The Packers would spot the Lions nine points and fall behind 9-0. After one first down on the opening drive, Flynn would be sacked and fumble with Detroit falling on it. Four plays later, the Motor City Kitties would take the lead. On a 2nd-and-Goal from the 8, Stafford threw a touchdown pass to Titus Young to give Detroit a 7-0 lead. Then on the kickoff, the ball would land on the 1 and return man Pat Lee brought the ball into the end zone and took a knee. That would be a safety and Green Bay was down 9-0.
That lead would not last the quarter, though, as the Green and Gold scored the final 10 points of the quarter to take a 10-9 lead at the end of the first. After a Crosby field goal, the Lions moved into Packers territory, but Stafford passed to Kevin Smith and he fumbled. Green Bay would recover and take over at the Detroit 48. Flynn would lead the offense down the field in seven plays and punch it in the end zone. The score would come on a Flynn pass to Jordy Nelson. That was touchdown No. 1 for Flynn.
Calvin Johnson would cap off a 60-yard drive in 10 plays. Stafford would throw for 58 yards on the drive and would end it with a 13-yard pass to Megatron. However, the Packers would answer quickly. On the second play of the drive, Flynn threw a screen to Ryan Grant, who caught it and would use his blocking and go 80 yards for the score to regain the lead, 17-16. That was touchdown No. 2 for Flynn.
The teams would trade turnovers, which left the Lions with the ball at the Packers 38. Stafford would throw a 23-yard pass to Johnson down to the 15, but the drive would stall and Jason Hanson would kick a short field goal to give Detroit the lead back.
However, Green Bay would come right back. Flynn had been learning from the starter on how to take full advantage of the free play. With the Packers at the Detroit 36, Flynn drew Lions defensive tackle Andre Fluellen offsides and Flynn would throw a rainbow into the end zone for Nelson, who somehow came up with the ball for the 36-yard touchdown to give the Packers the lead back at 24-19. The teams traded missed field goals to end the half, so that was the score at halftime.
After throwing an interception on his first drive of the second half, Stafford would give the Lions the lead back on the second drive. After a clipping penalty on first down for the Lions, forcing a 1st-and-25, Stafford threw a pass to Brandon Pettigrew for 26 yards. Stafford would throw for 59 yards on the drive and would end with a 2-yard pass to Young to give the Lions the lead back at 26-24.
But once again, Flynn had an answer. Flynn would throw for 77 yards on the drive that would end with Nelson catching another score. On a first down at the 42, Flynn would launch it to Nelson, who would catch it and score for the 58-yard touchdown and the back-and-forth game was 31-26.
Back and forth we go and the Motor City Kitties would recapture the lead. Stafford would use two passes to Megatron for 68 yards to set up Detroit in the red zone. The drive would end on a Stafford 5-yard pass to Smith. The two-point conversion was also good and the Lions took a 34-31 lead late in the third quarter.
But in the back-and-forth game, if you did not take a punch and deliver one back, you were not going to win. That is just what Green Bay did early in the fourth. On a 3rd-and-8 from the Lions 35, Flynn threw his fifth touchdown of the game. He threw it over the middle to Donald Driver, who would split the defense and go 35 yards for the score to give the Packers the lead right back at 38-34.
Now, it was Detroit’s turn to deliver a punch. After a pair of punts, the Lions would have the ball with five minutes to play starting at its own 7. No problem for the Lions, driving the 93 yards in seven plays. They did benefit from a 36-yard pass interference penalty to move the ball to the Green Bay 28. That was followed by a 26-yard completion to Scheffler. After a penalty pushed them back to the 12, Stafford found Scheffler again for the 12-yard score and the Lions had the 41-38 lead with two and a half minutes remaining.
You had the feeling that whoever had the ball last would win. Green Bay would start its final drive at the 20. After a pass for a first down to James Jones on the first play, Green Bay would benefit from an encroachment on Ndamukong Suh to pick up the next first down. The next third down the Packers would face would be a 3rd-and-4 from the Lions 46. Jones would come up big again, catching a 40-yard pass down to the Lions 6. Two plays later, Flynn threw his sixth and final touchdown of the day. It was a pass to Finley from four yards out and the Packers grabbed the lead right back.
The Motor City Kitties had one more chance and would move inside the Packers 40 with a half minute to play, but Stafford’s pass to the left sideline was intercepted by Sam Shields at the 20 and the Packers came away with the 45-41 win in one of the more entertaining games you will ever see.
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