\n\n\u201cLike, we all got here someway, somehow. Yeah, he’s a Hall of Famer, but I just don’t respect the way he’s been talking about my guys all year, and the way that team views us. So, we’re going to go out there and prove something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Packers are 8-8 and need a victory to earn a spot in the playoffs. The Lions are 8-8, too. They’ve both come a long way since Detroit won in Week 9 at Ford Field.<\/p>\n
At the time, the Lions were 1-6 and the Packers were 3-5. Detroit intercepted Rodgers three times and won 15-9. Asked what had gone wrong for a perennial championship contender, Rodgers said \u201ca lot,\u201d then concluded, \u201cWe had a couple chances for sure. Can’t lose a game like that against that team, though, so that’s going to hurt for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nWho can blame the Lions for being upset that Rodgers didn’t expect to lose to a team that had a solitary win to that point?<\/p>\n
Asked specifically what bothered him about Rodgers, Elliott said: \u201cShoot, whatever. The way he carries himself, I don’t like none of that (expletive). So, we got to go out there and show what we can do, and show who the big dog (is), back up all the talking we do. We’re going to go out there and do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nThree weeks ago, the Packers beat the Rams to improve to 6-8. With two victories in the books, they needed three more to have a shot for the playoffs. In an on-field interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the game, Salters told Rodgers the Packers were set to finish the season against three teams with winning records.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d Rodgers said, one of them is at .500 right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nThe Lions, who were 7-7 at the time, were upset that Rodgers dissed the team with his ability to do math in his head on live television.<\/p>\n\n\n\u201cHe was talking a little smack,\u201d rookie edge rusher James Houston, who wasn’t even on the field that day, told MLive. \u201cAnd when someone talks smack, you just lock that (expletive) up in the back of your brain and save that for Sunday. It’s right there in the back of my head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nOn Sunday night, after the Packers trounced the Vikings to get on the cusp of a playoff spot, Rodgers added fuel to the fire as he looked forward to the rematch against Detroit.<\/p>\n\n\n\u201cIt’s not the same old Lions,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cThey were 1-6 at one point and they’ve come all the way back to 8-8.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incendiary talk continued in front of his locker on Wednesday. It was the verbal equivalent of a gallon of gas lobbed into a Dumpster fire at a fireworks factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\u201cI think they’ve got some guys healthy on offense. Jared (Goff has) been very consistent, they’ve got two good runners, they’ve got a lot of weapons in the outside,\u201d Rodgers said in totally dismissing the Lions’ talent. \u201cDefense, they’ve done some different things in the last, I don’t know, eight or nine games. But they’ve been playing a little bit more sound, and they’ve been playing with a lot of energy. I think our game kind of maybe galvanized them to turn it back in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nThen came the ultimate trash talk from the quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve been playing really good football \u2013 as good as just about anybody in the league the last nine weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
ouch.<\/p>\n
The Lions heard it all and are rightly irate headed into their last game of the regular season, one in which a victory could give them a 9-8 record and, if Seattle is upset by the Rams, a spot in the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThere’s other things on the line as far as having a winning season, beating a division opponent that I feel like really doesn’t respect us as much as, respect us that much at all,\u201d cornerback Amani Oruwariye said this week. \u201cSo, there’s a lot of other motivating factors other than just, obviously, the playoff implications.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s been maybe one-sided for a long time, but I think this year, we flipped the script and I think everyone can kind of see that,\u201d he added. \u201cThey might still feel like this is the old Lions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nWell, Rodgers said these weren’t the same old Lions but, clearly, what Rodgers subliminally said was, \u201cthis is the same old shitty Lions.\u201d<\/p>\n
For what it’s worth \u2013 and it’s worth nothing \u2013 Rodgers is 18-7 for his career against Detroit with 53 touchdowns vs. eight interceptions. His 105.8 passer rating against Detroit is topped only by Kirk Cousins’ 117.5.<\/p>\n\n\nAthletes will find motivation under ever nook and cranny. Apparently the possibility of being put under the primetime lights with a shot to get into the playoffs isn’t enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\u201cI just feel like overall, as a competitor, bro, you (should) respect everybody in this league,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cAnd for you to see something or hear someone say some wild stuff about you or your teammates or your brothers, shoot, what are you going to do? Are you going to lay down or stand up? So, we’re going to go out there and stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nPackers vs. Lions Preview<\/h3>\n\n\nPackers have only one player on injury report<\/p>\n
Linebacker suffers broken leg<\/p>\n\n\nPackers-Lions tickets aren’t cheap<\/p>\n
James Jones on Packers’ playoff prospects<\/p>\n
Turnover titans: Jared Goff vs. Packers defense<\/p>\n
Get in the game with SI Tickets<\/p>\n\n\nPackers-Lions Thursday injury report<\/p>\n\n\nWeek by week, Packers made their move<\/p>\n
Packers make another big move in Super Bowl odds<\/p>\n
Packers vs. Lions: Insider perspective<\/p>\n
Packers vs. Lions: Previewing Detroit’s offense<\/p>\n
Packers vs. Lions: Previewing Detroit’s defense<\/p>\n<\/div>\n