Matt Flynn Goes for 500 Yards! Lions vs. Packers Week 17, 2011

well happy new years and here's one from aaron rodgers to all of you at home able to sit this one out of course the packers will have a buy next week and he has company on the inactive list today four pro bowl players for green bay [Music] among some big time names will not be in action including charles woodson well as we said earlier they got done what they needed to get done during the week in terms of their practice tempo but right now the key for green bay is they want to be physical this is a obviously a division rival but but the same stoke at stake they have got a lot more out in front of them they want to stay as healthy as they can that's a tough balance to play physical play passionate but play healthy well what a job jim schwartz has done in his third year in detroit he's led the lions to their best record since 1995 in their first playoff appearance since 1999 [Music] lee waiting for the kickoff another one of the enactus for the packers today their outstanding return man randall cobb so hanson puts a foot on it we're underway at lambeau field and juggling his lead drops a ball in the end zone and it is fumbled out of the end zone so a break for the packers as they'll get the ball at the 20-yard line well speaking of the way these two teams are approaching this game let's check in with more with laura oakland tom you talked about how the lions are viewing this as a critical game i talked to nate burlson who said we have not been afforded the luxury of taking a game off we don't want this to be a special season we want this to be the start of something special that means creating a winning creating a winning habit we have been exercising demons all season he said the next thing we want is this 20-year losing streak in green bay well you're not lying about that hackers have won 20 in a row in the state of wisconsin the spring that began back in 1992 so making his first start of this season second career start is aaron rodgers back up matt flynn and his first pass right on the money to donald driver take a look up front they're gonna find out if chad clifton is healthy enough to play in the postseason he's been out since early in the year and that's that's one of the big things that's got to happen today obviously with the injuries along the offensive line they want to see how chad clifton's going to come back how they play in combination also matt flynn they're going to give him a chance obviously to air it out to a degree i think we're going to see a lot of the running game like you said earlier pushing we got to push it 54. [Applause] after the gain of 17 on first down flynn hit as he threw and is that a catch on the sideline it is by jordy nelson who has posted career highs in every statistical category this year was this a catch now looks like he didn't get that other foot down in the old days where a force out might have been called here you got to get both feet in i don't think this is a reception and that's what they've ruled on the field flynn has appeared in four games all of them blowouts this year he's only made one nfl star that's after aaron rodgers suffered a concussion against these lions last year the next week flynn started in new england through three touchdown passes in that game and he's looking for the big one and it's incomplete third and 10. [Applause] i think we're already seeing a little bit of the effect of the change in their personnel for green bay normally mike mccarthy is constantly rotating personnel formations their mo is to give you as many different looks in the first 15 20 plays as they can but obviously due to some of the injuries what they're trying to do i think we're going to see a much more condensed or subdued game plan from the packers and mike mccartney [Music] ball is loose still loose and it looks as though detroit has recovered and the lions indeed have it stripped away by sammy hill and it looked like deandre levy was here to cover it up pressure from the detroit lions this has always been their hallmark and their ability to do it with just a four-man rush they were able to get home here you hear you're gonna see watch this stunt on the back side with vandenbosch putting pressure inside he has to step up they work as a group together this is exactly what the detroit lions needed they want control of this game they want control of them early so the packers recognize this is not something we want to do today so now matthew stafford in his third season out of the university of georgia it's the first year he has stayed healthy the entire year and boy has he put up some big numbers and this is kevin smith and that's a gain of close to seven on first down so many weapons at the disposal of stafford and his offensive line has been pretty doggone good the entire year and that's been a big part of their success outside obviously calvin johnson but the two tight ends pettigrew and scheffler always a key particularly as we approach the red zone here [Applause] stafford delivers a strike and inside the 10-yard line that's his favorite target calvin johnson is 86 catch of the year closing in on 1500 receiving yards well it's one-on-one coverage here and anytime they can get that with calvin johnson matthew stafford's gonna get the ball to him green bay has not been able to generate a lot of pressure this year so they have to bring a lot of linebacker and db pressure to get it that creates the 101 they're looking for outside defended beautifully by shields the intended target nate burleson we talked about some of the big names out of the lineup today for green bay defensively they do have ryan pick it back after suffering a concussion in oakland with no play matthews and no charles woodson and as i said earlier that's part of the issue particularly without clay matthews they're going to have to manufacture the pressures we're going to see more db blitzes more linebackers coming from that second level that's going to create those one-on-ones we talked about on the second goal and it's caught in the corner of the end zone by titus young that's a touchdown for the line [Applause] matthew stafford recognizing the one-on-one on the back side they took they doubled up on johnson on the other side so he even though this is a great matchup with sami shields titus young is one of those guys good athletic receiver with great hands this is just the way detroit wants this game to go scripted just the way they want it i don't know if i'd be jumping up in there too often of course he found a spot where there was a lot of blue a lot of honolulu blue in that corner 37 touchdown pass this year by stafford and quite remarkably he's not going to the pro bowl but a 7-0 lead for detroit [Music] o'brien we're so fortunate this time of year come rolling into green bay wisconsin and lambeau field didn't get much better than that now these lions have been a nightmare they haven't won here in over 20 years but look what they've done after forcing a turnover and that's huge on the year again remember that these detroit lions where they're coming from they're just two c uh seasons removed from owen's 16 season that ball did he bring that back from over the goal line no they're going to talk about it there's not been a signal an official signal given yet for a touch back i'm not so sure this is not going to be a safety if that ball rolled outside and then came back that may be exactly what happened walt coleman our referee today when you get a look at how valuable a backup return man can be pat lee today for the ball came completely out of the end zone the receiver pulled it back into the end zone safety there it is talked about randall common acted today so pat lee is badly handled mishandled the first two kickoffs in this game there it is brought it back in from just outside the goal line and that is two points for detroit to make it a nine nothing lead and the lions are gonna get the ball back well of all the inactives that we talked about that could possibly be for this game randall cobb is a big one the green bay packers have struggled on special teams the last couple years they've progressively gotten better to where they're a top 10 in both kickoff return and punt return so randall cobb not previous play is under review and they're going to see the same thing we saw but obviously special teams a big part of the improvement for green bay and not having randall cobb up this game could be a factor we've already seen it well here key here is obviously first as you can see it hits him comes right off the shin now the key is does the ball clearly come all the way out of the end zone out past the goal line it does as he reaches up he's now brought it back from the field to play you can see right there clearly and now he's inside after reviewing the play we're really on the field stands [Applause] well let's check in back in our command center at fox in los angeles mike pereira did they get that call correct hey guys they sure did forget about the position of the body it's all about the ball and it's still a kick since he muffed it back into the field to play if he gains control in the field of play which he did beyond the goal line and brings it back in it's on him he's deemed to have brought it back into the end zone so it is a safety good call on the field and the right use of replay just to review to make sure that that whole ball was out mike you're always so serious when we talk to you about these things it's nice to see you smile every now and again happy new year young man hey same to you guys it's been fun not being with you all year long you never got along with mike pereira so well he's my best buddy i mean what you could buy your friends i bought that friendship 75 grand worth [Applause] well it's been blown dead on the free kick already tim mashday there punter racing back to talk to one of the officials all the way back at the 40-yard ball line never made ready for play tom what we're seeing is instant after instant green bay's mental focus for this game whether it's the return game whether it's the kicker going before he was giving the ready to play signal the match-ups down on the goal line right now if i'm mike mccarthy i'm concerned about the mental focus forget about the physical or the passionate side of the game that's got to come right now i don't have the mental focus i need in order to try to attempt to win an nfl football game you know mike mccarthy told us a lot about this green bay team with a win today no packer team has ever gone undefeated during a season inside the division but it's a little hard to sell your team on that idea when you're sitting down four or five of your biggest stars in the game yeah but you got to find that hook you got to give them something to hang their hat on as to why they want to come out and play hard today logan returns the kick up to the 38-yard line [Applause] stafford right back out there with a 9-0 lead we talked about what's at stake today the lions trying to be that number five seed in the nfc playoffs and they can nail that down with a win along with ending the 20-year win streak for the packers in the state of wisconsin and we mentioned sweeping the nfc north the packers with a win would do just that but those are all secondary goals because they their eye is on the prize detroit wants that fifth seed and obviously green bay wants to stay healthy and fresh as they first come out of it after the bomb in the division round smith flips across the 40 up to the 41-yard line that'll be a gain of three whereas the lions are hoping that smith can stay healthy through this game we mentioned the packers are off next week is the number one seed the lions will play next week where will they play is the key question the lions kick into a no huddle trying to change the pace of this game [Applause] [Music] [Applause] third down and eight interesting move by the lions to go in and out of the here obviously they want to get a more orchestrated third down call but we said coming in what they want to put everything in the bucket they want they need this game badly it's a lot easier to get your team motivated and focused obviously on a week but they've got so much at stake and we've already seen it with a little uncharistic uncharacteristic no huddle early in this sequence barely three minutes into the game and it's incomplete looks like stafford threw that one off his back foot under pressure from brad jones so three and out [Applause] just a good sign like i said you got a different rush a late rush by the packers kind of a delayed three-man rush coming off the edge matthew stafford's having a heck of a season he obviously now the key is to keep this momentum as they go into the playoffs jordy nelson stands back at the 15-yard line [Applause] favorable bounce for the lions and it will roll down to the 17-yard line and be down and a flag comes in right in front of the green bay sideline at the 30-yard line [Applause] personal foul number 58 of the kicking team 15 yard penalty from the end of his way well the lions have done a lot of that this season much better field position for mike mccarthy's packers this is just a dumb penalty by ashley palmer watch this the ball is clearly going down this is a late hit from behind far removed from where the ball is going down these are the kind of dumb penalties that that have hurt the detroit lions 30th personal foul this season that that's just dumb that's most in the nfl next season 25. matt flynn getting the started quarterback and a delay to ryan graham that did not fool detroit defensively again of a yard lawrence jackson healthy again making the tackle there and they're going to be leaning hard on this secondary as they're starting to get healthier chris houston returned last week they hope to have lewis tell us back for the playoffs yeah not having dalmas and aaron barry they are a little shorthand on the back end the good thing for them as we've seen they can put pressure with just this four-man rush to protect their secondary so michael fiddler looking for a flag that doesn't come it'll bring up sec third down and nine and let's check in with curt metaphy back in los angeles well carolina's won four of its last five partly due to this combination cam newton hook it up with steve smith 12 yard touchdown they have even it at seven apiece in new orleans of course tom and brian it's a big game for the saints because they still have a shot at the number two seed and st louis leads san francisco 7-0 i think a lot of people forget about that there's still a chance that could flip-flop by day's end should the 49ers lose saint louis and new orleans win saints would become the second seed very close to a first down it depends where they spot it on the catch by your michael findlay and we shall see it is right there snuggled up against our yellow line which is not the official line and now they say first down well i don't know that i don't call for a measurement on that if i'm not jim schwartz detroit's been pretty good on third down defense finley needed to be a little smarter about the depth he sets down to get that so it's not as close [Applause] [Music] [Applause] ryan grant again this time a gain of close to four wrapped up by justin durant well you can just see here now that's just a little draw play out of the three wides alignment like we said earlier nice job coming up for the tackle durant stepping up taking on the lead block we said the green bay wanted to run the ball they are not substituting people this is different for them they're taking a much more straightforward approach than they have all year long set up the screen under heavy pressure was flynn mcdonald sue breathing right down his throat and a third down upcoming for green bay of course many