Kings of the North: Why the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions
By Kenn Korb
Bracketing Halftime With Scores
I talk a lot about 2-for-1s in these weekly articles, and for good reason: these aren’t necessarily always going to happen, but there is a sizable chance each week that a team will either be granted the opportunity to profit from one or be forced to defend against one. These opportunities can completely flip a game on its head, turning deficits into leads or decent advantages into insurmountable ones.
Early in the season we saw Green Bay falling well short of both converting and defending against these chances, even when gifted with excellent field position. That’s changed in the recent going, and this was yet another positive example for them.
Following two straight Detroit touchdown drives, Green Bay found themselves down 14-7 with just 23 seconds before halftime. Instead of staying conservative however, the Packers got aggressive.
Even with a delay of game penalty after the kickoff, Green Bay went into Detroit territory on one play (a 39 yard Rodgers-Allison connection) and ended up with a field goal at the half to get the deficit to 14-10.
After the half, the Packers got the ball back and methodically worked their way down the field. Gains of 5, 7, 3, and 11 put them into Detroit territory.
Gains of 6,5, and 4 continued their march. Following a false start, big plays of 20 and 16 to Jordy put them close to the endzone, and a short Adams grab finished things off with a touchdown.
Because of their strong play bracketing halftime, Green Bay was able to quickly turn a 14-7 deficit into a 17-14 lead. This 10 point flip changed the game, and gave Green Bay the rhythm they needed to eventually take this matchup.