Packers 16, Lions 13: Three The Hard Way » Brats & Beer

December 12, 2005
posted under: Lions, Packers, Post-game

It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty, and some might argue it wasn’t by the book, but the Packers got their third victory of the season by beating Detroit 16-13 in overtime. Hats off to Ryan Longwell who made three field goals, including the game winner from 28 yards. A gameball also goes to Samkon Gado for his 171-yard effort that featured a 64-yard dash to the end zone in the second quarter. Some credit also goes to the officials for ruling that Gado attempted a forward pass from the end zone instead of trying to advance a fumble forward, overturning a safety and giving the Packers a chance to fight their way out of a hole. Also a big thank you to Shaun Rogers for drawing a penalty on a late hit on Gado during Green Bay’s final drive in OT.

Yes, it was a team effort, and a valiant one at that. Still, it is troubling that the Packers were held scoreless in the third quarter and could only come up with three points in the final 15 minutes. It’s not like there weren’t chances. Green Bay had the ball six times resulting in a three-and-out, a 31-yard drive that stalled at the 34-yard line, an eight-play drive for a field goal, a 25-yard drive that stalled at the 26-yard line, another three-and-out, and an interception on Brett Favre’s last second heave ho. At least the defense played well despite the Lions having great starting field position in the first quarter. They only gave up 129 yards on the ground and held Garcia to 112 yards passing. (Maybe it would be more accurate to say Garcia held Garcia to 112 yards, but I’m a glass-half-full sort of guy.)

What matters though is the win, number three, a step towards warding off comparisons to the Forrest Gregg years and hopefully a step closer to comparisons to Bartt Starr’s 1979 squad. Yes, five wins is within our grasp. Baltimore is ineffective on offense and their defense is no longer the juggernaut it once was. And the Packers should have beaten the Bears last week anyway, so Christmas could be extra good to Green Bay fans. And, hey, maybe Seattle will have home field advantage locked up by New Year’s and will play the scrubs — a 6-10 finish and we’d be talking Linde Infante era. Bonus!