QUARTERBACKS: B+
Matthew Stafford has been better, but it was another efficient outing for the Lions quarterback. He finished with a passer rating north of 100 after completing 23 of his 35 throws for 220 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
His biggest throw came in crunch time. When Detroit desperately needed a completion, he fired a laser to TJ Jones to pick up a first down that should have sealed the win.
Stafford also made a couple more big plays with his feet, picking up 10 and 12 yards on his two carries.
RUNNING BACKS: B
Ameer Abdullah continues to flash, bursting up the middle for his longest run of the season, a 36-yarder during a touchdown drive. He finished with a healthy 67 yards on 13 carries.
Joique Bell was less effective, especially when the Lions looked to him to help run out the clock. At least he didn't fumble, but five yards on eight carries is rough.
Theo Riddick had a quiet game, by his recent standards. He finished the night with five grabs for 27 yards.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B
Calvin Johnson dropped a pass early in the game that would have given the Lions a first-and-goal well inside the red zone. But he made up for it with an incredible one-handed, toe-dragging scoring reception near the sideline.
Golden Tate had some communication issues with Stafford, but straightened them out in the second half and finished with a team-high eight receptions.
And we already noted the Jones' grab late in the game, but it was impressive the young receiver was able to pull in the rocket away from his body.
TIGHT ENDS: C
A quiet night from the tight ends, with Eric Ebron catching the only two passes for the group, totaling nine yards. The good news is one went for a touchdown. Brandon Pettigrew was not targeted.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C-
Throughout the first half, the line was stellar, opening some nice holes for the backs while giving Stafford a nice pocket and plenty of time to work with on his drop backs. Things came undone in the third quarter when Riley Reiff badly whiffed while blocking Julius Peppers, leading to Stafford being strip sacked, which the Packers recovered.
When right tackle Michael Ola went down, things turned sharper south. Backup LaAdrian Waddle got called for two penalties in his limited snaps.
DEFENSIVE LINE: B+
Devin Taylor's face mask penalty that allowed the Hail Mary ending, marred an impressive night for the third-year defensive end, who recorded two sacks in the first half. The call, which was controversial, was the correct one. Taylor's thumb got inside Rodger's mask and caused the helmet to twist.
Ezekiel Ansah also continued to rack up the sacks, adding another one to his NFC-leading total.
As a group, the unit also shut down the Packers ground game, holding the backs to 41 yards on 19 carries. Ansah did lose contain though on a 17-yard Aaron Rodgers scramble for a touchdown in the final quarter.
LINEBACKERS: B
Stephen Tulloch had a strong night in run support and Tahir Whitehead added two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Josh Bynes was in coverage on Rodgers' first touchdown pass, but his decent positioning was trumped by the quarterback's perfect throw.
The Packers did have some success with screen passes, one of which was wiped out by a face mask penalty.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: C+
Isa Abdul-Quddus delivered a complete game. He racked up 11 tackles, two behind the line of scrimmage, a pass breakup and two hits on Rodgers. The safety did get hit with a lengthy pass interference call when he ran into the receiver on an underthrown ball.
Glover Quin came into the contest with a banged-up ankle, but managed to intercept an errant pass. Cornerback Darius Slay didn't give up much of anything on the outside.
Nevin Lawson and Quandre Diggs weren't perfect, but largely held their own.
The whole group does get docked, a full letter grade, for not being able to knock down the Hail Mary pass at the end.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-
Matt Prater was still battling a serious sinus infection, but managed to knock down all three of his field-goal attempts including a long of 51. Punter Sam Martin was also solid, with a net of 45.7 yards on his boots.
The coverage units were effective, but the Lions return game didn't do much of anything.
COACHING: D
The Lions' game plan was solid, on both sides of the ball. But the offense turtled up late in the game, handing it off to Bell three straight times and giving the Packers one last shot with the ball.
On the Hail Mary throw, Caldwell and Austin put out a defense more worried about the hook-and-ladder instead of the bomb. That's why Calvin Johnson remained on the sideline, which proved to be the wrong decision with no one big enough to contend with tight end Richard Rodgers at the goal line.