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Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were left for dead earlier in the season. With a 4-8 record, they were considered well out of the playoff picture. But a lot of things fell their way and they won four straight games to climb to a 8-8 record. A lof of teams that needed to lose also failed to pick up wins and so it came down to Week 18 at Lambeau Field.
Coming into this game, there were three teams with a 8-8 record: the Seattle Seahawks, the Detroit Lions, and the Green Bay Packers. The Seahawks played the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the night and defeated their opponents 19-16 in overtime. That took them to a 9-8 record. It also eliminated the Detroit Lions because even they won and tied them, the Seahawks held the tiebreaker having defeated them 48-45 in a wild match earlier in the season.
However, with Aaron Rodgers and team not having faced Seattle, the tiebreaker between the Packers and the Seahawks came down to their conference record. Green Bay entered the game with a 6-5 conference record. By virtue of their earlier win, the Seahawks were at a 6-6 NFC conference record.
So, the equation was simple for Green Bay: Win the game against the Detroit Lions and improve to a 9-8 season record and 7-5 conference record. Due to their better conference record, they would have held the tiebreaker against the Seattle Seahawks. If they had won, the Green Bay Packers would have gone on to clinch the seventh seed in the NFC playoff bracket.
What transpired for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers against the Detroit Lions?
The teams were cautious of each other in the final game and did not score a single touchdown in the first half. The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions exchanged field goals, with Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff both failing to lead their teams to a touchdown. Green Bay led 9-6 at halftime.
However, the game exploded in the third quarter. Detroit scored first to take a 13-9 lead before Aaron Rodgers hit back to retake the lead 16-13. However, Jamaal Williams, the former Packer, scored his 17th rushing touchown of the season to give them a 20-16 lead in the fourth quarter, a lead they took to the two-minute warning.
In the end, Aaron Rodgers did not get a chance to surmount the deficit and ended up losing 20-16. The Seattle Seahawks made it to the playoffs to face the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay must lick their wounds while sitting at home in the playoffs.
