# Miracle in Motown
**Miracle in Motown** is the nickname for the game-winning 61-yard [Hail Mary](https://www.edgepedia.org/hail-mary) touchdown pass from [Green Bay Packers](https://www.edgepedia.org/green-bay-packers) quarterback [Aaron Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/aaron-rodgers) to tight end Richard Rodgers on the final, untimed down of the Packers' 27-23 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Thursday, December 3, 2015. The play was later named the NFL's Play of the Year.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and site | Thursday, December 3, 2015, Ford Field, Detroit[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
| Final score | Packers 27, Lions 23[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
| The play | 61-yard Hail Mary from Aaron Rodgers to tight end Richard Rodgers on the final untimed down[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
| Why an untimed down | Devin Taylor was penalized for facemask, spinning Aaron Rodgers' head around while tackling him at the end of a failed series of laterals at the Green Bay 24 as the clock ran out[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
| Penalty spot | The facemask penalty moved the ball to the 39-yard line, giving Green Bay one final shot[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
| Honor | Named the NFL's Play of the Year; voting considered only regular-season plays, with 32 whittled to five finalists[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
| Season impact | Sparked a three-game winning streak that clinched a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) |
## Background of the game
The Packers entered the Week 13 Thursday night game in Detroit in a poor stretch, having lost four of five games. The game at [Ford Field](https://www.edgepedia.org/ford-field) reached its final seconds with Green Bay needing a desperation score, and the ending that followed pulled the team out of that frustrating stretch.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
## The final play
The sequence began with a failed series of laterals. As the clock ran out, Detroit's Devin Taylor tackled Aaron Rodgers at the Green Bay 24-yard line and spun his head around, drawing a facemask penalty on the Lions. Because the penalty occurred on the final play, the officials awarded Green Bay an untimed down.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
The laterals themselves had a notable participant. According to a [CBS Sports](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-sports) feature, the Green Bay tight end [Richard Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-rodgers) lateraled the ball back to his quarterback to set up the facemask call preceding the untimed Hail Mary, and Richard was not the intended receiver of the final 61-yard walk-off catch.[2](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/miracle-in-motown-has-an-incredible-link-to-the-stanford-cal-lateral-play/) The penalty moved the ball to the 39-yard line, and on the untimed down Aaron Rodgers threw the 61-yard touchdown to Richard Rodgers as time had already expired.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
## By the numbers
The decisive figures are the 61 yards of the touchdown pass, the 27-23 final score, and the 39-yard line from which the untimed down was played after the facemask penalty moved the ball there from the 24.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) The play was chosen as the NFL's Play of the Year from a field of 32 regular-season plays narrowed to five finalists; only regular-season action was considered in the NFL.com voting. The Packers had also won the Play of the Year honor in 2011, with [Randall Cobb](https://www.edgepedia.org/randall-cobb-american-football)'s then-record 108-yard kickoff return touchdown.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
## Aftermath and playoff implications
The thrilling win helped pull the Packers out of their losing stretch, and they went on to win three straight games and clinch a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059) The same season produced a second Packers Hail Mary: a 41-yarder to Jeff Janis that sent the NFC divisional playoff at Arizona into overtime.[1](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
## Comparison with other famous last-play miracles
ESPN compiled a ranking of football's greatest Hail Marys on the 40th anniversary of [Roger Staubach](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-staubach) popularizing the phrase, and that ranking includes both of the 2015-season Hail Marys thrown by Aaron Rodgers, the Detroit play and the Arizona playoff throw.[3](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/14375863/celebrating-football-greatest-hail-marys-40-years-roger-staubach-dallas-cowboys-popularized-phrase)
The play also carries a family link to one of college football's most famous endings. Richard Rodgers, Sr., the tight end's father, was the special-teams captain for California in 1982 who called "The Play" in the huddle and touched the ball on the second and fourth laterals of the famous Stanford-Cal lateral play. Rodgers, Sr. compared his son's catch to the Doug Flutie Hail Mary, saying, "But the Doug Flutie play was just a Hail Mary, too. It always rivals 'The Play.'"[2](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/miracle-in-motown-has-an-incredible-link-to-the-stanford-cal-lateral-play/)
Among other celebrated last-play touchdowns, the Music City Miracle, in which tight end Frank Wycheck tossed a lateral to Kevin Dyson for a kick-return touchdown with seconds remaining in the 1999 AFC Wild Card Game, holds the No. 4 spot in the "NFL 100 Greatest" plays ranking.[4](https://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-100-greatest-no-4-the-music-city-miracle) That play came with 16 seconds left in a wild-card game on January 8, 2000: Lorenzo Neal caught the kickoff and handed off to Frank Wycheck, who threw across the field to Kevin Dyson, who sped 75 yards for the winning touchdown in a 22-16 Titans victory. The Titans called it "Home Run Throw Back," while in Buffalo it is called "Home Run Throw Forward" or the "Immaculate Deception" over a disputed illegal-forward-pass claim.[5](https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-buffalo-bills-nfl-indianapolis-colts-nfl-at-100-b4f7a8cd367f4e3ea4bc9c4667723c52) The play survived a video review by referee Phil Luckett.[6](https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-buffalo-bills-football-sports-music-a8f3966d3527415e958a5304e0cb3bfb) ESPN's feature on the "Minneapolis Miracle," the walk-off play that saved the [Minnesota Vikings](https://www.edgepedia.org/minnesota-vikings)' 2017 season, provides further comparative context among famous NFL last-play miracle finishes.[7](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22102295/inside-play-saved-minnesota-vikings-season-crushed-new-orleans-saints)
## References
1. [Hail Mary in Detroit wins Play of the Year, Green Bay Packers.com](https://www.packers.com/news/hail-mary-in-detroit-wins-play-of-the-year-16796059)
2. ['Miracle in Motown' has an incredible link to the Stanford-Cal lateral play, CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/miracle-in-motown-has-an-incredible-link-to-the-stanford-cal-lateral-play/)
3. [Celebrating football's greatest Hail Marys, ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/14375863/celebrating-football-greatest-hail-marys-40-years-roger-staubach-dallas-cowboys-popularized-phrase)
4. ['NFL 100 Greatest' No. 4: The Music City Miracle, NFL.com](https://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-100-greatest-no-4-the-music-city-miracle)
5. [NFL At 100: Miracle sent Bills, Titans opposite directions, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-buffalo-bills-nfl-indianapolis-colts-nfl-at-100-b4f7a8cd367f4e3ea4bc9c4667723c52)
6. [NFL At 100-AP Was There-Music City Miracle, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-buffalo-bills-football-sports-music-a8f3966d3527415e958a5304e0cb3bfb)
7. [Inside the 'Minneapolis Miracle', ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22102295/inside-play-saved-minnesota-vikings-season-crushed-new-orleans-saints)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Rugby and other football codes › National Football League*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license