Miracle in Motown


The Miracle in Motown was the final play of an American football game between the NFC North divisional rivals Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions on Thursday, December 3, 2015. The game, which was broadcast on television nationally on Thursday Night Football, was played at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan during the 2015 NFL season. On the final play of regulation, with no time remaining on the game clock, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a Hail Mary pass into the end-zone that was caught by tight end Richard Rodgers for the game-winning touchdown after defensive end Devin Taylor face masked Rodgers which resulted in a one additional play.
The play resulted in a dramatic 27-23 come-from-behind victory for the Packers, who had trailed 20-0 in the second half. The victory was the Packers fourth-largest comeback in franchise history. It was also the start of a 3-game winning streak that would help the Packers clinch their seventh consecutive postseason berth. The Lions would end the season with a record of 7-9 and fail to reach the playoffs.

Background

Before the game on December 3, 2015, the Green Bay Packers had struggled in their previous games, while the Detroit Lions had found their form since winning against the Packers on the road at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Packers had lost four of their last five games after a 6–0 start for the season and were in dire need of a change of fortune to reach the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions came to the game with a three-game winning streak, and they still had a chance to earn a playoff spot despite starting the season with a 1-7 record.
Eighteen days earlier, the Lions had ended a 24-year winless streak against the Packers in a road game by beating them 18–16 at Lambeau Field. If they had also defeated the Packers at their second meeting of the season, the Lions would have swept the season series with Green Bay for the first time since 1991.
Before the Packers started their comeback from the 20–0 deficit in the second half of the game, the Lions had snapped a 56-game streak during which the Packers had scored in the first half. Counting the previous game against the Chicago Bears and the greater part of the Lions game, Packers went nearly 70 game-minutes without scoring a point.

Events of the play

With six seconds left on the game clock, Green Bay was on 3rd-and-10 at its own 21-yard line. After one forward pass and one backward pass, Packers tight end Richard Rodgers lateraled the ball to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was quickly tackled at his 24-yard line by Detroit Lions defender Devin Taylor, with the game clock having gone to zero during the play. However, the official standing behind the play called a 15-yard penalty on Taylor for a face mask foul on the tackle, and so, because NFL rules state that a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, the Packers were given an untimed play at their own 39-yard line.
After the snap, all Packers receivers ran towards the end zone and Aaron Rodgers broke right, escaping the Detroit defenders before throwing a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. Tight end Richard Rodgers, who was the last player to reach the end zone, leapt high in front of all defenders, caught the ball at full extension, and came down nearly unchallenged for the catch, resulting in the Packers winning 27-23. According to a number of estimations, Aaron Rodgers' pass traveled before reaching the hands of Richard Rodgers. The throw was also high enough to nearly hit the rafters at Ford Field. The comeback victory was the fourth-largest in franchise history.

Players involved

QB Aaron Rodgers and TE Richard Rodgers are not related, but both attended University of California, Berkeley and played for the California Golden Bears, graduating in 2005 and 2014, respectively.
The play was Aaron Rodgers' first ever completed Hail Mary pass of his career, just one day after his 32nd birthday.
The Packers TE Richard Rodgers is the son of Richard Rodgers Sr., who was involved in one of the most famous plays in American football, "The Play", that ended the game between Cal and Stanford in 1982. Richard Rodgers Sr. contended after the game that his son's role in the play rivaled his involvement in the famous play which he called and in which he threw two of the five laterals in 1982:

Penalty controversy

Like most significant calls by officials, the face mask penalty against Detroit that led to the winning play by Green Bay generated controversy. Dean Blandino, NFL Vice President of Officiating, responded to the call on Twitter moments after the game:
During a visit by NFL officials to a Lions training camp in 2016, Carl Cheffers, the official who threw the flag, was asked about the penalty; he said "I think it was an illegal tackle. Horse-collar, facemask, I think it was an illegal tackle. I’m very comfortable with it."

Naming the play

The nickname for the play, "Miracle in Motown", was first used by Jim Nantz during the nationally broadcast Thursday Night Football postgame show.

Broadcast calls of the final play

TV

Radio

Records