Brett Favre showed his running skills again and the Lions’ first team couldn’t handle the Packers’ second team. It was a great day to end the regular season in Lambeau Field. Yes, I thought the Lions would win because the Packers were not going to play their starters much, if at all, I expected a close loss, not the end of the world. I said the starters would build a lead and they did, I also said the second-team would blow the lead and they didn’t. I guess I’m not a fan. Or so I’ve been accused.
What really happened today is what I was praying for, a great performance by the starters to build a lead and a good enough performance by backup quarterback Craig Nall and the Packers’ secondary to hang on. From the beginning, the game was never close. Favre was on fire from the start and the offensive line was opening holes for running backs Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson, who replaced an injured Grant in the second quarter and rushed for over a hundred yards
Nall was nothing special and after Favre scored three touchdowns in three drives the Lions were heading for the airport so Nall didn’t have to do much. One thing Nall did show is that Aaron Rodgers better be healthy in time for the playoff game.
My MVP for the game is Jackson. Coming into the game Jackson figured to get a lot of playing time and his performance definitely puts him back in the mix next July for the starting running back position. Jackson showed some great moves and was able to get his yards behind a makeshift offensive line which was substituted early.
Getting a big win and going 13-3 means so much more than laying down and finishing 12-4 with a two-game losing streak. The Packers and head coach Mike McCarthy did a good thing for football today as well the fans of the Green and Gold. I wasn’t expecting the Packers to look as bad as the Dallas Cowboys did in Washington today, but I was expecting the Lions to play a little harder in an attempt to finish 8-8, like the Packers did in Chicago to end last season at five-hundred. Guess I was wrong.
I’ll give you my playoff predictions in the coming days. Nice to have a week off to let the Packers’ 13-3 record soak in. From 4-12 two years ago to the best record in the NFC this year. I’m still in shock, and after today I think the Packers can beat any of the three teams they may face in two weeks. That has to be scary to my faithful.