Why they won: Green Bay Packers’ Miracle In Motown

Aug 23, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Green Bay Packers running back

(38) warms up before playing the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. The Steelers won 24-19. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

A Spark From Crockett

You have heard by now that leading up to the game, there was another apparent issue that hit the already-maligned running back position.

In this case, Eddie Lacy and Alonzo Harris had been out past curfew Wednesday night before the game, which caused some changes to be brought on; namely, Lacy was benched to start the game while Harris was cut.

Regardless of what you may think of the idea that giving grown professionals a curfew, the fact is they knew the rules and that there would be some level of consequence for breaking them.

With the running game finally starting to do well behind Lacy’s improved efforts the past couple weeks, the decision to bench him could have been a death knell to a floundering team.

The way the game began seemed to solidify that thinking.

The running game did little early, with James Starks and a few Lacy carries mostly going nowhere while the passing game also continued to struggle as the team was down 20-0 and facing another embarrassing loss in Detroit.

Then, we see a new face emerge for carries.

John Crockett was brought into the game to provide a spark; he did exactly that. His first carries came on the drive that provided Green Bay its first TD of the game; on that drive he added a 12-yard carry. He added a 10-yard carry on another drive as well.

His final total wasn’t huge (5 carries, 22 yards), but his insertion brought two big plays to a moribund running game and coincided exactly with the turnaround of the team’s performance.

Next: The Other Rodgers