DETROIT -- The reality of the situation is this: Green Bay Packers receiver Greg Jennings had cornerback Nathan Vasher beat for a touchdown in the final minute of the game and, with a better throw, the Packers probably pull out a dramatic victory.

But they didn't.

And, today, it's the Packers who get to play the role of the Lions, trying to explain what went wrong and why. The Lions?

They'll rejoice in their 7-3 win against the Packers, a victory that moves them to 3-10 this season and ends their 19-game losing streak to NFC North opponents -- the longest such streak in the NFL since the merger with the AFL in 1970.

"Well, that wasn't pretty, but it was beautiful,'' Lions coach Jim Schwartz said.

The Lions were clinging to the lead when Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn faced fourth-and-1 at the Detroit 31-yard line with 1:03 left in the game. Flynn was in the game because starter Aaron Rodgers had been knocked out with a concussion at the end of the first half.

Flynn threw a deep ball up the left sideline, where Jennings had a step on Vasher, but the ball was just slightly overthrown and not catchable.

"They had us in man-to-man coverage, and they probably liked the matchup,'' Vasher said. "I just did my best to make the play. It felt really nice when I saw the referee spread his hands like that (ruling an incompletion). It's nice when they do that.''

"When the ball came off my hand, I thought it came out real well,'' Flynn said. "I thought it was going to be a good throw, but obviously it was a little bit over him. We had it, I just had to hit it.''

The loss was a damaging one for the Packers, who are 8-5 and remain one game behind the Chicago Bears in the division. The loss also hurts the Packers in their bid for a wild-card playoff berth.

"They were playing faster than we were,'' said coach Mike McCarthy, who said he liked the Packers' chances on the deep throw to Jennings. "It's the defense we thought we were going to get there, and the matchup, we just didn't execute.''

Lions center Dominic Raiola said it was nice, for a change, to have the other team explaining their mistakes.

"If we lose that game, we're talking about where it went wrong and why it went wrong,'' Raiola said. "It's crazy how, in a win, you don't talk about the interception early in the end zone or any of that. When you win, it cures a lot of things. Imagine the teams that win all the time, they don't talk about their mistakes. The Packers beat the Jets 9-0 (earlier this season) and they weren't talking about how they struggled on offense, they talked about how they won the game.''

While the Lions struggled on offense, the defense rose to the challenge -- especially the defensive line.

"They were in our backfield all day,'' McCarthy said.

Rodgers got rattled on a hit from Lions linebacker Landon Johnson on a scramble late in the first half. But Rodgers wasn't get much done before that. He finished with seven completions in 11 attempts for 46 yards, an interception, two sacks and a passer efficiency rating of 34.7.

In his previous five starts against the Lions, all victories, Rodgers never had a rating lower than 100.

"We put four quarters together, we finally did it,'' Lions defensive tackle Corey Williams said. "We let everyone know. We didn't give up any big plays and we didn't give up a lot of penalties -- at least not like it's been in the past.''

The Lions had only six penalties for 35 yards, but they also held the Packers to just 66 rushing yards on 20 carries and allowed only 223 passing yards.

"At the end of the day, it was a dogfight and we won. That's why it's beautiful,'' Lions safety Louis Delmas said. "They average 30 points a week and we held them to three.''