remember the thanksgiving day play that occurred and it led to a two-game suspension with a dominican sue for stomping on green bay offensive lineman evan dietrich smith a very ugly play and really the first of two very ugly games for the lions against green bay to the following week against the new orleans saints but sue a few days later apologized he called evan dietrich smith said he was sorry and both players say no hard feelings going into this one today flynn escapes trouble and finds nelson for a first down to the 37-yard line that's the way matt flynn used to do it the last time he regularly played when he led the lsu bengal tigers to a national championship of college football well they just 101 on the outside but it breaks down as flynn leaves the pocket they've got jammed up pretty good coverage there but as the pressure broke down and flynn was able to get outside jordy nelson able to use that side size and work himself to the sideline grant strong running inside the 30 down to the 29-yard line a gain of seven you get outside the pocket right here now as he goes down boy that head bounces off the turf that always concerns you particularly on a field that's cold not necessarily frozen they've got an elaborate way of keeping this field warm but obviously with aaron rodgers on the sideline the last thing they want to see is something happening to matt flynn you're wondering graham harold is the backup quarterback to flynn here today he's playing the drive and ryan grant's been busy and it looks like he has enough for a first down needed to get to the 26. the detroit lions put a heavy premium on pressure on the quarterback getting turnovers but they have been gashed in the run a little bit now obviously their offense that productivity but that's something that they've got to work on going into the playoffs and i know the green bay packers would love to take advantage of with this wide nine defense those wide alignments by the ends there are yards to be gained in these wide gaps of the defense [Applause] kitchen catch again flynn with jordy nelson and he's right out of bounds at the 20-yard line a game of six [Applause] jordy nelson may be the best hey look at those eyes on the ball all the way to the finish the packers have rebounded a little bit here they're focused picking up since the mishaps earlier uh in the first quarter obviously here with the goal line and let led to the safeties the punt that went off early we're seeing a little bit sharper focus now a little bit sharper movement by the packers talked about nelson after his first catch of the day he has just had an outstanding year the 11th most receiving yards in the nfl this year and hit as he threw is flynn [Applause] and it lands in the end zone with not a packer in sight he took a big hit from kyle vandenbosch you knew they were going to bring pressure detroit made it very clear whoever was at quarterback they were going to bring as much pressure as possible looked like matt flynn thought he he thought finley was going to break in rather than out got away with a little brush to the face mask there that's an option route by the tight end where he can go to the coast or the corner he's zigged when he thought he should have zagged packers have converted both third downs on this drive and make it a third first and goal green bay on the catch by findlay this is why quarterbacks love tight ends just the sheer size just get it within reach it doesn't have to be a huge window finley's got the great hands the great arm reach the great size is going to match up one-on-one with any linebacker or safety the lions want to put on it [Applause] so matt flynn looking very sharp in this his first start of this 2011 year only the second start of his nfl career and of course that red zone offense is all about aaron rodgers and he's not in there [Applause] well i mentioned earlier that the green bay packers to open a game are always about mike mccarthy it's his signature multiple personnel groupings multiple formations and they're not doing that at all we've only seen and grant go in for one another and they've stayed primarily in the same formations not a lot of shifting a lot of not a lot of motioning a lot of that has to do they want to get that clock running too they are board watching as well they don't care about scores they're watching that clock they want that thing to not stop [Applause] a third down and goal for green bay these teams are so familiar with one another you questioned whether how much even a change in tactics would make a difference if these were two teams that weren't and had the possibility they may see each other again in the playoffs will you do something to set up the playoff game no these two teams are too entirely familiar with one another they're just playing this thing straight up they face each other in the playoffs they'll deal with that when that comes flynn 5 out of 12 63 yards and on a third and goal he dumps it off to the pro bowler john koon who's tackled at before and out comes mason crosby and the green bay field goal unit that's a nice drive by the packers if for no other reason they kind of got their rhythm back that's a long way to go that's a lot of plays to run without a mistake mike mccarthy's got to feel like maybe they've got their wits back about them crosby this year is hit on 21 of 25 this will be from 22 yards out [Music] and it is good 9-3 detroit in front [Music] well whether it's aaron rodgers or matt flynn the green bay philosophy is touchdown to check down check in the end zone eyes down the field where's finley where's driver where's nelson no i'll drop it off to if i have to let him run and see if he can get the first down classic green bay philosophy touchdown to check down very good look at tommy clements over on the sideline quarterbacks coach of the packers and according to the pittsburgh post gazette this morning he will interview to become the next head coach in penn state later this week had a couple of inches of snow uh very very early in the morning around 5 30. i know brian europe get a little workout in about that time of day i wanted more snow you know it's christmas this new year supposed to be snow on the ground this is green bay wisconsin looks like fort lauderdale [Music] [Applause] and wide open out of the 40-yard line is brandon pettigrew with a gain of 21 on first down pettigrew is such a he in the relationship that he and stafford have had has been so important to their development here they go no huddle again this is clearly their plan to calm down the multiple rush packages of the green bay packers great protection you give staff for that kind of time he's going to find a receiver and for a second time in the game that's calvin johnson here you're gonna just see him coming on the outside just a simple deep out move and this is the dilemma do you break down and bring more pressure against the lions creating one-on-one matchups on the outside with johnson or do you stay in his shell zone defense but not get a rush on the quarterback second effort there by kevin smith he was tripped up in the backfield by brad jones and turned it into a positive play a gain of two on first down make it three quarterbacks love this they love to run the no huddle it condenses the play package you work from and it allows you to get to just the kind of throws you want when you get that one-on-one match-up a little shovel pass to smith and he's hit from behind picked up by morgan burnett and returns it to the lions 45. so one thing about this green bay defense many people feel like there are a lot of holes they give up a lot of yards but what they do as well if not better than everybody else has forced the turnover you just got to put the ball away didn't realize what was coming from behind but you're exactly right tom the philosophy in the nfl so much today is don't worry about the yards don't worry about the stats yeah if they run on us a little bit if they have a lot of passing yards as long as we keep them out of the end zone and we generate turnovers and that's what the green bay packers are so good at in terms of generating turnovers it was a key to their super bowl run last year take a look at that since tom capers took over as their defensive coordinator they have the most takeaways among all teams in the league and this looks like the ryan grant of two years ago there you go look at capers a native of the buckeye state of ohio and capers has been regarded as one of the great defensive minds of the game for a long time second down second down at one [Applause] and again the packers ability now they've come out throwing the ball now they've thrown the ball 14 times to start that's just their fifth or sixth run i expected to see a lot more running but obviously the weather is not a factor they have faith in matt flynn to go ahead and put the ball down the field quick hit to jones and that's the first down to the 32. and we go to los angeles to curt menifee for a game break well the 49ers trying to hold onto that number two seed behind the packers at st louis alex smith slips gets back up and then runs it in for an eight yard touchdown they needed it it's now tied 7-7 as they start the second quarter tom and bryant [Applause] well what a great turnaround season brian it's been for alex smith it has you know it's a great story for him to fight back through all that he has to lead that team to where they are today it's a great story all the 49ers have to do is just win that game in st louis and they are assured of the number two spot in the nfc playoffs fiddly breaks a tackle see where they mark it down at the 24-yard line this is feeling like a wide receiver on the outside and the quarterback's gonna look up every time one of my matchups have they put a linebacker a safety on him where i like that matchup is the corner off they're going to put jermichael finley in a number of different positions to test the matchups of the detroit lions [Music] [Applause] [Applause] we've heard about steve smith already today with a touchdown catch in the panthers game against new orleans here today we have your michael finley who came back from the injury alex smith we talked about him and matthew stafford among the comeback player of the year award nominees well matthew stafford for my money should have been in the pro bowl no disrespect to eli manning obviously a good solid season but matthew stafford had a pro bowl caliber year 45 play fake to grant flynn rolling and he can run it recovered well by the detroit secondary that's great coverage time a quarterback and they had no idea the quarterback still had the ball to stay alive with jordy nelson across the ball across the board matt flynn having all that time here you can see on the back side jones is coming across typically these kind of things are wide open but that's a nice job by the secondary and the linebackers the troy lyons [Applause] wilson tripped up but still managed to make the catch in its first and goal for green bay inside the 10. surprised there wasn't a penalty flag there it looked like he was tackled before he ever caught it great pickup here just a little chip by findlay before he goes in the route and jordy nelson we talked about your michael finley having that size that quarterbacks love well this is a wide receiver darn near 6'4 that's a little gets a little bit of a grab going down but jordy nelson's the same way sure-handed big target big sweep spot for the quarterback to throw to 319 back-to-back possessions they've been first and goal and nelson finds the end zone he just shoved alfonso smith out of the way and races to paydirt for the 13th time this year [Applause] jordy nelson already having a big impact in this game there's another guy that many people thought maybe deserve pro bowl more pro bowl consideration just old-time football there with a great stiff arm and getting into the end zone [Applause] of course his buddy greg jennings who is inactive today is the right to the football jennings has more receptions but nelson more yards and touchdowns to the packers lead for the first time today [Music] alfonso smith and defensive coordinator gunther cunningham no i beg your point there's guthrie yeah he's none too happy about that that's a tough sequence for alfonso smith getting beat by finley and then jordy nelson for the touchdown detroit's got to get regrouped here obviously green bay has done just that that's why they're the number one seed tough early but it rebounded very well they are focused and playing well [Applause] defined logan from the goal line and still on his feet all the way up to the 33 yard line from our entire crew we've traveled together this entire season and from our families to yours seasons greetings and a happy new year [Music] some of our family when we're on the road every single weekend as they're away from their families every weekend [Applause] kevin smith tripped up by morgan burnett and that will be the final play of the opening quarter so here are the packers without some of their biggest stars still leading the lions and fox nfl sunday continues in a moment ten nine green bay scores against the ndamukong sioux and the lions to jump in front the second quarter is underway and stafford hands it off on the other round tonight burleson and he has a first down up to the 45-yard line burleson has had a very nice year nice job they this is a big part of what detroit's detroit does they fake the inside dive they give the reverse and stafford just kind of turns around a little bit we are going to see a play-action pass off that same reverse i promise you this is what detroit has had to do to manufacture their running game because they've not had much of running game so it's got to be quick passes to the outside reverses a little bit of trickeration got a lot of guys hurting that running game going all the way back to training camp good job at best early in the season that one sails on him and it's incomplete detroit gets back into the no huddle we've seen this the first in the first quarter and now they kick back into it here you can see with the guys that are out for green bay a lot of this has preventative for detroit this is due to injury they need they need these three guys back next week in their first round [Applause] i hate it when it takes this long to figure out what happened somebody did something wrong let's let's decide quick did somebody move did someone pull them off false start number 51 offense five yard penalty feels hanging down that's interesting you can see here you're going to see the tap this is what you do in the gun to alert the center it's time to snap the ball but i guess they're saying was too dramatic emotion by the center when you bobbed the head like that he looked down and came back up that's to draw the defense off sides dominic riola in his 11th year out of nebraska was grabbed drafted the same season as a left tackle jump backus and both of them going to the playoffs for the first time penalties have been a big story for these lions too high for calvin johnson third down and long and we talked about green bay brian it was just last year we talked about all the penalties they had and now they have the fewest in the league yeah you can see right there the combinations that they're doing over here there you saw it between tremont and williams and morgan burnett they're working combination front and back side to side to take away calvin johnson boy that looked like calvin johnson wasn't sure that stafford was going to a coverage dictated that maybe you do something else he came out of it like he was unsure where he was going to go they're putting tremont williams everywhere calvin johnson goes and the question is where does he get his help from [Applause] nelson waiting back at the 15-yard