Packers' running game carries them over Detroit

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GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers move within one win of taking yet another NFC North title by whipping Detroit 27-20 in a significant snow storm last night.

All Green Bay has to do to wrap things up is beat the Bears next week at Soldier Field. Early in the game it looked like the Lions might win their first game at Lambeau Field since 1991. Detroit scored the first two touchdowns of the game to take a 14-0 lead. The sluggish offense got a boost when Mike Daniels returned a Detroit fumble 43 yards to cut the lead to 14-10. Lion quarterback Matthew Stafford had dropped back to pass when the wet ball slipped out of his hand. Still four points in the third period, Aaron Rodgers ran it in from 27 yards away, the longest run of his career and the long running play of the season for the Packers. Detroit never caught up and lost at Lambeau for the 22nd straight time. DaJuan Harris iced the game with the team’s second rushing touchdown from 14 yards out. The ground game, ineffective for the first half, bulldozed its way to 98 yards after intermission. The Green Bay area received three and a half inches of snow and the game was played in relatively heavy snow all night long.

A win at Chicago clinches the North title for Green Bay and gives the team a 10-win season – a significant milestone for coach Mike McCarthy. The Bears lost their Sunday game to Minnesota, 21-14. The Lions have lost five in a row, blow a lead of at least 10 points for the third game in a row. That’s an NFL record. The only bright spot was wide receiver Calvin Johnson’s 118-yard outing, putting him over 15 hundred yards on the season.

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Green Bay Packers’ right tackle T-J Lang was activated – but he did not play in last night’s 27-to-20 home win over Detroit. The Packers needed a seventh offensive lineman to be active, in case of injuries – but the plan was for Lang to wait until next Sunday for his return at Chicago. Rookie Don Barclay made his first N-F-L start, after he replaced Lang during last Sunday’s home win over Minnesota. Lang injured an ankle in that game – and he said he might have been pushing things a bit had he returned against the Lions. One player who did come back from a long-term injury was corner Sam Shields. He’s among Green Bay’s fastest players – and it showed both on special teams and in the Packer secondary. He intercepted Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford. And Shields ran all the way across the field to chase down kickoff returner Stefan Logan before he could turn a corner and break away. Shields had been out since October 14th, when he suffered a high-ankle sprain at Houston. The Packers are 9-and-4 with a one-game lead over second-place Chicago. Green Bay can clinch the N-F-C North title with a win over the Bears next Sunday at Soldier Field.

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The Packers face a major fine for the fifth week in a row, after safety Morgan Burnett made contact with Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson’s helmet in the third quarter. It happened after a 19-yard catch close to midfield when Johnson was on the ground. Referee Tony Corrente penalized the Packers 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. Replays showed that Burnett may have missed direct contact with Megatron’s helmet as he dived over him. Burnett said he would have to review the video to see what happened – but he said he was just making a tackle and breaking for the ball. He said he was not sure if he hit Johnson in the head. The Packers have had one defender or special teams’ player fined at least 15-thousand dollars for an illegal hit in every game since November fourth.

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