ALLEN PARK, Mich. – With Matt Flynn – yes, that Matt Flynn – expected to start on Thanksgiving for the Green Bay Packers, Jim Schwartz had to dig out the horror-show video one more time.
You know the one with the seldom-used quarterback torching the Detroit Lions' defense for 480 yards passing and six touchdowns when he filled in for Aaron Rodgers, who was resting up for the playoffs, in the final week of the season two years ago.
"He lit us up," Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said.
"We got him paid," linebacker DeAndre Levy added.
Flynn really does owe the Lions a debt of gratitude. He parlayed that performance into a big contract with the Seattle Seahawks that paid him $9 million guaranteed before last season.
"I actually just went back and watched that game again this morning," said Schwartz, the Lions' fifth-year coach. "It's probably about the 10th time I've watched that game over the last couple of years."
Flynn, 28, a seventh-round draft pick by the Packers in 2008 out of LSU, hasn't lived up to the hype generated by that career day against the Lions. He lost out on the starting job with the Seahawks to Russell Wilson, got traded to Oakland in April, was released by the Raiders in October and then spent a couple weeks with Buffalo before getting released again.
Now, with Rodgers out with broken collarbone and expected to miss his fourth straight game, Flynn is back.
He re-signed with Green Bay a couple weeks ago, came off the bench Sunday against Minnesota to help rally the Packers from a 16-point deficit for a 26-26 tie, and now it appears he's going to get another chance to make lightning strike twice on the Lions.
Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy confirmed that Flynn got the first-team reps Tuesday in practice.
"Matt has earned this opportunity," McCarthy said.
Schwartz scoffed at the notion that the Lions were solely responsible for padding Flynn's bank account.
He referred to another Lions-Packers game in 2010 when Flynn replaced an injured Rodgers late in the first half.
Detroit went on to win, 7-3, with Flynn completing 15-of-26 passes for 177 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
"We made it difficult on him in the second half of that game," Schwartz said. "They weren't able to move the ball very much. Maybe he would have made more if not for that game. I don't know."
Or maybe Flynn never would have left Green Bay in the first place if not for the more memorable meeting with the Lions.
This time, he's trying to keep the Packers in the NFC North race until Rodgers gets back.
Detroit and Chicago are tied for first place at 6-5, half a game ahead of Green Bay (5-5-1), with five games remaining.
Flynn is the third starting quarterback for Green Bay since Rodgers got injured on November 4. First man up was Seneca Wallace, who suffered a season-ending groin injury in his debut as the starter.
Scott Tolzien, who was promoted from the practice squad only weeks ago, replaced Wallace before losing the job to Flynn.
"I know this, when he was called upon last week he stepped in and did a good job of bringing them back," Schwartz said of Flynn. "He made the plays that he needed to bring them back.
"I'm sure they're disappointed that it was just a tie because they were in position potentially to win that game on that first overtime drive, but the fact is it wasn't a loss. I think a lot of that can be attributed to Flynn.
"Flynn's a veteran quarterback. He knows where to go with the ball and he'll give us a challenge the same way that Rodgers would."
If you don't believe it, just take a look at that horror show for the Lions of two years ago.
EXTRA POINTS
--- Running back Reggie Bush, on quarterback Matthew Stafford disagreeing with him that a players-only meeting was needed:
"It wasn't suggested just by me. It was a collective thing. We were all in there. We had the meeting and we talked. We worked internally on correcting our mistakes and making sure some of these mistakes don't continue to happen.
"Stafford is the leader of our team at the end of the day. We can only go as far as he takes us. He's a great player. We love his presence, everything that he brings to the game. We're all behind Stafford 100 percent."
--- Running back Reggie Bush, on his experience of winning a Super Bowl with New Orleans during the 2009 season:
"I don't try to force that on people. I've only worn my Super Bowl ring the day we received the ring. That's it. I haven't worn it since. I haven't worn any of my championship rings from college. I wore them the day I received them and that was it.
"I kind of like to leave the past in the past. I don't like to walk into a room and say, ‘Hey, OK, I won championships so you guys need to listen to me.' I try to put my two cents in where I can fit it in but at the same time, not try to force it on people."
--- Bush, on fixing the recent surge of turnovers:
"It starts with the leaders on this team. We have to do a better job. These past few games, a lot of the turnovers have come from me, Calvin (Johnson) or Stafford. That's something we have to correct. As leaders, we have to lead by example and make plays."
--- Lions safety Louis Delmas, on whether Thursday's game is a ‘must-win':
"I would definitely say that. I would think no team wants to go 0-3. We've lost two in a row and still have a bitter taste in our mouth. So by any means necessary, we have to find a way to pull this one out."
--- Receiver Calvin Johnson (knee) and cornerback Chris Houston (foot) did not participate in Tuesday's practice. Johnson told reporters: "Getting better. I'll be all right."
--- Linebacker Brandon Hepburn, a seventh-round draft pick who is on the Lions' practice squad, is expected to be cited after seriously injuring a 32-year-old woman when he drove through a non-working traffic light earlier this month in Taylor, Mich., the Detroit Free Press reported.
Angela Marie Chantelois suffered head injuries when her vehicle got broadsided by Hepburn on November 17, following the Lions' game in Pittsburgh. No alcohol was involved in the accident, police told the Free Press.