line and this appears to be no he's going to let it bounce and it never crossed the goal line and the packers fall on it but it was touched it looked like by a detroit lion john wendlandt down there to bat it back we'll see where they spot it [Music] good punt coverage play by john weddling in the lions great job by the gunner we used to do that with a volleyball drill bouncing the ball volleyball in takes a real balancing act obviously you can't touch the goal line you always bat it back great special teams play he's got green bay in a hole now from inside their own five they give it to graham and they made some changes again along that offensive front they've gone back to the same lineup that started the game last week against chicago they wanted to get a look at clad chad clifton to find out where he was he's been out going all the way back to the first week of october with hamstring and back issues so new house back in there left tackle they move tj lang back to right tackle and evan dietrich smith is in there and that was just the right amount of work for chad clifton coming back they got done what they wanted to get done [Applause] [Music] i mentioned in the open that they went to pads which is kind of unique with the new collective bargaining agreement here you're going to see a weak side trap play but you're allowed 14 padded practices and for green bay to hold off to the last week to use a padded practice that's a philosophical decision by mike mccarthy to keep the physical edge for this team all the way to the end of the season [Applause] third down at five and flynn gets it away and it's incomplete nelson looking for a flag that he has not thrown chris houston all over it with no penalty flag on the play you're gonna see coming off the left side here kyle vandenbosch at the very end almost got to him thought he was going to do one of those tomahawk strips of the quarterback's arm and now that kind of contact incidental coming out as long as you don't change the impetus of the receiver and you move them from the path to the ball it's legal nice series by detroit getting green bait punting out of their own end zone master puts a foot on it and logan from his own 46 crosses midfield flag comes in as he steps out of bounds at the 45 they're in return illegal block in the back 31 of the receiving team 10-yard penalty first [Music] a backup on the down side of midfield and again we say happy new year from our family here at fox to yours at home those that run camera work in videotape each and every week 19 straight weekends on the road brian going all the way back to the free season when we were in kansas city yeah it is it is a home away from home great group great family always appreciate their kindness and their smiling faces what a fabulous job they do and what's interesting in it we went back to thinking about the two teams we had that pre-season game huge expectations for tampa bay and kansas city and completely the other way for both teams pedogrew the catch a gain of five on first down up to the 45-yard line and you have to go back remember that that that year was such a big draft here for the lions 2009 their first two-round draft first two first-round draft choices were sure were the quarterback staffers but it was also a brand new pedigree and these guys have grown together become a real combination [Applause] who has the football and what happened here yeah he's down he was down there it got stripped out once he was on his back this thing's going to be challenged the flag is already out by jim schwartz that would have been lethal for detroit to have turned the ball over twice like that but i think this thing's going to get overruled and detroit's going to get the ball here he's got control he's down on his back and it actually gets pulled out once he's already on the ground this thing's going to come back and be detroit's ball detroit is challenging really on the field of a fumble so we'll take a timeout while they take a look detroit challenging the call made on the field now remember the call on the field is green bay football mike pereira from our fox command center how do you see it this is where you get into the gray area here did he complete the process of the catch he's hit simultaneously with the second foot hitting the ground then the ball comes loose on his body the only thing you could come up here with to overturn it is a catch and down by contact and again that's the second foot there then the hit takes them to the ground they're going to be looking at this one for quite a while while coleman has one of the tougher decisions to make here whether to stay with the call on the ruling of the field or put it as a catch and down by contact when it gets to this where it's so close love to see them stay with the call in the field are you so you're saying that the ball is still alive there after reviewing the play the receiver had control of the ball went down down by contact if we have a completed catch first and teaming for detroit at the 44 yard line detroit will not be charged with a timeout so mike your your assertion was that he didn't have possibly complete control is what led you to believe that possibly could have been green bay's ball the only consideration here is to say that he didn't complete the process of the catch now he did have control of the ball when he first hit the ground as you see here that's the second foot down but the contact came simultaneously with that second foot hitting the ground so in order to complete the catch he's got to maintain control here ball gets stripped away it's one of those where you look and say catch down by contact which was what walt coleman said i on the other hand might have stayed with that call on the field of really not completing the process of the catch before the ball stripped away interesting play one of the gray area plays you get involved in well if i'm jim schwartz i like my interpretation than better than yours and if i'm mike mccarthy i kind of agree with you so you you got it fifty percent right either way you wanna go well six jim schwartz seven now on challenges we thank mike pereira so it is a detroit first down trailing 10-9 under 12 minutes to go until halftime from the great bay 44. [Applause] wrestled down after a gain of five to the 39-yard line by sam shields that was one of those smoke plays we talk about this was supposed to have been a running play but he saw the off coverage on the outside matthew stafford like so many teams around the league will just raise up throw that quick hitch to the outside and make it an extended handoff [Applause] morris and that does not fool anybody packers really missed ryan pickett he's not one of the biggest names on this green bay defense but he makes a lot of big plays and when you put him in the middle combined with b.j raji that gives them the inside rush defense present that a good russian defense has to have so his loss has been felt the last couple weeks deployed looking to convert on the third down for the first time just great coverage great coverage by morgan burnett on the tight end pedigree third down defense for green bay has been a problem but it's come up pretty substantial here just a little angle route coming he's got his option on scheffler or pettigrew great coverage by the secondary for forcing the quick throw and they're going for it on four why not why not you're within scoring position you've got to remember this is the green bay packers they are 14-1 why not and they just do get it off and they convert on fourth down the catch made by burleson to the 29-yard line [Music] see just crossing underneath typically when you have this down in distance you get as many people crossing underneath as possible hoping someone just pops open in this instance nate burleson did it's a new career high for nate burleson 69th reception of the year boy did jim schwartz talk glowingly about him and what a great leader he has become for this team catch me by pedigree and that's another first down i love the analogy you made brian about maybe he wasn't the number one like he was paid to be when he left minnesota and went to seattle but on this team calvin johnson being the one he's been a mighty good two yeah he kept telling scotland or scott atlanta and the coordinator kept saying we need a guy like david we need a guy like nate berlson finally jim said well how about we get nate bernstein just go to the source and they did he's been a great pickup play fake stafford overthrew it [Applause] we throw it to current benefit in los angeles for a game break while the bill's led 21-0 at new england but the patriots are coming back tom brady hooking up with aaron hernandez 39-yard touchdown is now 21-14 the patriots win they're the number one seed no matter what happens elsewhere tommy bryant well that was a huge game for new england look at the red zone offense and the touchdown percentage standpoint best in the nfl these green bay packers are number two though morleson again to the 14 third down coming up we'll talk about new england should new england lose that game and the steelers win later today with a baltimore loss all of a sudden the steelers go from the three seed to the number one seed you talk about the difference whether it be the steelers or baltimore even could still get that number one what a huge difference for new england should they stumble here and relinquish that number one seed employee matthews watches his third and four detroit down by a point [Applause] fired into the end zone and that's a touchdown for calvin johnson well desmond bishop the linebacker underneath i want you to watch here he threatens pressure but he gets out of position calvin johnson just rolls in behind it opens up that window right on the goal line i think desmond bishop should have stayed more in the middle of the field to protect the goal line rather than fake the the blitz and get outside that's a new lion's single season record for receiving touchdowns 16th of the year by calvin johnson [Applause] and now the point after to make it a six-point lions lead right down the middle [Music] 8-18 to go until halftime the wives have not won here since 92. [Music] well your team record for calvin johnson is 16 touchdown reception of the year and he is closing in quickly only 13 yards shy of 1500 on the year what a talent well you talk about incentives this guy's got a uh close to upwards of five million dollars in incentives with certain combination of yards touchdowns that he could be closing in on as well i got a feeling we're not done on the day with a young man calvin johnson [Music] [Music] well they're not going to allow pat lee to return any more kicks it appears brandon sane will take a knee don't forget this coming friday one of the more anticipated bowl games of the season number eight kansas state number six arkansas our exclusive coverage of the 76th knockball classic live from dallas begins friday 8 5 pacific on fox [Music] gus johnson and charles davis will be on the call in that one of course jordy nelson will be tuned in on friday hackers will have the week off nelson of kansas state alum [Applause] where's bill schneider coming back again and playing in another big bowl game flynn to throw it in complete they have been deflected and had an odd look to it donald driver was looking one way and maybe eric wright he did he reached up and just flicked that a little bit they brought pressure from the outside and right just got enough of a hand on it to cause the incompletion detroit mixing up defenses as well trying to give the young mr flynn as many different looks as they possibly can blitz coming and they set up the stream big yardage for ryan grant crossing midfield inside the can and he'll go the distance [Applause] 80-yard touchdown reception by ryan grant [Applause] after the play was over let's watch some light conduct number 25 of the offense 15 yard penalty will be assessed on our kickoff right here great timing on this great call by mike mccarthy they think they're going to get home on the pressure but it was to set up the blitz anytime you can get a screen call against man or pressure it typically can go to the house great play call great execution boy so many things going on there ryan grant barely getting a piece of the defender coming in on the blitz and makes a catch ask your wide receivers brian how many times did you have to beg guys like jordy nelson or donald driver who made blocks to spring he made a yard these guys have been together from the get-go they play as a team no better than an example than that this is fun great fun unfortunately it's illegal matt flynn having a pretty good day his first starting his 2011 year and only the second start of his nfl career a couple of touchdowns so far [Music] of course it doesn't hurt when you can drop off a little two-yard pass and it turns into an 80-yard touchdown [Music] so after the penalty is just due to excessive celebration by ryan grant [Music] giving us our first snow angel of this 2011 year from the 15 and logan crosses the 40. and is still on his feet across midfield 49 balls loose or was it down question is where's the possession does he have possession great return they're in great position after the penalty can't see when the ball came out there looked like he was down and the ball popped out but couldn't really see for sure here it might be a better angle to see if the ball starts to move before he goes down this is a little like the the play we just saw earlier now looks like he's down there this is probably going to bring about a challenge as well well they just said it's green bay football on the field and again you see the red flag as soon as the call was made on the field jim schwartz challenges for a second time it's a little like challenging to really on the field of a fumble a little like the play we just saw with scheffler he had possession when did it come out as he came down on his back couple tight again the fact that it was ruled for green bay this may be hard to overturn because there you don't see when the ball came out so that's inconclusive and then from this angle as well though this angle here to me looks like you can see he's down looks like he has possession as he comes down then the ball comes out the problem is with these views i'm not sure there's enough for them to overturn it there's another look it look it looked like he had the ball and it started to pop out that last view well it's going to be a tough one i i don't know again the substantial thing here is that it has ruled green bay's ball i don't know that i see anything to overturn it but i don't see that the ball really started to come out until he was on his back that look right there may be the most substantial i don't know stand by and the kicker mason crosby was the one who recovered it after it was stripped away by eric walden jim schwartz has already won one challenge today six of seven on the year gotta tell you if this challenge were to go in schwartz's favor i think certainly something the league will take a look at at the end of the year is you know he loses the ability to challenge another play the rest of the game if you're two for two on challenges why should you have that taken away from you the remainder of the game that's ridiculous yeah for me it it goes even further i take the challenge system totally off the field we have the technology with replays up here you trust the guys in booth if they see something that they can communicate down to correct the call but that's just my bias i would do away with the uh with the uh challenge system on the field altogether i'm in the minority there i know most coaches don't agree with that well here we go after reviewing the play they're really on the field stands which means it's great