Packer Central

Remember This Insane Finish Last Time Packers Played Consecutive Thursdays?

For the first time in almost a decade, the Green Bay Packers are playing on back-to-back Thursdays. Just like in 2015, the opponent is the Detroit Lions.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers (82) catches a 61-yard touchdown pass with no time remaining to beat the Lions.
Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers (82) catches a 61-yard touchdown pass with no time remaining to beat the Lions. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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DETROIT – After beating the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving night on a cold night at Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers will play at the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.

It’s the team’s first back-to-back Thursday games since 2015.

Nine years ago, the Packers, with Bart Starr on hand as the team honored Brett Favre, lost at home to the Chicago Bears on a cold and rainy Thanksgiving night at Lambeau Field.

Seven days later, on Dec. 3, they played the Lions on Thursday night.

After 60 minutes, the Lions led 23-21.

The game wasn’t over, though.

On third-and-10 from the 21-yard line with 6 seconds left, Aaron Rodgers completed a pass to James Jones. After a couple laterals, the game appeared to be over when Devin Taylor tackled Rodgers.

But it wasn’t.

Taylor was flagged for a facemask.

“I didn’t believe I touched it,” Taylor said.

Replays – and Rodgers – said otherwise.

“It was a facemask,” Rodgers said. “I was looking for the flag afterwards. I don't really flop any calls. That was a legit facemask.”

The penalty meant a 15-yard penalty and an untimed down at the 39.

That set up one of the greatest players in Packers history and one of the most memorable endings of all-time.

Under coach Mike McCarthy, the Packers practiced the Hail Mary during the final practice of every week. The play was designed to be caught by Davante Adams.

At the snap, Rodgers faced immediate pressure from Taylor, who beat David Bakhtiari, and escaped to the right. Another Lions defensive lineman, Jason Jones, pursued but was leveled by Don Barclay, which allowed Rodgers find some clear space to run up toward the line of scrimmage to build momentum for the throw. He unleashed the ball at the 35-yard line.

As the ball descended from what seemed like the roof of Ford Field, there were three Packers receivers – Adams, James Jones and Randall Cobb – and five Lions defenders stationed about 5 yards deep in the end zone.

Uncovered a few yards in front of the goal line was tight end Richard Rodgers, who looked like an outfielder retreating to make a catch at the wall. Rodgers made practically an uncontested catch for the winning touchdown.

“It’s written in the playbook that it’s my job to box out and Davante’s supposed to jump and I’m supposed to wait for a tip,” Richard Rodgers said in the victorious locker room. “I might get an MA (missed assignment) for that. I’ll take it, I guess.”

As Richard Rodgers fell to the ground, Cobb was the first player to jump on top of Rodgers. Seemingly the rest of the team joined the pile.

“Yeah, I couldn’t breathe down there,” Richard Rodgers said. “I thought I was going to die for a second. Randall was the first one on top of me, and then I just felt a bunch of weight come down and I knew the whole team was over there. That was pretty crazy.”

As the Packers’ bench stormed the field to celebrate, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and many of his teammates sat dumbfounded on the bench. On the top floor of Ford Field, Ted Thompson and the Packers’ front office exchanged high-fives and hugs.

The touchdown was the highlight of Richard Rodgers’ nine-year career. He had a huge night overall with eight receptions for 146 yards. He had catches of 26 and 11 yards on the touchdown drive that pulled the Packers within 23-21 with 3:04 remaining. Aaron Rodgers’ 17-yard touchdown run capped that series.

The Packers’ winning series started at their 21 with 23 seconds to go.

“I knew I was going to have to buy some time,” Aaron Rodgers said. “They rushed three guys. In that situation, a lot of times we practice it from like the 50 or maybe the 45. I knew we were around the 40. I knew I was going to have to buy some time to allow them to get in the end zone.

“I felt good about throwing it in the end zone from the 40, so I was just kind of looking at the rush and moving around. The guys did a good job of holding their blocks, and I knew once I got outside the right, I was going to be able to set up and throw. It was just about finding the 40 and stopping before that and putting enough height for my guys to get in the end zone. I was looking at Davante after I threw it, and I was pretty excited to see Richard jump in there and catch it.”

The win jump-started a three-game winning streak that helped the Packers get into the playoffs. After beating Washington in the wild-card round, Rodgers’ Hail Mary touchdown pass to Jeff Janis at Arizona forced overtime but the Packers lost 26-20.

Still, it was the Hail Mary at Detroit that will live forever in Packers lore.

“This one, obviously, ranks up there as one of the greatest joys on the field that we’ve had together as a team and personally,” Aaron Rodgers said.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.