Packers recover onside kick, game-winning FG attempt blocked against Lions (Video)

After last year’s NFC Championship Game, this time the Packers weren’t going to let an opportunity to recover an onside kick pass them by.

For the first three quarters, the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers played mostly a snooze fest. The Lions were primed for an upset after sustaining early Green Bay momentum, and eventually taking a 12-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.

And then absolute CHAOS ensued.

In a game where Aaron Rodgers threw 61 times, the Packers ended up coming up just short, falling 18-16 to Detroit for their third consecutive loss. So, how did we get here?

Fast forward to the two-minute warning. On the first play after the stoppage, Matthew Stafford completed a four-yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore to give the Lions an 18-10 lead. Matt Prater MISSED the extra point, giving the Lions just a one-possession lead. Naturally, Rodgers led the Packers down on an eight play, 73-yard drive in just 1:23 capped off with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Justin Perillo.

Then the Packers missed the two-point conversion, setting the table for this. The onside kick recovery:

Damarious Randall (No. 23) recovered for the Packers. The catastrophic Lions’ collapse was almost complete. Mason Crosby trotted out to attempt a 52-yard field goal. The Lions are the Lions. It seemed like a forgone conclusion until…

By a stroke of divine intervention, the Lions appeared to block the field goal, and held off what would have been a monumental loss, even by Lions’ standards.

So, how rare was this game and a win like this for Detroit? The last time the Lions defeated the Packers in Green Bay was 1991. I wasn’t even born yet.