for the first time and that is their last challenge for the day well the key there is he it stands it wasn't confirmed they didn't see enough to defendively say it came out but they didn't see enough to overrule the calling on the call on the field had they ruled it detroit's ball then that would have stood as well so that was a tough gray area congratulations for walden the man who stripped the football away he's had a rough five weeks six weeks since thanksgiving so now green bay with the ball and the lead just under eight minutes to go and this drive starts at the lion 48 yard line you take a vertical shot after a turnover many teams will in this situation [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and they'll spot it at the 35-yard line you know brian a lot of fans out there may be wondering of course the lions fans understand the difference between a number five seed and a number six scene and and some people you know might say hey look the oldest cliche in the book is if you want to be the best you gotta beat the best and there's another one out there that says be careful what you wish for as that one is intercepted picked up by alfonso smith and he returns it to the 38-yard line so the first mistake of the afternoon made by matt flynn well they've been going after alfonso smith all day and he's finally got tired of it and gone there one too many times great anticipation coming underneath and getting the ball on a turnover just what detroit needed to keep themselves alive they had the advantage with the kickoff after the penalty they had a nice return that was the second turnover they had now to get it back on defense huge for detroit [Applause] it went over to jim schwartz and said okay here you go yeah this ball is going to be yours this was a nice gift for jim schwartz and the detroit [Applause] down to the 15-yard line to calvin johnson but you know talking about who you would play in the opening round obviously if you're the five seed and then you could change but right now the five seed would play the winner of the giants and the cowboys you have to go on the road the sixth seed would play in new orleans where the saints have not lost all year long and right now today as we sit here might be the hottest team in the league well no coach worth assault is ever going to tell you i'd rather play this team or that team you got to play them all at some point you're absolutely right but i guarantee you the detroit lions would much rather play the new york giants or the dallas cowboys who they've already beaten rather than go on the road and play the new orleans saints so that's why part of the priority today and the passion for today was guys yeah we'll play whoever but you know what be a lot better if we had that fifth seed i don't think anybody wants to go down and play in the not so big easy these days the way the saints are going shorts are leading carolina by seven into the end zone unable to get both feet down as tight as young that was a spectacular catch that never happened because it's it's not going to be called good although yeah that could bring about a challenge as well he got the foot in did he maintain process oh boy i think we're going to see once again or is he out of challenges [Applause] wow this this is just what you're talking about that is one where he can't challenge a time just what you talked about this is why for me the challenge system for the quarterbacks he's calling timeout he's hoping somebody can communicate with somebody but this is not something that can can come down out of the replay booth now they were that was called not called a touchdown it had been reviewed had it been called a touchdown but being out challenges folks that's a touchdown he had control he touched the foot down it's an unfortunate consequence of the rules right now given the challenge system that someone can't say wait a minute this needs to be looked at again [Music] we'll check in again with mike pereira mike i brought it up before this ever happened and now jim schwartz cannot challenge a call on the field i think it's one of the more ridiculous rules has it ever been talked about changing this rule well i mean it has been and of course they changed to say if you won two challenges you've gotten you would get a third right but this is what i didn't like about the new rule you can only review it from upstairs if it's ruled a touchdown but it's in the envelope of the end zone it ought to be reviewable both ways so you don't run into this situation and again we thank the long time head of nfl officials mike pereira joining us from los angeles so third down stafford throws incomplete he was looking for burleson around the five-yard line and i agree with mike 100 this league is about getting it right we have the technical ability as we just saw to get it right to communicate it down to the field that this needs to be reviewed stopped looked at again whether we keep it within the envelope i agree with mike 100 it shouldn't be just scoring plays but plays that happen within the envelope that he talked about we we ought to try to get this right 30-yard field goal try for hanson who's hit 29 in a row from inside of 40. and just slips this one in the right up right she'll make it 30 in a row from inside 40 for hanson and the lions with 5 53 to go have a two-point lead mike mccarthy knows ooh i dodged a bullet there he can look up there and see boy i can see those feet if i were in jim schwartz's shoes i'd be just as upset what do you think about jim schwartz just here in the last four or five minutes of this game it looked like logan was down on the return the call goes in favor of green bay detroit gets the interception by alfonso smith and then unable to challenge what looked like a touchdown reception made by young in the corner of the end zone and you could see his guys telling jim hey let's let's keep our focus here he was hot at the officials for missing that he saw what the difference was going to be in terms of a touchdown versus a field goal had to get his focus because right now his team has done just that they've rebounded her some from some tough breaks gotten the interception put themselves in scoring position and obviously uh now up by two we got a lot of football left to play but the composure of this detroit lion team again i come back to it let's remember this team two years ago or just outside two years oh and 16 tom how far this detroit lion team has come to this point going into the playoffs the confidence they have now i don't think you can say enough about them and what about some players like uh backus and raioli they've never been in the playoff they've been the detroit lions their entire career been in this league for 10 plus years they're now going to the playoffs for the first time [Music] oh hanson spins it away and again brandon sane rookie out of ohio state fields from the goal line and same brings it out to the 21. here's coming up shortly it'll be the visa half-time report how about it kurt menifee coming up on the visa halftime report we'll have scores and highlights from a busy new year's day in the nfl a lot of games that really set the table for the playoffs including new england trying to wrap up the top seed in the afc and the jets trying to keep their playoff hopes alive it's all on the visa half time looking forward to that there is a lot going on so much at stake here the final weekend of this season involving in so many games and that's just what the league wanted they had 22 teams that still had playoff hopes last week this week a lot of ramifications and a lot of it happening to happen within the divisions you love it you know really the nfc playoff picture is all but a moot point outside of the huge game tonight winner take off for the nfc east in the afc you have five teams vying for two final playoff spots well for me and i wrote about it this week i'd like to see them reseed the playoffs i think you could take this excitement and take it even further by re-seating the playoff teams keeping more teams playing later in the season been a good day for ryan grant an 80 yard touchdown couch he's also run it well talk about the afc i mean you could have a change for the number one seed the number two seed talked about the five teams vying for a spot in the playoff they include denver cincinnati is in if they win denver is in if it wins but oakland tennessee and the jets all with a fighting chance yeah the pittsburgh cincinnati game so many huge ramifications we had cincinnati last week baltimore since that excuse me that was an impressive cincinnati team all but with the turnovers that we saw last week and across the middle catch made by jamichael finley up to the 43 in the first down [Music] here you can see finley coming across the field and again just the size the match up with spave all but at 5 11. finley all at 6'5 leads him just enough that match up anytime matt flynn can see that type of matchup he's going to find finley plenty of time and the packers have all three time-outs remaining under four minutes to play [Applause] and a late flag comes in eric wright got tangled up with donald driver [Applause] passive interference number 21 defense ball when placed in the spiral foul first down [Applause] this is right here matt flynn kind of winking and nodding looking over a driver he sees the matchup he's saying he's probably changing the route says that whatever that means it means i'm going to go to you and the driver the 13-year vet knows how to just slow play looking for that back shoulder throw boy just kind of incidental contact by eric wright i can see why he was a little upset the 21-yard penalty against the lions will be another penalty against the lions and a free play why not put it up there for nelson and a touchdown we figured it was a free play it looked like [Applause] touchdown well we talked about them going after alfonso smith all day he's got the better of it once with the interception but jordy nelson again using that size i've talked about finley and his size jordy nelson all of 6'4 alfonso smith may be stretching it to five nine just the kind of jump ball match up you won here down the field he knows it's a free play gonna go up use that size great hands just gets his feet in bounds great catch by jordy nelson what a player nelson has turned into every scoring play is under review he is where both feet the left foot the right foot does he maintain control through the process yes he does and that is a touchdown [Applause] had complete control through the entire process now if you're jim schwartz you're sitting on the other side thinking oh okay mine doesn't get reviewed but this one does but this is standard operating procedure going to get it right [Applause] if the worst thing we do is take a little bit longer to kick a p-80 i'm okay with that pretty clear cut there but i'm going to go back to my soapbox here it's last game of the season i can do that why not you know we're taking a lot of time here you know we're they have the same mechanism we do to look at these replays i got all these monitors in front of me and and our booth doing a great job replaying it to me well they got the same thing just about six or seven doors down all right why not have a process that lets the people upstairs that can look at it repeatedly and keep in mind the people upstairs are not allowed to chip in they're not allowed to give an opinion here are the replays and here it is it's just a matter of uh it's a matter i think we can speed up the process confirmed touchdown yeah mike pereira we've got on the line again and mike i know you've you've known me to be on this soapbox for a while what's your take on speeding this process up just getting this down from the booth quicker well i just think the other element i understand where you're coming from but if you leave it in the booth only and you don't have a limit to the number of times that the game can be stopped then you get back to the old 86 to 91 system that imploded because of way too many stoppages it's a tough situation and detroit takes the brunt of a bad rule here but it's the way it is yeah but my point is mike back when you're referring to when we had this initially our technology is so far advanced now in terms of the ability to look at these replays the ability to communicate on the field the result would be the same and i agree with you let's do it with anything anything within that envelope but we we have the chance to not only get it right like we're endeavoring to do now but do it a lot quicker than what that took way too long i mean we saw this thing a half a dozen times it took way too long for my money to get this decision to come out well uh you know and and and that is a good point and they have talked about going to some version of the college system where the guy upstairs makes the decision and and there's there's no question in certain situations he can you know he can make it quicker than having the referee go under the hood because that becomes an automatic uh three minutes but you know i have to say i have been the guy that has said all along that i like the way the system works from an officiating standpoint because they are still allowed to make the calls on the field they're not made in new york they're not made in the press box they're made by the officials on the field they are empowered to officiate the game and this is just another form of technology to let them use it there you get away from that and now the game becomes a little different from an officiating standpoint well said i'm mike we thank you again for your time you've been uh pretty much working our game almost exclusively so far here today we have so many others on fox tell you all about that at halftime but we still have 3 31 to go and i'm going to keep pounding away at some point i'm going to drag the nfl into the 21st century i'm just that's i'm going to do it tell you what though they have really been uh in my opinion uh one of the leaders if you compare it to the other sports that are out there i mean uh baseball drags its heels in terms of replay i think most would agree to follow the game [Applause] and he's close to midfield one timeout left for the lions point yeah that's just a blown coverage uh the uh jarrett bush fell off coverage he took the crossing route and left pettigrew wide open you can see here at the top right in here he falls off coverage they both followed burlson underneath and left pettigrew uncovered [Applause] and he's right at the first down marker steps out of bounds to the 43 stopping the clock one timeout left for the lions and of course they have the two minute warning that is a first half they're in great shape here with the two minute warning coming up in 54 seconds in the timeout they can orchestrate all of their offense including continuing to run the ball so they choose to do so [Music] you know jim schwartz really wasted a time out here if you go back to the the play that wasn't reviewed wasn't allowed to be reviewed but he was so mad on the sideline that he probably let his emotions get the better part of him he just completely blew a timeout and that's when you saw a couple players actually come over because they recognize that was it was out of sheer frustration you'd love to have that timeout back right now [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this is too bad under huge duress puts the ball up with lots of air titus young kind of gets he's got it right there just hang on just squeeze it son and it pops out as he rolls over would have been a huge play for the young rookie and for this team had it all the way all you had to do was squeeze it don't lose the melon [Applause] great catch really yeah the hard part's there now you got it into the body now hug it i'm