Here's the tale of the tape from the Packers' 34-12 win over Detroit on Thursday:

Simple plan

Welcome to The Charles Woodson Show.

The veteran cornerback is playing at such a high level -- and the Packers have so much less flexibility without CB Al Harris -- DC Dom Capers likely will base his scheme the rest of the season on Woodson sniping inside against balanced offenses or locking down an opponent's clear No. 1 weapon, as he did to Lions WR Calvin Johnson.

This was as straightforward a game plan as Capers has put together. The Packers played 60 of 77 snaps (77.9 percent) in nickel against Scott Linehan's three-wide offense. The rest was base (16 snaps) and a single snap of prevent -- no dime, no "corner Okie," no "big Okie," not even any goal-line defense as the Packers made a pair of key red-zone stands.

The blitz package wasn't extensive, with extra-man pressure coming on only 11 of 47 dropbacks (23.4 percent) even as the Lions threw heavily in the fourth quarter. Slot blitzes were especially rare with CB Jarrett Bush taking Woodson's usual spot in the nickel.

The secondary did most of its damage out of basic zones, with FS Nick Collins exploding from Cover-2 to record the first of four interceptions and CBs Tramon Williams and Woodson each getting one in quarters coverage.

QB Matthew Stafford threw Johnson's way with Woodson on him nine times and completed only two, including a perfectly placed 1-yard option throw for a TD on the opening drive. Woodson got even late by breaking inside Johnson for his second pick and returning it 38 yards for a clinching TD.

Such shadow assignments previously had fallen to Harris, who was lost for the season along with LOLB Aaron Kampman four days earlier. Their replacements held up adequately, albeit against a beat-up, struggling offense.

OLBs Brad Jones (47 snaps), Brady Poppinga (18) and Jeremy Thompson (12, mostly on the right side) weren't liabilities in Kampman's place, but none of them had a solo tackle. Jones' reactions were a little slow on two screens, but he hustled his way to three pressures after QB Matthew Stafford broke the pocket. Poppinga had one pressure on a bull rush. Thompson got away with interference to break up a late third-down pass to RB Kevin Smith.

Williams had tight coverage on the only catch he gave up, a 17-yard cross to WR Bryant Johnson. Bush lost vision on WR Dennis Northcutt a couple of times and paid for it on a 47-yard completion in the fourth quarter, but for the most part he held his own.

The only reinforcement coming for the unit is ILB Brandon Chillar, who should be back in the nickel soon. Though ILB A.J. Hawk continues to play physically against the run and most of the time is supposed to have outside help in the flat, he was close to making a play on only one of five passes completed in his vicinity.

Red-zone replay

The black mark on the Packers' improving offense remains in the red zone, where coach Mike McCarthy keeps spreading the field with mixed results.

Touchdown passes to TE Donald Lee and WR Donald Driver both came with at least three players split out. But for the second straight game, the Packers failed to seize control when two red-zone drives stalled in the first half -- and the failed sequences again were heavy on throwing formations.

The Packers had three receivers on the field on first-and-goal from the 8 when QB Aaron Rodgers threw the backside one-step option on a designed run to WR James Jones, whom CB Phillip Buchanon dumped for no gain. Rodgers missed low on a quick in for wide-open WR Donald Driver -- one of four players split out -- on second down, and then a quick swing for Driver behind the line from a three-wide shotgun only picked up 5 on third.

The next possession featured first-and-goal at the 9. TE Jermichael Finley lined up as a third receiver in the right slot as Rodgers came up short on an out for tightly covered WR Greg Jennings. The Packers ran out of three wides on second, and RB Brandon Jackson didn't get much as DT Joe Cohen appeared to get away with holding LG Daryn Colledge. That left third down from the 7, a four-split shotgun and a stop route from the right slot for Finley, who might have had it if S Marvin White didn't deflect the ball from behind.

Perhaps it's time to try some power football in that area -- or at least present the threat of it.

Playmakers

* Improvisation doesn't get much better than Rodgers' backhand shovel to RB Ryan Grant that went for 27 yards. The Lions brought a zone blitz to the opposite side of where the Packers were trying to set up a screen, and DT Andre Fluellen got off RT Mark Tauscher's punch at the edge. That flushed Rodgers left in a hurry, but he spotted an opening and whizzed the ball past DT Grady Jackson to Grant, who did the rest.

* ILB Nick Barnett blitzed less (six times) than in recent weeks, but he made the most of his first, crossing with Hawk and getting a good outside rush on C Dominic Raiola to force the late, flat-footed throw Collins intercepted.

* Lions CB William James should have nightmares about how Rodgers abused his soft coverage. After not throwing at James in the first quarter, Rodgers went after him 11 times, completing eight for 114 yards and a touchdown. It appeared James thought he had help from SS Marvin White from on the scoring play -- much as he did when he released Driver to help on Finley and then watched White give up a 68-yard completion. Credit Tauscher for stonewalling a stunt to make the deep ball possible.

* Rookie DL B.J. Raji probably had his best game, highlighted by a tipped pass and a tackle for loss when he destroyed RG Dylan Gandy. Less obvious was the impressive play he made in the fourth quarter, getting off a double-team to drag down Smith with one arm.

Play breakers

* Don't blame Grant for the ugly backed-up sequence that led to a safety. The Packers ran zone right twice, with Grant taking long handoffs from 7 yards deep in the end zone, and the frontside action was atrocious. It started with Lee getting walked back by Fluellen, forcing Grant to power through a tackle just to cross the goal line on first down. Colledge wasn't much better backside against Grady Jackson. The Packers adjusted by keeping Finley inline right on second down -- he had motioned left on first -- but that only created more congestion when Lee couldn't move Fluellen again and RG Josh Sitton got nothing against DT Sammie Hill. The mess threw off Finley's backside cutoff path, which in turn affected FB Quinn Johnson's path to S Louis Delmas, who came off the overloaded edge and dragged down Grant 2 yards deep.

* The protection problem on OLB Julian Peterson's fourth-down strip-sack wasn't unlike those that bit the Packers twice in the teams' first meeting. The Lions don't blitz a ton -- they sent five more 13 times in Rodgers' 35 dropbacks (37.1 percent) -- but they often feign pressure by pressing all three linebackers into gaps before the snap. In this case, the Lions were in a 3-3 nickel, with DE Cliff Avril in the "B" gap to Clifton's right and both OLB Jordon Dizon and White near the line inside of Peterson, who was several yards outside of Lee in the tight slot. Avril dipped inside on a stunt and both Dizon and White dropped against Lee, leaving Clifton setting shallow against an inside rush that never came. He might have had time to adjust and take the edge off Peterson, but failing that, Rodgers has to assume in an empty set there's no time to double-clutch.

* There's no other way to put it -- from WR Jordy Nelson letting Dizon's shoulder pad cause a fumble on the opening kickoff to no-doubt blocks in the back by Johnson and SS Atari Bigby and PK Mason Crosby's bad miss on a 43-yard field goal, this was another bad day for the Packers special teams. It could have been even worse, too, if not for saving tackles on kickoffs by Crosby and TE Spencer Havner.

Dot ... dot ... dot ...

Finley (41 snaps) continues to split snaps roughly evenly with Lee (49). Finley was split wide or in the slot 15 times. ... The Packers need better tackling for Bigby, who had a chance to drop TE Casey FitzSimmons for next to nothing after an early hot throw but couldn't wrap up. ... Nelson (12 snaps) had only one catch while continuing to play fourth fiddle behind WR James Jones (33 snaps), who did a nice job finding open space on his 21-yard catch-and-run TD.