Lions vs. Packers recap: Who gets the game ball?

Well, it didn’t unfold like we all wanted it to, but Washington lost, so we’ll still get to see some bonus football play out next week when the Lions head to CenturyLink Field in Seattle to take on the Seahawks. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s hand out our last game ball of the regular season. Here’s how our standings looked heading into Week 17:

23 - Matthew Stafford
8 - Matt Prater
7 - Golden Tate
7 - Sam Martin
6 - Theo Riddick
6 - Darius Slay
6 - Eric Ebron
5 - Marvin Jones
4 - Rafael Bush
3 - Tahir Whitehead
3 - Andre Roberts
3 - Kerry Hyder
3 - Zach Zenner
2 - Jeff Triplette
1 - Devin Taylor
1 - Ameer Abdullah
1 - Johnson Bademosi
1 - Miles Killebrew
1 - Anquan Boldin

Here are your candidates for the game ball from Week 17’s matchup with the Packers:

Zach Zenner

He started the game hot, just like he did in Week 16’s matchup against Dallas. But the Lions went away from Zenner in the second half, mostly because the Packers’ defensive backfield was in shambles. Zenner was really productive in all facets of the game, however, getting 20 rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown, and catching four passes for 41 yards.

Sam Martin

Sam Martin did what Sam Martin does every time he’s told to go out and kick the football: he flipped the field on multiple occasions, even if the Lions defense couldn’t do anything to take advantage of it. Martin had four punts, totaling 200 yards—his longest being 56 yards—including two punts that pinned the Packers inside their own 20-yard line.

Golden Tate

The Lions had a few good performances from their wideouts, but it was the play of Golden Tate that stood out the most. Tate had six receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown—and a single carry for 7 yards—against Green Bay.

Marvin Jones

However, of those few good performances from the wideouts, a pleasant surprise was the reprise of Marvin Jones; his performance in Week 17 was his best since before Thanksgiving. Jones had a few big time catches and finished the evening with five catches for 76 yards.

Tavon Wilson Sr.

Aside from a couple of missed tackles, which was a problem that plagued the entire defense on Sunday night, the safety had the best box score of any other defensive player: 7 tackles and registering Detroit’s only sack of the game.