not sure he didn't hurt his shoulder a little bit looks like he's a little bit of pain there wow beautiful throw by stafford in the catch by shuffler a first down to the 27-yard line that was a magnificent throw watch them pick up the pressure here great job by the offensive line and the backs this this takes real accuracy we've said it many times there were questions about stafford's accuracy coming out of georgia they're going to show anybody anybody that has that question i'm going to show them that play right there beautifully prone ball handing it off to kevin smith and he's spun down to the 21-yard line by burnett which may take us down to the two-minute warning great response by detroit the emotional letdown of giving up the big play and now to bring it back down the field in a limited number of uh unlimited amount of time and limited number of reps very impressed with stafford and the detroit lions the way they've responded [Music] well i expected these two teams to come out running and obviously they're not listening to me because this thing's been a throw fest but it's been fun to watch and now detroit's in position to get another score closing out the half 20 rushing plays 52 pass plays and here's a 53rd overthrown to johnson that was way too flat a throw for the the jump ball king calvin johnson matthew stafford knows he should have put just a little air up but let calvin johnson go take it off the rim [Applause] at four interesting call here because obviously given the nature of the game you're not in four down territory you're gonna take the field goal but the key here is calvin johnson you gotta find him what's he gonna do what's the match-up you're gonna get right now he's inside on jared bush unless he gets help over the top they've got him oh my gosh and not sure if it was thrown just slightly behind johnson or whether that's a catch he should make coach billing yeah probably should he'd like to have the throw back there's a mistake here there's nothing back in here i can't believe so i can't i gotta say yeah no somebody belongs there obviously they brought pressure when bush probably should have been dropping back yeah you should come up with that but you know staff would like to have that throw back he couldn't believe there wasn't anybody in the middle of the field that he couldn't lead him a little bit more he didn't believe his own eyes wow that one hurt you talk about the miss touchdown miss called in the one corner and now that missed opportunity that's a 14 point turnaround not the standing the field goals and then they miss on the 39-yard field goal try wow that ends a string of 30 in a row made by hanson from inside of 40 yards always got to account for the wind here in lambeau field and they just kind of what do you golfers call it when it goes off to the right a shank or a dog leg or whatever it is you golfers call it my book that's just a miss wow well they missed on back-to-back plays they missed on a wide open receiver for a touchdown and they miss a field goal [Applause] and now with three timeouts remaining matt flynn will they let him put it up and run this two-minute offense and they're gonna hand it off on first down that doesn't mean they're not going to start throwing the ball they've got three timeouts plenty of timeouts with a minute 38. they're working the no huddle they're not huddling up so obviously they're going for it green bay has scored 58 points in the final two minutes of the first half this year that's the most in the nfl but of course that's with aaron rodgers at quarterback this guy's been pretty good today that's the first down catch by finland up to the 42-yard line and they're in hurry up mode again and now they'll call a timeout first team timeout green bay well well well coming up wednesday night january the 18th tv's biggest phenomenon american idol returns in all new year randy jennifer steven and ryan welcome back america's number one show american idol the two night premiere begins wednesday january 18th on fox looks like aaron rodgers has called the plays here aaron rodgers says he trusts matt flynn that's interesting coming from the starting quarterback what he means by that is and he says when i come to the sideline if matt flynn says hey i saw this i saw that i can trust him that's a great extra asset to have from the sideline he's trying to do the same thing for the young mr flynn right now set up the screen to brandon and that thing was blown up by steven tunnell you can't play it better than that well that was brilliant had he not made this play that thing would have gone for a while that was a great open field tackle by tulla nice call with the screen typical call you'd make in this situation [Applause] clock continues to run that is a first down catch and diving forward to the 46 against findlay and green bay spends its second time out one remaining well coming up on the visa halftime report third terry howie michael and jimmy tell you about new england trying to nail down the number one seed in the afc and the jets have to win and they have to hope for lots of help to get into playoffs bottom line is in the afc if denver wins if cincinnati wins they will close everybody else out end of story yeah there's a completed uh convoluted uh process there where the jets could actually win and then be pushed out like i said i'm in the school of you tell me if we're in we'll go come show up saturday or sunday drop it off to two and he's to the 39 clock to 33 32 they're hurrying up you're gonna spike it or run a play [Applause] or run a play catch me inside to 30 by james jones and again they hurry to the line of scrimmage down to 12 down to 11. they'll definitely clock this one [Applause] nope decided to use the timeout i thought they might try to get off one more play there yeah everybody was scrambling up to try to do it but they decided not to uh to utilize the timeout instead brian i got to ask you and this is the kind of question i think a fan at home would be asking if you're a detroit lions fan and it's very clear they said from the beginning of the week and we've seen it on the field here today we are playing all out to win this game to be the number five seed are you disheartened at all if you're a lions fan that you're playing the packers who are sitting down some of their biggest stars and you're losing yeah right now right this minute but as soon as comes monday and you're in the playoffs all that goes away whether you deserve to be there not deserve to be there the energy you have keep in mind they haven't been in the playoffs this century 47 yards missed two missed opportunities but this organization has not been in the playoffs since 1999 they're going to be excited to be there they'll get over the disappointment of today if this holds up let's go to kurt benefie in los angeles for the visa halftime show which begins right now just about set for the start of the third quarter detroit will get the football to begin the second half trailing 24-19 probably your favorite team all season long go to itunes.com nfl a pile of yards put up by both teams in this one yeah and the last two possessions they were both up and down the field and we came away with no points the detroit lions have had a lot of things break against them that's what they're going to have to emotionally overcome here in terms of touchdowns that weren't called in the end zone two turnovers just the missed opportunities against a team that that obviously is a little short-handed this is a outage this is a pivotal call in the game should have been a touchdown was called incomplete but jim schwartz was out of challenges because of some earlier challenges that didn't give him the opportunity to get that corrected and schwartz has no challenges remaining in this game [Applause] let's head it downstairs along the sideline and welcome back laura oakman thanks tom i talked to mike mccarthy you said he was very impressed with matt flynn said we went exclusively to know huddle for a while to see if he could handle it he did we'll continue with that i asked him if anything changes starter wise if he wants to pull anybody he said we are playing to win as for jim schwartz he said defensively we need to play better on the outside of the field offensively secure the ball secure the ball secure the ball and he added hopefully we'll get a call our way all right lloyd thank you very much so stafford have a shotgun on first down and he will hand it off to kevin smith [Applause] smith they've been able to create some one-on-one match-ups with calvin johnson when they have it's been very favorable we saw at the end of the first half a missed opportunity to hit calvin johnson in the end zone for a touchdown i expect they're going to move him around a bit more to try to create some of those matchups on the inside defenders [Applause] smith again and that's [Music] [Applause] appears to be short of a first down a lot of big plays in the first half started with a titus young touchdown the first of two of them for jordy nelson calvin johnson setting a franchise record with 16 touchdowns of the year the 80 yard screen that turns into a touchdown to grant this was a play we talked about a moment ago that was not a touchdown and this one on a free play second of the game by nelson 24 19 packers third down and a yard and they pitch it to logan and he has a first down and then some up to the 45-yard line stefan logan a wide receiver again we said that detroit needs to manufacture some things they motion him back in the backfield quick little fake dive and then pitched it out to logan on the outside this is what the detroit running game is a little mis deception here a little sleight of hand they they don't have the ability because of the injuries in the backfield to be a straight up running game so scott lanahan has to find different ways such as this with no running backs in the game at all right now well their receivers have over 25 carries on the year [Applause] 23 yard line by tremont williams you see these inside crossing routes by calvin johnson what that does it breaks down double coverage high low coverage if you can clear out the underneath alignment of the linebackers crossing calvin johnson across the field is a great way to break down coverage 30-yard gain to john cena now is up over 100 yards receiving on the day five catches 103 yards including the touchdown [Applause] [Music] told you up over 1500 yards now this season he'd have to have a monster second half off the charts second half to catch herman moore's record of 1686 but we've seen calvin johnson you never know we had a couple weeks ago ago in oakland did just that that had trouble written all over it from the beginning almost looked like stafford threw it off his back foot receiver may have lost his footing and right into the arms of jared bush see burlson's gonna slip right out of it couldn't keep his ground well you heard laura oakland reported halftime the words from jim schwartz about taking care of the ball on their very first possession the lions turn it over their third of the game you can see the frustration with matthew stafford he had just what he wanted threw the ball where he wanted it with a misstep by burlson threw it right into the arms of bush that's been the story of the game for detroit missed opportunities and turnovers [Applause] in a short drop what a first half matt flynn making just his second career start and we brought up earlier remember last year he got one start in one of the toughest places in fact statistically the single toughest place to win a game in the nfl over the last five years has been new england at least when tom brady's been healthy and he was he threw for well over 300 yards and three touchdowns in that game not a loss but today he's closing in on 300 yards and we've just started the third quarter third down and two coming up aaron rodgers inactive we'll see him at two weeks it was interesting with aaron rodgers he talked about the ability to low brain activity you know he just wanted to relax and he was talking more mentally it and it is you talk about a quarterback and the preparation a quarterback has to engage in and it is it doesn't end just on on game day you come in monday tuesday to now have that week or two week rest is huge for a quarterback 319. play fake looking for the big one down the middle of the field and it's incomplete off the fingertips of james jones [Applause] for some of the numbers we've seen brian from the quarterbacks around the nfl record setting year for drew brees but is rogers the league's mvp yeah and likely he will be obviously because of what they have done as a team rogers coming off the super bowl win as well but drew brees setting the record i mean it's a quarterback driven league all you got to do is look at those numbers to recognize that short putt by mass today we'll see where they mark it all the way up to the 40-yard line good field position for stafford and lyon [Music] 10-11 to play in the third quarter the detroit lions for the first time since 1999 are going to the postseason that we know a win today and they'll be the number five seed in the nfc a loss in their number six which means right now they would begin the postseason at the superdome in new orleans next weekend they'll pitch it to burleson and a good run by burleson but a penalty flag in the backfield [Applause] personal foul clipping number 51 offense 15 yard penalty still first down this is a unique call watch the center the fact that it's the depth and this wide he's engaged they're lucky and they're not calling this a chop block but that's clearly from behind within the tackle box tight to the line of scrimmage within a yard you can get away with that kind of cutting but not that deep but not that wide that's a unique call couple of those personal foul penalties today against the lions first and ten becomes first in 25 and stafford drops it beautifully over the defender and it's caught by pettigrew and that's a first down across midfield what a spectacular throw by matthew stafford he was covered front back and the side dropped it like the great quarterbacks do the ability to drop it in behind coverage and in front of coverage over the top bush underneath it drops it just far enough but not so far that tremont williams can get to it brilliant throw by matthew's staff pedogrew five catches 86 yards [Applause] more listen and he has another first down steps out of bounds at the 33-yard line you know there are any number of throws that a quarterback makes that when the ball leaves his hand you go where are you throwing there's a guy in front there's a guy trailing williams is over the top but the great ones know where to put the ball and how to drop it in behind that coverage matthew stafford is becoming one of those upper echelon possibly elite quarterbacks in this league [Applause] blind's coming stafford gets it away and it's caught by johnson a first down to the 17-yard line doing a good job with the protection again they bring an inside pressure to the green bay packers good solid pocket and again throwing to an open area that ball was gone before calvin johnson turned into it obviously and it's interesting you saw where matthew stafford got betrayed by receiver nate burleson a little bit earlier yet still has the confidence to come back i'm gonna throw the ball where i need to throw the ball to be successful i trust my guys to get there 17-yard gain detroit looking to jump back in front in this back and forth battle pump fake [Applause] back there to get him and a penalty flag comes in personal foul and say roughness number 93 defend 15-yard penalty half the distance to the goal first down well that's a big mistake by walden he came in late that is and walden's had some issues the last month