I don't think conservative play-calling was the main problem. The big play that turned things around in the third quarter was when they tried to pass on a first and ten and Clifton allowed his guy to hit Rodgers from the blind side and force a fumble. Then the Packers had a couple possessions deep in their own territory where they couldn't open up the playbook. Thankfully, they did eventually complete a couple passes to swing the game back in their favor.
I'll have to watch again to see what happened to the defense. The pass rush disappeared at times, but I don't know if it was because of a lack of blitzing or if the Lions started picking up the blitzes.
The special teams made two huge mistakes--the bad snap that Frost couldn't handle, resulting in a safety, and a penalty on a kick return that forced the offense to start out on their own 10 yard line.
It sure was a screwy game. I'm glad it's over.