Associated Press
Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns in Thursday's 34-12 win at Detroit.
Is there anything Charles Woodson can't do?
Woodson keyed a ball-hawking and resilient defensive effort at Ford Field that handed the Packers (7-4) their third straight win -- in a span of 12 days -- since a humbling defeat at Tampa Bay.
He made sure the fact that the Lions (2-9) surprisingly had both of their two young offensive guns -- rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson -- at their disposal was meaningless, shutting Johnson down and picking off Stafford twice.
Woodson ran the second interception back for a game-sealing interception, while also making seven tackles, a sack and four passes defensed and forcing and recovering a late fumble.
"I'm putting my vote in for defensive MVP right now," said cornerback Tramon Williams, who had one of the other two interceptions of Stafford that Woodson didn't get. "The guy is great."
And that doesn't even take into account what happened before the game.
Fox profiled Woodson during its pre-game show, a segment that included this Thanksgiving-appropriate announcement: Woodson is donating $2 million to the new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in nearby Ann Arbor. Woodson played collegiately at Michigan.
"The gift is definitely what Thanksgiving is all about," he said. "You break that word down, you give thanks for the things you're blessed with, and you give until you can't give anymore. We'd been planning it for the past few months, and Fox joined in with us, to get the message across, so it was big for us today to have that stage and get it done so it was shown nationwide."
He also gave the nation a snapshot of the incredible season he's putting together, even though he spent the day playing in a different spot. With fellow starting cornerback Al Harris lost for the season -- Green Bay is also playing the remainder of its schedule without outside linebacker Aaron Kampman -- Woodson wasn't able to slide inside in the nickel defense, a position from which he was able to blitz.
Instead, he spent most of the game shadowing Johnson, Detroit's behemoth of a big-play receiver and blitzed only once -- resulting in the sack. Johnson caught two passes for 10 yards and a score.
"I didn't get to move around the way I like to move around," said Woodson, who hadn't played on the outside in the nickel all season. "But we got a big win."
He was a big reason.
About the only downer in Woodson's day was the Lions' opening touchdown, a nearly-indefensible throw to Johnson's back shoulder that came six plays after the Packers' Jordy Nelson fumbled the opening kickoff.
Green Bay dominated from there, and should have had a larger halftime lead than 13-7. The Packers scored on just one of their three first-half red-zone opportunities.
That changed in the second half, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers (28-for-39 for 348 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions) finishing off two drives with touchdown passes -- one to receiver Donald Driver, who caught seven passes for 142 yards -- to build a 27-7 lead.
Even after that, though, Detroit was within 27-9 after stopping running back Ryan Grant in the end zone for a safety with 9 minutes, 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A 22-yard field goal by Jason Hanson on the following drive made it 27-12.
The Lions' next possession ended when Woodson stepped in front of Johnson, who had been questionable to play with hand and knee injuries, and raced 38 yards to make it 34-12 with 3:47 left. It was his seventh interception of the season.
"I've seen that route a million times and I know how Calvin comes off on that route, and they threw it," said Woodson, whose other interception came on the opening possession of the second half. "I knew if they ran it, then I was going to pick it."
Woodson danced past Stafford -- playing despite a badly injured left shoulder -- and struck a Heisman pose in the end zone. Woodson won college football's most prestigious award in 1997.
"I didn't get a chance to do it in '97 so, finally, in the NFL I got it done," he said.
As if anything more was necessary, Woodson stopped Detroit's next drive by stripping tight end Casey FitzSimmons and falling on the ball.
"I don't think I've ever played on a team that had one single player that plays the way he plays," defensive end Cullen Jenkins said. "Every time anything happens on the field, you look over and he's trying to get a ball loose, trying to intercept a pass, sacking the quarterback. He's all over the field. And, golly, to me he's got to be one of the best defensive players in the league, if not the best."
Added coach Mike McCarthy: "I don't know who's playing better football than Charles Woodson in the National Football League."
All in all, a pretty good day for Woodson.
"It's a big day for this team, especially on Thanksgiving," he said. "And then the donation, that is really the icing on it. I'm glad that we could get that done."