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Lions' Caldwell: We expected lateral, not Hail Mary
As Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers lined up for one final untimed down Thursday, the Detroit Lions left arguably their best defense against a Hail Mary pass sitting on their bench.
Jim Caldwell said the Lions opted not to use receiver Calvin Johnson as a deep safety on the final play of the Packers' miraculous 27-23 victory Thursday because they were concerned about Green Bay running a lateral.
"In that situation we have a couple different things that we do," Caldwell said. "That was one where you're kind of looking for more of that pass back and forth kind of thing because of the range. He ran around there so long, moved up, gave himself a chance to get it in the end zone. We had plenty of guys back there. We had of plenty guys, we just didn't make the play. They did."
Aaron Rodgers completed a 61-yard Hail Mary pass to tight end Richard Rodgers for the game-winning touchdown, ending the Lions' three-game winning streak and essentially snuffing out their faint playoff hopes.
While Rodgers' heave actually was intended for Davante Adams - "It's written in the playbook that my job is to box out and Davante is supposed to jump and I'm supposed to wait for a tip," Richard Rodgers said after the Lions committed several tactical errors on defense that let the play develop downfield.
Detroit rushed just three defenders: Devin Taylor, Haloti Ngata and Jason Jones. They used sack leader Ziggy Ansah to cover the sideline on the short side of the field, far from the line of scrimmage. And they failed to protect the front of the end zone as Richard Rodgers backpedaled into position to catch the pass while surrounded by six Lions defenders.
"We weren't in position to get our hands on it," Caldwell said. "He was in a little bit better position than we were."
The Lions have used the 6-foot-5 Johnson occasionally on defense over the years in similar Hail Mary-type situations, where his big body, long arms and jumping ability can be a factor.
Last year, in Caldwell's first season as Lions coach, Johnson played one defensive snap in a Week 15 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
But Caldwell was in no mood to second guess his decision to keep Johnson on the bench for the game-deciding play Thursday.
"I know there's a lot of things that they'll say, 'Hey, why didn't you do this or that?'" Caldwell said. "And there's always been hindsight and that kind of stuff that you look at it and there's probably a number of things that we could look at someone could come up with a little different idea. But the fact of the matter is, I'm proud of the way our guys played. They played tough, we were ready for a big game and I think we played that way up until all of about a couple flashes of that ballgame."
Lions' Caldwell: We expected lateral, not Hail Mary
As Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers lined up for one final untimed down Thursday, the Detroit Lions left arguably their best defense against a Hail Mary pass sitting on their bench.
Jim Caldwell said the Lions opted not to use receiver Calvin Johnson as a deep safety on the final play of the Packers' miraculous 27-23 victory Thursday because they were concerned about Green Bay running a lateral.
"In that situation we have a couple different things that we do," Caldwell said. "That was one where you're kind of looking for more of that pass back and forth kind of thing because of the range. He ran around there so long, moved up, gave himself a chance to get it in the end zone. We had plenty of guys back there. We had of plenty guys, we just didn't make the play. They did."
Aaron Rodgers completed a 61-yard Hail Mary pass to tight end Richard Rodgers for the game-winning touchdown, ending the Lions' three-game winning streak and essentially snuffing out their faint playoff hopes.
While Rodgers' heave actually was intended for Davante Adams - "It's written in the playbook that my job is to box out and Davante is supposed to jump and I'm supposed to wait for a tip," Richard Rodgers said after the Lions committed several tactical errors on defense that let the play develop downfield.
Detroit rushed just three defenders: Devin Taylor, Haloti Ngata and Jason Jones. They used sack leader Ziggy Ansah to cover the sideline on the short side of the field, far from the line of scrimmage. And they failed to protect the front of the end zone as Richard Rodgers backpedaled into position to catch the pass while surrounded by six Lions defenders.
"We weren't in position to get our hands on it," Caldwell said. "He was in a little bit better position than we were."
The Lions have used the 6-foot-5 Johnson occasionally on defense over the years in similar Hail Mary-type situations, where his big body, long arms and jumping ability can be a factor.
Last year, in Caldwell's first season as Lions coach, Johnson played one defensive snap in a Week 15 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
But Caldwell was in no mood to second guess his decision to keep Johnson on the bench for the game-deciding play Thursday.
"I know there's a lot of things that they'll say, 'Hey, why didn't you do this or that?'" Caldwell said. "And there's always been hindsight and that kind of stuff that you look at it and there's probably a number of things that we could look at someone could come up with a little different idea. But the fact of the matter is, I'm proud of the way our guys played. They played tough, we were ready for a big game and I think we played that way up until all of about a couple flashes of that ballgame."
