Like a child unwilling to share, the Green Bay Packers held on to the football for an inordinate amount of time Sunday afternoon against the Detroit Lions. As a result, Green Bay prevailed over Detroit 26-0 at Lambeau Field.

From its opening touchdown drive to its last possession that consumed more than half the fourth quarter, Green Bay’s offense controlled the game clock. In running off 72 plays to Detroit’s 48, the Packers produced a two-to-one edge in time of possession for just the sixth time since 1972.

In all, the Packers had the ball for 40 minutes, 48 seconds. The Lions’ time of possession (19:12) was less than half that of Green Bay’s.

Green Bay last produced a greater advantage in 1986. The Packers maintained control for 41:10 in a 31-17 loss to the 49ers in Milwaukee.

♦ Photo gallery 1 from Sunday's game.

♦ Photo gallery 2 from Sunday's game.

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Both offense and defense had a hand in playing keep away against the Lions on Sunday.

Green Bay’s leading tackler, linebacker Nick Barnett, and his unit allowed the Lions just one drive of more than six plays, and that 10-play advance ended with safety Atari Bigby’s fourth-quarter, end-zone interception of backup quarterback Drew Stanton.

Green Bay’s offense chewed up 435 yards, the 12th straight time it has gained more than 300 yards against the Lions at home. Aaron Rodgers and company produced a first down on each of their 11 drives as they ran at least five plays on every possession.

A strong running game often creates the imbalance that resulted Sunday. But not for the Packers, who for three quarters moved the chains on the accuracy of Rodgers and the hands of his receivers.

Through three quarters, Rodgers completed 29 of 36 passes (80.6 percent) for 358 yards, two touchdowns and 16 first downs. He had a passer rating of 126.6 thanks in part to one-handed catches by Greg Jennings for 26 yards in the first quarter and by Donald Driver for 27 yards in the third quarter.

The running game, meanwhile, was nearly nonexistent. It accounted for just 30 yards on 14 attempts in the opening three quarters. Ryan Grant’s 4-yard carry on the Packers’ second possession was the last rushing first down by Green Bay until less than 13 minutes remained in the game.

On the other side of the ball, Cullen Jenkins, Aaron Kampman, B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews and others kept Detroit from cruising. Jenkins intercepted Daunte Culpepper to halt one drive, Kampman pressured the oversized quarterback into an incompletion to end another and the team’s top two rookies threw running back Kevin Smith for a yard loss on fourth down near the end of the first quarter.

The Lions didn’t convert a third down in 10 tries. They were unsuccessful twice on fourth down.

In the fourth quarter, Grant found his legs. He ran 11 times for 62 yards accounting for most of the Packers’ 77 yards rushing in the last period.

With his ground game humming, coach Mike McCarthy called 12 consecutive running plays that whittled away the final 7:52. It was just the fourth time in more than 40 years that Green Bay closed out a game with a drive lasting longer than 7 minutes.

Extra point

Jenkins’ interception ended Culpepper’s string of 162 consecutive regular-season passes attempted against the Packers without an interception. That streak was the longest ever by an individual against the team.

Eric Goska is a Press-Gazette correspondent, a Packers historian and the author of “Green Bay Packers: A Measure of Greatness,” a statistical history of the Packers. E-mail him at aegoska@sbcglobal.net.