or so coming that's clearly going to get called you had the sack you moved them back to where they're obviously even stretching the field goal range and now you give them an automatic first down inside the 15-yard line this is very unlike the packers they were the least penalized team in the league this year a couple years ago that was an issue with every year they've gotten better and better but that one cost them here they talk about walden he was having a great year but then after the game in detroit he was arrested for felony domestic abuse it's been reduced out of a misdemeanor but he's not been the same player ever since that day [Applause] crossing county and diving inside the five-yard line out of the backfield is kevin smith just again we talked about green bay doing touchdown to check down well same mentality check the back of the end zone for calvin johnson pettigrew no not there but i'll just drop the ball underneath and get some solid gains here this has been a brilliant drive by the detroit lions they just need to punch it in second and a yard from the four this is the match-up you're looking for a dangerous throw that had 97 yards the other way written all over it and bush couldn't squeeze it just a little pivot route in break out this thing had 100 yards the other way if he could have just put his hands on of course if he can catch the ball he'd be a receiver not a db nice job well you're hard on those guys i am i always give mike i always did that to my db's and they hate it they'd hate it when i'd say that good guys like chris mcallister and ed reed won you a super bowl yeah but they still can't catch it same matchups on the outside clock down to one there are so many things about this lions team to like another flag came in i don't know if that was just a follow-up to the first one they're gonna talk about it well one of the things that have to really bother you about this lions team all the penalties and i know people in detroit are tired of hearing about it but facts are the facts we have fouls on both teams we have a false start on number 66 the offense by rule that penalties decline we have a personal foul number 55 on the defense that penalty will be set to half the distance of the goal first down another personal foul penalty against green bay this one on desmond bishop yeah and figuring he's he figures the play's over a little bit of play acting there i don't know that they had justified that but by the same token this is the unabated to the quarterback the whistle had blown i think he's a little uh a little play acting going on there but it worked got him the call yep and more importantly a first down inside the five i guess they were saying the play clock didn't run out this has got quarterback frog written all over it motion the guy out of the backfield whoa is it a touchdown it is a touchdown and that's titus young well what a year stafford is having what a year indeed over 300 yards passing again watch the throw here kind of a sidearm flick just kind of wings it out realize he can't come over the top and a great catch gets his touchdown after all after one not being recognized in the end zone in the first half but i think you would agree with this statement we've seen a number of lives games this year titus young's got a chance to be a really good player he does he's just got to mature as a veteran he's done some dumb things he was part of those uh foolish fouls that we saw flipping the ball in the face of a defender but he's a talented young man as he's matures he's definitely going to be an asset to go along with calvin johnson and band brandon pettigrew [Music] shows you it's a game of inches what should have been an interception and maybe a pick six the other way for a hundred yard return no turns into a touchdown for the detroit lions to give them a lead shows you the tipping points and how tightly contested these games are remember it's a safety that has forced us into what is a two-point spread of this game brand insane bobbles [Applause] right at the goal line but brings it out to the 21. so the touchdown reception by young to put detroit ahead titus young only four touchdowns all year long coming into the game today he's just caught his second of the afternoon coverage of every nfl game with nfl mobile calls star star nfl right now so the packers have the 20. down by 2 6 35 to play here in the third [Applause] a five-yard game we talked about detroit running these smoke routes jordy nelson and matt flynn on the same page that was supposed to be a run everybody else was running the ball they ran a smoke route to the outside it's prevalent throughout the entire league anytime you get off coverage smoke route is simply when you have a run call and an outside receiver you throw it to the outside receiver you're the only two that know it because of the off covers [Music] [Applause] [Music] yard line nelson closing in on a 100 yard receiving day this is just up against press coverage just his faith in the quarterback again look at the size just a little bit of a shove there but he's so big and so strong and so nifty as a route runner that's tough for a db that possibly has superior athletic skill or superior coverage ability but you can run with the guy but he just seems to muscle his ways open every time 14-yard gain giving nelson seven receptions 98 yards and a couple of touchdowns and they'll run it on first down to ryan grant and he picks up three [Music] you know we talked about throwing the receiver open aaron rodgers is so good at it for michael finley that back shoulder throw this is good coverage by the dbs jordy nelson again guys with size throwing it where only your guy can get it obviously we haven't seen a lot of it with matt flynn mainly because that takes a lot of practice time to develop that aaron rodgers this group of receivers is as good as there is in the league at throwing receivers open play action and flynn looking to nelson down the field and he's got it another touchdown [Applause] 58-yard scoring strike from flynn to jordy nelson flynn is a free agent at the end of the year and you can mark it down there are a pile of teams that will be watching this performance today there will be and with a throw like this i tell you what we just talked about jordy nelson not only muscling your way open for the route but just muscling your way through for the catch he's just such a big body that you have to deal with nice air over the top i don't know whether you expected help chris houston down the middle kenneth gets knotted off of it but again just he got his hand on it late but he just muscles his way through it jordy nelson is the guy that uh a lot of other people are going to watch he comes up in free agency not too long a period of time either a lot of people are going to have their eyes on him i'd be very surprised if he ever leaves the green bay packers [Music] 31-26 green bay in front jordy nelson 156 receiving yards eight catches three touchdowns all of those single game highs for nelson who's up close to 1300 yards receiving this year and jordy nelson by the way has one less receiving touchdown this year than calvin johnson go back to december the 15th 1991 the last time detroit won a game in the state of wisconsin they were down 10-7 in the fourth kramer to robert clark then after a defensive stop mel grey a 78-yard punt return to put the lions ahead they won it 21-17 how long ago was that to put it into perspective we'll tell you here in a minute four-yard gain on the first down run by smith 1991 matthew stafford still in diapers jason hanson was still in college and brett favre a rookie with the atlanta falcons wow what were you doing in 91 living in chicago and i can't remember much about those times i where was i i was still at uh i was at stanford university before going to the minnesota vikings johnson the cat should shut down a badge inside the 40 are they saying catch indeed they are to the 35. control foot foot but i think you you got to have right and left foot down they need to get up here and get to the same snap before mike mccarthy has a chance to look at it if i'm detroit there was taking way too long he took a peek at it mike mccarthy did decided not to challenge him he did get it he just suddenly dropped it yep right in front of the official he dropped it detroit needed to hustle up and put a little more pressure on mccarthy greenway is challenging really on the field of completing catch and just so subtle just so subtle but again detroit should have come up this typically you have something your back pocket a quick play left foot right foot control ah yeah did he have control looks like he had control early now he still has control of this thing going through did the movement of the ball after he had the right and left foot down at one point he had control with the right and left foot down but then it started to move so we'll have to see what they come up with this call we saw jared bush naturally the defender saying no way let's look at it one more time left foot right foot now the ball starts to move a little bit but after the fact that ball's moving pretty early but he has control inside the field of play there and then it starts to move that's above my pay grade someone else is gonna have to make that decision [Applause] [Music] hey mike pereira what do you think back at our fox command center i think i've seen you guys enough today you're right about that you you've had so many plays this is the old element of when did the contact by the defense occur it was after the second foot was down watch the right foot still down the left foot then the right foot i'm sorry now you're going to get a third step as the ball moves around watch the left hand still on the ball now the right hand to me that's bald movement around and as i've said before if i'm under the hood looking at this i'd like to find something that allows me to stay with the call running on the field is confirmed green bay will be charged for their first team timeout and that's exactly what i like to see so you you had control with two feet on the ground and the ball moves but disregard the ball movie did he totally lose possession did the hands come off the ball i like the fact that they stay with the call now when you talk about process mike that was a case where he ultimately once he fell out of bounds he regained control of the ball all the way through the final process of the play that's correct that's correct well that was not what they were looking at necessarily here it would have become a big part of that call brian had the ball sprung loose after all that and we could have made that call up here like i said all along so thanks mike kelly flag comes down [Applause] false start number 87 offense five yard penalty still first down that doesn't take much brandon pettigrew just a little bit of a nudge there as they were recalling the line set the center rioli heather grew having to move around a little bit to recognize what his obligation was and loyola kind of got his tight end in trouble there with re shuffling the line call pedigree with more false start penalties than any skill position player in the league this year what a catch by johnson locked up with tremont williams along the sideline and run out of bounds into 13 it'll be another first down great body position this is against truman williams one of the better corners in the league look at the way neat leans inside didn't push off just enough of a body presence again the big shoulders of calvin johnson that gave him more room to push away to the sideline that's a brilliant route and catch by calvin johnson 187 receiving yards for johnson and we still have an entire quarter and three minutes to play you might get that record after all [Music] aj hawk broke that thing up brilliant play and hawk looked like he hurt himself a little bit legal hit had app didn't have control just needed hold on to it just a a step longer an ounce longer aj hawk came up and shook up just a little bit after that play hawk had never missed a game in his career until a couple of weeks ago miss back-to-back games with a calf injury right back into the hands of the big tight end pedigree that's his sixth catch trying to join johnson in the 100-yard club today six yards away from it now nice job attempted pedigree on the inside then hit him on an outbreaking round nice call by scott lenan the offensive coordinator for detroit again the big bodies of pettigrew and johnson they're lined up on the same side of the field here on the right side what a hit but a touchdown on the crossing pattern out of the backfield to smith smith shake it up boy he took a hit this is where you got to show the control now this is where detroit's been at risk when things start to get chippy [Applause] this is a great catch by smith and he did take a heck of hick in the end zone watch him come out of the backfield just in an angle here little angle route simple throw by the quarterback touchdown good legal hit by bush problem was bush and stepped in there and let him know about it and that's when all the extracurricular stuff started so now this two-point spread has been with us ever since the safety in the opening quarter and the lions now are going to go for two to try and make it a three-point lead they're bunched up at the right route here usually with a clear a guy to the back of the end zone with an angle underneath now they explode out of it they go to scheffler the two-point conversion is good great response by the detroit lions going into the playoffs again a team that's not been in the playoffs this decade this century 1999 they're on the road against green bay i know green bay doesn't have its full complement of players you got to respect that but just them emotionally responding to the things that have been thrown at them touchdowns that weren't touchdowns turnovers flags have been thrown i like the way detroit is responding emotionally to the day [Music] very physical game you can hear it right here boy that was a pot that was a pop getting kevin smith back was big for them they lost a job at best which was a big part of obviously the running game they haven't been able to run the ball consistently they had actually let kevin smith go he comes back he runs the ball well for them he can catch the ball great out of the backfield he is a good pass protector this was a big pickup for the detroit lions getting him back on the [Music] there's roster a long way to go most of the other games that kicked off if noon central one eastern are nearly over on this first day of the new year and again our family to yours happy new year and enjoy what's left of this holiday season [Music] 207 to play here in the third quarter flynn and the packers 413 yards of offense on detroit's defense but they now trail catch up to the 25-yard line by dj williams i thought they were going to run the ball a great deal more but mike mccarthy did tell us look we have such faith in matt flynn we do what we do i'm not going to say he's the same quarterback as aaron rodgers but he has the same skill set and clearly they're showing it here not quite as many personnel groupings and formations but obviously they have a coverage zone of matt flynn running their offense green 19. [Applause] five yard penalty still singing down the one final in fact already in indianapolis loses at jacksonville 19 to 13. st louis is getting hammered by the 49ers so the colts will have the number one pick in the draft number one story in the off season may very well be do they take andrew luck and what happens with peyton manning brandon say well let me ask you brian billick back when you know you were running the the show there in baltimore along with ozzie newsome and you two would huddle up i mean you had a franchise player