Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Lions still had a chance to retake the lead after the turnover but their drive stalled after six plays and 16 yards, which led to Green Bay getting a chance at a game-winning drive.
Sunday marked the fifth straight game the Packers’ defense has allowed 20 or fewer points, its longest streak since the 2010 team did it in six consecutive contests.
With Martinez’s interception, Green Bay finished the regular season with 25 takeaways on the year – a significant jump from the 15 the defense forced in 2018.
For a defense that has had to overcome adversity at various intervals during the season, it proved again capable of bouncing back and contributing to a dramatic victory.
“Just to know that you finished the game, it says a lot,” cornerback Tramon Williams said. “It can pump a lot of energy, it can pump a lot of confidence into your team. I don't think we lacked confidence at all from the beginning, but just to have a chance to finish a game that we know we needed to finish, we know we wanted to finish, it was good for the guys to really feel passionate about a game like this.”
Lazard and the Lions: Two months after his breakout performance in the fourth quarter against Detroit, Allen Lazard again came through in the clutch for his offense.
Running a quarters-coverage beater on third-and-10 from the Detroit 28, the Packers’ first-year receiver worked his way inside of Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay and perfectly high-pointed Aaron Rodgers’ deep ball for a game-tying, 28-yard touchdown to capitalize on Martinez’s interception.
“If we got quarters, I knew there was a really good chance I’d get the ball,” said Lazard, who finished with four receptions for 69 yards. “So I tried to run my route to mimic running an out route, because I knew how he was going to play and he was going to jump it, and I was going to be able to get inside leverage and leave it up to ‘12’ to do the rest.”