. "I don't understand it, frankly."
Suh had cleared out of the locker room by the time reporters were allowed in after the game. Caldwell also said he didn't see the play but had it recounted to him.
"Don't think it was intentional. End of story," Caldwell said.
NOTES: Rodgers finished the season with a 112.2 passer rating and is the only player in NFL history to register a 100-plus rating in six consecutive seasons. ... WR Jordy Nelson had six catches for 86 yards, and set a franchise record with 1,519 yards for the season. ... Bell finished with 60 yards on 13 carries. ... Led by Lacy, Green Bay had 152 yards rushing, a season high against Detroit.
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