DETROIT – Aaron Rodgers got his work, Davante Adams got his record and the Green Bay Packers got out of town without any more costly injuries heading into the playoffs.
All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari was fatigued and called it a day after 27 snaps in his first game action since he tore his left ACL in practice on Dec. 31, 2020. All things considered, the regular-season finale – even with a 37-30 loss to the Detroit Lions – was a success for the Packers.
This game had no bearing on the Packers’ playoff seeding; they secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a week left in the season and finished at 13-4. But it wasn’t meaningless to Matt LaFleur and Co., something the coach repeated on more than one occasion in the days leading up to it.
With a first-round playoff bye next week, LaFleur wasn’t crazy about his quarterback and others being sidelined for essentially three weeks if they didn’t play against the Lions.
And Rodgers was all-in about playing, especially considering his fractured left pinky toe felt as good as it had at any point since the November injury.
He directed a pair of touchdown drives, both of which ended with passes to Allen Lazard, and completed 14 of 18 passes for 138 yards without an interception in the first half. His MVP candidacy will be based off these season numbers: 4,115 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, four interceptions and a completion percentage of 68.9% for a passer rating of 111.9.
He finished on a streak of seven straight games with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions -- the second-longest streak in NFL history. Only Tom Brady (with nine in 2010) has more.
Along the way, he helped Adams set the franchise single-season receiving record, breaking Jordy Nelson’s mark of 1,519 in 2014. Adams finished with 123 catches for 1,553 yards and 11 touchdowns. In the last two seasons, Adams has set the Packers single-season records for receptions (this year), receiving yards (this year) and touchdown catches (18 last year).
Jordan Love finished the game, his most extensive action since his lone start of the season in the loss at Kansas City, and threw a touchdown and two interceptions.
About the only other thing that could be concerning is coordinator Joe Barry’s defense falling victim to a pair of trick plays that led to touchdowns.
The Packers will practice a few days next week but won’t know their divisional-round opponent until after next weekend’s wild-card games are completed.
Rodgers talked to his teammates about the importance of taking advantage of this opportunity.
"The message was what are you willing to do to put yourself in a better position to help this team out?" Lazard said. "Are you sacrificing your time? Are you putting the right efforts into your film and your practice and recovery? Are you making sure you’re staying on your sleep? Are you more focused on what’s going on on social media and stuff like that?
"It was very simple, very plain. Nothing out of the ordinary for the message that he delivered. But I think putting a cap on it, just everybody being on the same page going forward for the playoffs."