and ray lewis uh not granted that's not the quarterback position i understand that but if you were in the cold shoes do you take andrew look this is a tough one because you're talking about peyton manning the i count iconic quarterback maybe of our time right now but there's some other elements here what is his physical status we don't know you owe him 28 million dollars on march 1. that's real money that's not play money uh it's gonna take you probably 25 to 30 million dollars and you get a sack here oh what's this gonna [Music] offense penalties decline fourth down was that a mocking of sue and aaron rodgers probably was probably was but i don't think this young man cares he got himself a big sack here uh here just uh along with the hold comes inside stands up and i think that was yeah that's exactly what it was guy plays with passion just like to see him play with a little more class in my opinion but a lot of passion i was just about to say hadn't heard much from from sue on the inside but going back to finish off we were saying tom these are tough decisions for for indianapolis there's nothing tougher for an organization than to transition from an iconic player whether it's peyton manning whether it's ray lewis uh whether it's joe montana and san francisco transitioning into the next level there are tough business decisions that have to be made with real money so i'm going to ask you once again we're getting ready to go to the end of the quarter if you're the colts are you taking luck i take andrew luck i think he's the best quarterback to come out since john elway thank you lions getting the football back momentarily green bay is set to punt it and the fourth quarter set to get started 34 to 31 on this new year's day big putt by master logan being chased and run out of bounds you know brian i don't know many guys that work harder than you do in preparation of getting ready for a game every week and you bring us information and foreshadowing just like this no charles woodson no clay matthews their objective coming in the game they're going to run the ball they're going to run the clock down and they're going to try to get out of here as healthy as they possibly can well you're right no one works harder but no one knows less about this game than i do okay may god bless you you got to be able to laugh at yourself every now and again right well that's my problem i've been laughing at myself my whole life and i can't uh you know and i love the way they're going at this you know the fact that they they're they're running their offenses they're not going to run the ball and i think they're doing it just to purposely make me look bad all i need now is that grinch hat i had last night that's coming you can mark that down i used to know what i was talking about i really did oh it's good stuff look at this there you have it hey look you're right i don't mean interrupt but you're right about flynn now this guy could be creating a heck of a payday for himself going down the way because uh this is impressive against a a playoff caliber team crossing pattern breaking a tackle and racing to the 40-yard line is calvin johnson and now johnson has gone up over 200 receiving yards for the second time this year what'd we say about the crossing routes of calvin johnson it breaks down coverage tremont williams expecting more help or a jam or something inside dbs hate it when a big receiver like calvin johnson gets a free release and has the entire field to run away from them johnson had 214 receiving yards a game we were there in oakland 211 after that catch and morris down to the 30-yard line that's a good pick up on first down new orleans finishes its season undefeated at home in a route of carolina they were behind in that game remember seven to nothing final 45 to 17. every year we go into the playoffs there's the one team that gets anointed this is the team you don't want to play for the nfc it's the new orleans saints well especially down there absolutely i don't know about here i don't know let's go still good they won't shy away from the opportunity but it's going to be a heck of a game matted down by tremont williams remember the season began with new orleans playing here but that was lambeau field in september that was an 85 degree night but i will tell you if we have a day like this or worse which team is better configured to run the ball the green bay packers and the new orleans saints obviously with pierre thomas mark ingram they've got darren sproles i would contend that if it gets down to that the running game of new orleans might make the difference third and three for the lions probably not gonna attempt a field goal from as far out so now a decision to make early in the game jim schwartz went for it on a fourth down at three and he's going again yeah again because of the missed field goal because of the conditions here why not go for this you could you could try to punt it down in further with limited opportunities to do that they've been very good in this area they got a lot of assets to go to in this situation peta gruen johnson again on the right side in tandem up here and up here the pedigree is just chopped in half but he's able to get up but wasn't able to hang on to the football just a little pivot route in and out should have the catch broken up the last minute by tremont williams actually lost the ball before he got there [Applause] 34 31 12 50 to play [Applause] the hips a moment ago [Applause] big shot delivered by tremont williams pettigrew could not hang on [Applause] [Music] he's run the ball pretty well today grant they haven't stayed with the run that's only his 12th carry of the day and that has been the vulnerability of the detroit lions great lead block there by this is an element that the packers would like to build on going into the playoffs they're still going to live off the arm of aaron rodgers but they would love to run the ball and here they're getting in two backs two tight ends trying to show that they can indeed do that [Music] you know john a pro bowler has always been a popular packer in his fifth year a college free agent two weeks ago he drove down to milwaukee visited children's hospital one of the patients he visited there nina petrocena cancer and had a bone marrow transplant couple of days later and she's doing very very well it's great to hear and it's great stuff for john [Applause] crowd wanted to that flag a second flag thrown on vandenbosch after making contact with a quarterback well that's why the whistle for the unabated to the quarterback otherwise it would have been like that number 93 defense five yard penalty first half again let's explain the difference had he not had a clean rush at it would have been a free play by green bay like they had earlier when they threw the touchdown to jordy nelson but because he was unabated to the quarterback they blow the whistle you know we brought up nate burleson earlier but you know jim schwartz quickly pointed out two of the guys that have meant so much to this detroit story in this big turn around burleson and vandenberg great pickup free agent pickups to go with the great drafting that he and martin mayhew have done since they've gotten here trying to strip insane in the football he stays on his feet up to the 47 nearly the 48-yard line look at these numbers tom i mean when you talk about a league of quarterbacks and what is even more dramatic to me as you look at these record-setting numbers obviously drew brees breaking dan marino's right now the number one and two seeds in the nfl the new england patriots and green bay packers who are currently rated 31 and 32 in the league in defense now that tells you something when you can be the number one seed and your last and next to last at least statistically yardage defense sacked his flynn all the way back to the 40-yard line and then there's a penalty flag [Applause] at the detroit 45-yard line that's in the secondary it's going to be a hold in the secondary against somebody holding 154 defense penalty automatic first latched on here to the tight end he just doesn't let him go holds on holds on holds on never really lets go and that's what drew in the quarterback couldn't get rid of the ball because of that that's what brings about the the penalty and these types of penalties we keep coming back to it this has got to get cleaned up in the playoffs for detroit so instead of a sack detroit gets a first down in the quiet territory in the 48-yard line and flynn the short drop drops it off to brandon and the rookie out of ohio state has a gain of 11 and another green bay first hand [Applause] well detroit going for that two-point extra point looms large here obviously with a three-point differential green bay's got its mind on a touchdown obviously [Music] this has been a track meet now both these teams have been up and down the field all but for penalties and missed calls in the end zone it's the only thing that stopped either team relations scoring that missed field goals lions 472 total yards and the packers 436 flyback [Applause] [Music] 34-31 the great vince lombardi would have liked this kind of day at lambeau just his type of day what do you think vince lombardi would have said looking at those quarterback numbers we saw is that for career for those career numbers [Applause] and seriously you think about it bart starr was a sub 60 career passing guy and keep in mind those were in the age of 20 25 30 throws was a big throw day so the numbers that are going on today is is mind-boggling of course i said to you a minute ago brian in the commercial timeout we showed you those five great quarterback numbers there are well over half the teams in a league that don't want to hear anything about great quarterback play because they have not seen it at all now it's a lead to the extremes right now and you either have one and you don't if you have one you're in the playoffs if you don't you're sitting in a booth in green bay with a buddy you enjoy calling games with [Music] of course we're often remembered and reminded about when they put these in back when lombardi was a coach the heating coils underneath the playing field and how it froze once they put the tarp over top of it those days have changed they've gotten better with time and learned their lesson who would you want to be that guy to go tell them you know that system i think you could be shipped off to siberia it's okay that's about the same but that ice ball game was 44 years ago uh yesterday wow i do feel old why could you remember the game i do remember the ice bowl game i do hello [Applause] donald driver to the end zone [Applause] oh now we talk about crossing routes as a great way to break down coverage they might be asking aaron who yeah we got a quarterback controversy right now you think let's let's start 402 yards for flynn and five touchdowns consider this until last week aaron rodgers had never played an nfl game in his career where he threw for five touchdowns flynn in his second career start wow has thrown five cha-ching this young men may be in for a payday pretty soon what an unbelievable day for flynn young man who backed up jamarcus russell at lsu for three years as all the years has started they won a national championship and here he is against the team going to the playoffs and he's thrown for over 400 [Music] yards what an unbelievable offensive display by both teams here today 473 yards for the packers 472 yards for detroit i told you they're going to put it up it's been fun anyway [Applause] and our final wishes from our crew [Music] wishing each and every one of you a happy new year [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what hollywood like there uh brian billick where's your smile with that good looking group everybody's smiling i was shopping all day man i don't smile when i shop there he goes again full start number 87 offense five yard penalty field first down [Applause] of course here is a future member of the fox family brian billick due to becoming a grandfather for the very first time in the month of march how about that thoughts and prayers on a happy healthy delivery so much max i want to call max i'm not knowing it's not your job i know but i love the name max if you're listening at home make it max thank you guys that's great well thank your daughter and son-in-law will figure out a name so the lions now in catch-up mode and that's brad jones who got him just simply coming from the outside like we said green bay's got to be a little creative with the way they put pressure on particularly with clay matthews out of the game today matthew stafford can't quite step out of it we were with these guys a couple of weeks ago 98 yards yep for them to overcome and beat the oakland raiders and that was another two minutes to go in that game with no timeouts stafford out of the shotgun from his own end zone jump ball and batted away and johnson wanted a flag for tremont williams and charlie pepper back there now once the ball gets tipped it's uh the all rules are off you can get away with anything you want so [Applause] he has much right to it now the ball's up in the air now he gets a hold of him that's what he was upset about good play by come on williams thank you cardo is jared bush here along so with off to the sideline on his third and 22. the lions will punt from their own end zone second time in the nfl this year where both starting quarterbacks have grown for over 400 yards we remember that week one game that was tom brady and chad henny yeah that's that's the 400 is the new 300 used to be that was the benchmark if you got the 300 yard game if you had to throw for more than 300 usually meant you lost now it's a new age the 400-yard mark seems to be the benchmark [Applause] fair catch now he's already signaled down was jordy nelson at the 47. so here comes flynn first start of the year 402 yards hold up [Music] well jim schwartz is going to have another conniption fit because jordy nelson never had control of this ball right here now unfortunately this is not reviewable but to my way of thinking there was no control what that should be detroit's ball hey i'm not sure about that he caught the ball on the right side of his body [Applause] mike pereira what do you think here it's not revealable what do you think i i think it's a muff i think he clearly gets possession of the ball long enough it's loose there you know it always looks like it's slow motion but to me you've got the potential muff there but it's not reviewable even if schwarze had a challenge left he cannot use it i mean in this situation period because of the fact that possession versus muff of a kick is not reviewable [Applause] well we thank mike pereira for being a third member of our broadcast team up here in the booth today as we've been going back and forth all day long of course up here in the broadcast booth you're allowed to stand up scott snyder been our spotter every single game this season tom barbary he's all bundled up down there because he's gotten a little soft living in jacksonville florida but you're not soft brian billick no i may be old but i'm not soft [Applause] [Applause] and i don't want to forget about to your right bill harman who joined us about midway through this season it's been delightful having him with us all the second half of this year as well it takes a village right there's billy takes a village to get it all done this is the guy that points out this is the guy that really made all that money in the bond market not walking away from it bill was the one that told me they were going to run the ball a lot today i'm gonna throw you under the well bush is dragged down that'll be officially a set for willie young this third of the year [Applause] the lions are going to get the football back trailing