The Packers had given up 17 straight points to the Bears and they were staring at overtime on third-and-11 from their own 26-yard-line with less than 40 seconds left in the game when Aaron Rodgers decided to go deep to Jordy Nelson.
Nelson ran past cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc and there was no safety help over the top, which meant that Rodgers “just tried to put enough air on it to run underneath it.” Nelson did and, unlike some earlier throws his way during the game, he held on for a 60-yard gain. After a sprint to spike the ball, Mason Crosby made them 30-27 winners with a field goal.
“We talk all the time, all we need is time and downs,” Nelson said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Obviously, Aaron showed it last year with the Hail Mary in Detroit.”
This one wasn’t quite a Hail Mary, but it gave them a fourth straight win and left them with a straightforward path to the NFC North title. Run the winning streak to six games over the next two weeks and the division title belongs to Green Bay, something that felt like almost as much of a long shot a month ago as the one they hit late on Sunday.
