As there are every week in the NFL, several different plays altered the course of Week 9’s contest between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. Change the outcome of just one of them, and it’s entirely possible the final outcome is completely different. The game of football is so damn fragile that even if a single players slips, it could have a dramatic butterfly effect on the rest of the day.
That is to say that Sunday’s upset victory for the Lions will not be defined by one play or one player. But at the same time, critical performances on critical downs deserve some special recognition.