by four this really really couldn't shape up better for the lions i mean with matthew stafford the way he's playing to now if they can indeed take the length of the field as we said earlier we did that oakland game that we said that may if indeed may be a tipping point for matthew stafford in his career taking him 98 yards with under two minutes to go to put them in position to make the playoffs here in lambeau field now inside the tent with five minutes left to play wouldn't be another bad career defining moment for him if he could pull this off coming up next two games left on the fox side of a doubleheader most of you will see the atlanta falcons and the tampa bay buccaneers what a huge disappointment the buccaneers have turned out to be this year unbelievably well they were so young last year and outperformed that youth didn't turn the ball over this year some of that youth cropping up and they turned the ball over a great deal josh freeman's a good quarterback did not have a very good year just need to kind of get him back on on track in terms of the ability to put the ball down the field and not turn the ball over they're a young team they'll be back well here we go matthew stafford with a chance to try and march down the field and win it short completion on first down a gain of three to young and again the difference will be for the lions if they win this game they're the five seed they would play either at dallas or the giants winner of tonight's game next week they lose they go to new orleans and that is assuming that atlanta beats tampa bay wow in traffic pedigree with a reception first down in the 33. you talk about trusting a receiver throwing a receiver open as we say just you can't cover it better than that for the green bay packers desmond bishop trailing the tight end perfectly short and safe burleson to the 45. the thing that impresses me about matthew stafford is he's been able to do what he has with the detroit lions we talked about their limit the inability to run the ball they're second to last in league in rushing attempts so it is all on the arm of matthew stafford he's done a brilliant job of it all year long he's going to have to continue it on for them to get a win here down the field is johnson then it's slightly under thrown but a flag comes in and maybe a 27-yard penalty to spending on the spot of the foul and this one is so tough tremont williams is going to get called the ball was behind the receiver you slow down you can't help but there are two fouls on the defense offside 97 on defense line up in the neutral zone that penalties decline pass interference number 38 defense will be placed in the spawn of the foul first down this is the correct call but this is a tough one tremont williams trailing the play i want you to watch right here really doesn't impede the receiver but it's so far behind calvin johnson slows down and that's that's what brings it he had to hold a little bit of the arm there but that's boy that's the toughest one as a coach because now you look at your player what do you tell him what do you tell him not to do that one's tough 36-yard penalty so after starting this drive from their own seven they have the ball to pack her 27 yard 28 yard line [Applause] the confidence that matthew stafford has in this receiving corps whether it's calvin johnson brandon pettigrew here tony sheffler to throw that over there trailing in this case safety or dp compared to a linebacker doesn't matter using the size that this trio has this is a heck of a drive shuffler out of chelsea michigan came over from the broncos prior to last year big catch air in the corner tangled up flagged out again on williams i'll tell you i don't know what a defensive back supposed to do oh man this one will go against calvin johnson fast interference off in 10 yard penalty still first down just the hand fighting that goes on between two great competitors here it looks like that last little pull he pulls on the right arm just as he's going up right there had he not done that i think he was probably afraid with williams on the inside might have come away with an interception he might have saved an interception there with pulling on that arm career for stafford 465 yards flynn is thrown for 407. shuffler getting tangled up with kepler down near the goal line third her second down and goal rather after the penalty a moment ago well they don't need nothing but end zone shots here would we talk earlier about it it's the green bay philosophy it's everybody's philosophy i'm not gonna identify just green bay touchdown to check that look into the end zone see what you have there if not take the yardage underneath you usually have a check down guy or a shallow crossing man underneath whatever you're putting into the end zone you got a lot of options here for detroit all those numbers for stafford this year detroit lions franchise records and another touchdown by stafford and again it is scheffler wow [Applause] this ball can only be thrown in one place with nothing but green shirts he had to assume he had a guy there and it's amazing people would be amazed to see what a quarterback can't see green shirts draped all over him putting the ball in only the place that his guy can get it [Applause] tell you what that's an elite throw [Applause] and again you get back to something that uh brian and it was just my opinion i made the comment earlier i told you two days ago stafford coming into play today had thrown ten more touchdowns than eli manning he had thrown fewer interceptions than eli manning and it led his team to more wins than eli manning and the giants the separation in all those categories has grown more in stafford's favor with another monster game today and stafford's not going to the pro bowl and that's not being disrespectful to eli manning he's very deserving has had a great year but matthew stafford look right here he knows exactly what he wants to do he knows where uh scheffler is going to be but i want you to watch his eyes now just the the laser vision and being able to put the ball how about that be able to put the ball exactly where i want to put it as though the ball is connected to those eyes the size of his receiving core tell you what this this is impressive the detroit lions they haven't played flawless today obviously green bay's without a few players but the way they've emotionally responded to every situation you know what partner we're not done yet it's 2 39. matt flynn's gonna have a chance to come back in and build on his own legacy if he can take the packers back down the field [Applause] well they have pat lee back there after he botched back to back would be kickoff returns in the first quarter brandon sane standing about four yards in front of him believe it or not today is the first time in nfl history ever where both quarterbacks in the game are thrown for over 400 yards and five touchdown passes each and you know what i love you talked about it earlier matthew stafford number one pick overall in 2009 on the other part of that equation matt flynn a seventh-round draft choice backed up with jamarcus russell who is the number one pick an abject failure in this league it just shows you what it takes to play in this league and have this level of production you know particularly at the quarterback position you couldn't ask for a better contrast a seventh round draft choice an afterthought and the first overall pick [Applause] for flynn perhaps even more amazingly only the second packer ever to throw for over 400 yards in a game and have five touchdowns i give you two guesses as to who the other one was your first two would be aaron rodgers and brett favre guess what not right got to go all the way back to 1969. don horn the only other packer to throw for over 400 yards in a game and five touchdowns and now it is flynn's turn as he finds jones for a first down to the 37. [Applause] packers one timeout remaining and they do have a two minute warning brand insane out of the backfield to catch of course the difference between the lions last drive and this green bay drive packers need a field goal to tie it the lions needed a touchdown to go ahead that is it for the third so at the two-minute warning green bay with a football at their own 43 down [Music] three well the question is can a dominican suin delight slow down matt flynn now on this perhaps final drive wow football references when you look up the word track meet they're gonna have this game [Applause] and again if you're just joining us the lions made it very clear they want that number five seed and jim schwartz would not say because we'd rather play the nfc champion but that's what they're thinking he said yeah and his explanation to us and to his team is is look if we're the number five seed there's a chance distant but a chance we could have the home playoff game that would have to mean that the atlanta falcons if they were the sixth seed would win on the road twice along with the lions twice well what a difference on a penalty like that right there third and what eight now that gives them an automatic first down it was a third down and three and the penalty gives them an automatic first down with no additional time off the clock which is obviously a factor that's the discipline the penalties we talk about detroit has got to get their hands around going into the playoffs [Applause] [Music] nearly intercepted by brandon mcdonald yeah this was this was forcing it just a bit this is on a 400-yard day feeling like i'm superman right now and that may have been going a bridge too far that could have been lethal for him and as exciting as it is for the offense in these numbers you know these two defensive coordinators right now you may have to keep them away from sharp objects after the game because they're not going to be liking this one nelson on a crossing pattern hit at the 46. it'll bring up third down and five enough to take away anything from detroit offensively but in all fairness dom camber sleeps maybe a little bit better at night he's got three of his horses that have sat this one out yeah absolutely but this has been an issue for the green bay packers in terms of their past defense oh boy looking for jones he beat chris houston for a 40-yard gain deep pass down the field is thrown at 40 and five that gives you just enough margin for error on the outside i guarantee you that thing hit exactly at 40 yards with the following that's as perfectly thrown deep ball as you can see in the nfl this year a little bit of dry smile going yeah that's just the way we practiced it what an unbelievable performance here by matt flynn handed off on first and goal inside to five it's flynn making his first start of this year the second start of his career [Applause] told you three years of backup team timeout to jamarcus russell at lsu the only year he got a chance to start he led lsu to the national title beating ohio state at the superdome in new orleans and all four years here he's backed up aaron rodgers for detroit a win and they have the five spot five seed in the playoffs a loss and an atlanta win atlanta would win the tiebreaker thus be the fifth seed they beat detroit you may remember early in the year the giants in dallas will decide the nfc east later [Applause] match up down at the tonight field with finley right here i don't know how long matt fled's gonna play in the nfl but it's hard to believe he will ever have another day like this he has just set a green bay packer franchise record of six touchdowns in a game and you gotta remember this is the only guy in the last 20 years who has started a game at quarterback for the packers outside of brett favre and aaron rodgers amazing simply amazing point after makes it a four point lead for green bay [Applause] he knew exactly where he was going he was going to use the size of jamichael finley just to work underneath on spave he's loving it he's loving it everybody's going the day i missed that could have been me he's happy for the young man been behind him the whole year been helpful a real resource for him he talked about you could tell was very genuine from aaron rodgers and the regard he had from matt flynn [Applause] well if you're a lion fan obviously you're so excited about going to the playoffs but boy this is a back-up quarterback shredding your defense like this a trip to new orleans next week does not sound good now but they're gonna they're gonna put them this behind them very quickly i promise you be excited about being the playoffs they'll get corrected by the film jim schwartz will move on very quickly [Music] well this one not over for mr stafford no this he's got he's looking up the clock yeah as long as they don't put it down the two-yard line he's been here before like we said with the with the oakland raiders plus plus he's got uh a bunch of timeouts boy you can just see it all here getting a look at all six touchdowns what up earlier last year when he started at quarterback for green bay the first time anybody besides rogers or farm had started the game since september of 1992. in that game he threw two three touchdowns and a loss in new england and here he is in his first start this year second career start and he breaks an all-time packer record with 480 yards and six touchdown throws [Music] but again this one is not over yet there are a lot of smiles on that green bay sideline well we've seen stafford do it before and logan a very dangerous return man [Applause] take 10 left you have to have a touchdown and you have two timeouts remaining [Applause] speaking of lions or team records lions records today set as well in yards and touchdowns by mr stafford [Applause] calvin johnson for a catch a first down up to the 31-yard line [Applause] at some point there has to be the uncharacteristic big play down the field even though green bay is all backed up and a total prevent let a calvin johnson and brandon pettigrew go up and get a jump ball you've got to come up with a big play when you need a touchdown now under 40 seconds smart play there by smith getting out of bounds at the 42 [Applause] and that'll be good enough for another first down two timeouts remaining for detroit [Applause] again by johnson and a timeout taken by the lions look at this just the concentration at this point why not throw it in there williams underneath all over the play what a physical talent this guy's ability the size the reach the vertical jump wow [Music] they're within striking distance it's going to take another couple catches like that into coverage in order to get him into the end zone four point differential so obviously getting in the field goal position does no good great protection all day to throw it and it's intercepted by sam shields so that will tie a ribbon around a remarkable 15-1 regular season for the defending super bowl champion packers they celebrated last night new year's eve they're going to celebrate back to back tonight you're right 15-1 is nothing to sneeze at particularly coming off a super bowl year and they are appreciative appreciated of it here obviously in green bay that streak will carry into perhaps next year who knows what might carry into the playoffs this year and mike mccarthy gets his sweep of the division first time ever for the packers that was the carrot he threw out to his team all week long first packer team to sweep the nfc noise since divisional play began congratulations to matt flynn brian billick it's been a great season enjoyed every minute of it for brian village laura oakland our entire crew stay tuned for the second half of our fox nfl sunday doubleheader

Channel: NFL

Views: 185,984

Keywords: NFL, Football, American Football, sport, sports

Id: 4D38bFZrrVc

Length: 169min 40sec (10180 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 05 2021