Matthew Stafford vs. Aaron Rodgers: An incomplete history

‘Miracle in Motown’ 2015

I hate this game so much. Riding a three game winning streak that nearly brought them back from the dead, the Lions dominated most of this Thursday night tilt, leading 20-0 midway through the 3rd quarter.

Stafford didn’t do anything amazing in this game, but he played mostly mistake-free and did more than enough to hold off the inevitable late charge from Rodgers and the Packers.

On the (first) final play of the late, the Packers’ attempt at a Cal-Stanford lateral play ended up back in Rodgers’s hands and he was tackled near the original line up scrimmage with 0:00 on the clock. And then that flag came in, after Devin Taylor’s thumb caught some face mask on the tackle.

Without too much description of what happened next, let’s just say that this is one of two Lions games in my lifetime that led me to wander around aimlessly in the freezing cold without a coat on, throwing snowballs at random things in despair as the clock strikes midnight.

Green Bay 27 Detroit 23

Stafford: 23-35, 220 yd, 2 TD, 102.1 QB rating

Rodgers: 24-36, 273 yd, 2 TD, int, 96.2 QB rating, (1 soul-crushing Hail Mary after a cheap penalty to set up an untimed down).