Packers Notebook (vs. Lions)

Season turnaround

Following a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 27, Aaron Rodgers was down and the Green Bay Packers were out, or so it seemed.

Already dealing with a broken thumb, Rodgers suffered injured ribs that knocked him out of the game, a 40-33 loss that sent the team to a 4-8 record. The Packers were in 11th place in the NFC standings and three games behind the Washington Commanders for the final spot with five games to go.

At that point, the legitimate question wasn’t about if the Packers would climb back into the playoff race. Rather, the question was whether it was time to pass the baton to Jordan Love.

Reminded of where the Packers were at the time following Sunday’s victory over the Minnesota Vikings, a fourth consecutive win that incredibly put the Packers in control of their playoff fate, Rodgers paused for a full 7 seconds.

“It feels really special. It does,” Rodgers said. “It’s been an interesting year. It hasn’t been my best football at times, but I’ve been asked to step up my leadership and be someone the guys can count on to keep it together, even when it doesn’t seem like there’s anything to play for or we don’t have a chance to make a run. There’s been a lot of special moments throughout the year.

“It didn’t look great for a while. And I was resigned to some of those realities being possible. And when I took my mind there, I had a peace about it. I had a peace about all of it. Whatever was supposed to happen, I was surrendered to that reality. With also the resolute mindset that we could still get back in this thing. And I think that’s what I’m most proud of. For myself and our team, is that there were a lot of different things that could happen, and we stuck together and we put ourselves in position to do something special.”

The Packers played just well enough to beat the Chicago Bears in week 13, scoring the final 18 points to escape with a victory over the worst team in the NFC. The team celebrated in the locker room as if it had just clinched a playoff berth. Turns out, winning that game was the first step in potentially clinching a berth on Sunday night against the Detroit Lions.

The Packers have won four in a row, highlighted by back-to-back strong performances vs. Miami and Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Commanders went 0-3-1 and the Seattle Seahawks went 1-3 to open the door.

“The fact that we came back from 4-8 and put ourselves in the position to make the playoffs is pretty special,” Rodgers said. “A lot has happened in our favor and that’s pretty obvious. Every game that needed to go our way just about went our way. I know not many people in that locker room — and definitely not many people of you people — believed we’d be sitting here at 8-8 controlling our own destiny going into week 18. It’s pretty special.”

Now, it must seal the deal. A series of must-win games has set up one more must-win game. The Lions are hot, too, having won seven of their last nine games.

“We’ve been in that playoff mindset when we were sitting there at 4-8 knowing how critical every game was, and to get to this point and for it to play out the way it has is exciting,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s exciting, obviously, for our team, for our fans. But we’ve got a huge challenge in front of us — a team that already beat us once this year and I know that they’ve got a lot to play for as well. They’re a dangerous team. We’re going to have to play our best ball, no doubt about it.”

Crosby’s kick

Mason Crosby’s crossbar-hitting 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half against Minnesota was the longest in Packers history at Lambeau Field. There are two interesting side notes.

First, because of declining leg strength, Crosby was supposed to have relinquished kickoff duties but Ramiz Ahmed, who was elevated from the practice squad a day earlier, suffered a groin injury during warmups. So, on a cold night, the player with the worst average kickoffs in terms of distance and hang time set a franchise record for longest Lambeau field goal.

Second, with Crosby good to only 52 yards during his pregame session, LaFleur and Rodgers were on the headset discussing a Hail Mary when LaFleur saw Crosby was already at midfield.

“That gives you a lot of confidence to be like, ‘All right, go for it!’” LaFleur said. “He had the confidence, he went out there and did it, and I’m glad. That was a big swing, just that whole final 2 minutes right there. The fact that they missed a field goal and we went down and hit that field goal, you’re talking about a six-point swing. So instead of being up 18, you’re up 24 at the half. That gave us a lot of momentum going into the half.”

Turning over a new leaf

One big reason for Green Bay’s late-season resurgence has been the defense’s sudden ability to force turnovers.

When Green Bay was 4-8, it had produced 12 takeaways. It matched that number during the four-game winning streak, with a season-high four against Minnesota.

“It’s just all about timing, opportunity,” said safety Darnell Savage, whose 75-yard pick-six made it 14-3. “When it happens, it happens. They say they come in bunches, so you’ve just got to capitalize on it. I think we’re just going out there, playing hard, trusting each other. A lot of stuff’s falling our way.”

Replicating that feat won’t be easy. No team has fewer giveaways than the Lions’ 15.

Bakhtiari’s back

After missing three games following an emergency appendectomy, left tackle David Bakhtiari was back in the lineup against Minnesota and played a key role in keeping the Vikings’ star pass rushers, Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter, from touching Rodgers.

In fact, Smith — a Pro Bowler in his first season with Minnesota after three years in Green Bay — didn’t record a tackle, sack, quarterback hit or even a quarterback pressure.

“On the flight home after the Miami game, he said, ‘I’m playing.’ So, I said, ‘OK, well, we’ll see,’” LaFleur said. “He was able to get through the week and I thought he played a really good game. We all know the type of edge rushers that the Vikings have and I thought everybody up did an outstanding job.”

Led by the rampaging rookie duo of Aiden Hutchinson and James Houston, the Lions had 15 sacks in recent victories over the Vikings, Jets and Bears but none in their loss to the Panthers.