DETROIT – The Lions outlasted the Packers on Thursday night at Ford Field, winning 34-31 on a 35-yard walk-off field goal.
Here are five takeaways from the tough defeat:
- It was one of those "whoever had the ball last" games.
The Packers tied the game at 31-all with 3:38 left but never got the ball back. The Lions drove into very manageable field-goal range, converting on a fourth down for the fourth time in the game, to allow them to drain the clock before sending rookie kicker Jake Bates out to win Detroit's 11th straight game.
"Obviously extremely disappointed for our guys," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "I thought it was one of those games, we knew exactly how it was going to be, a hard-fought back-and-forth game. That's what it was."
Coming back from a 10-point halftime deficit, the Packers used a bomb to Christian Watson and an interception by Keisean Nixon to set up two TDs and take their first lead in the third quarter at 21-17.
Then the game see-sawed from there.
- Fourth downs played a monumental role in the outcome.
Just as they did in the first meeting with the Packers this season, the Lions scored twice on fourth-and-goal conversions – one at the end of the first half on a short pass to running back Jahmyr Gibbs, and another in the third quarter on a completion to receiver Tim Patrick, who had two TDs in the game.
The Packers did get one fourth-down stop, when the Lions went for it late in the third quarter on their own 30-yard line. The defensive front swarmed Gibbs on an outside pitch and got the turnover on downs.
Green Bay used the good field position to drive for another go-ahead touchdown, taking a 28-24 lead, but the Lions remained undaunted on fourth down right through that final drive.
LaFleur wasn't at all surprised how aggressive his counterpart, Dan Campbell, was throughout the game.
"Maybe the one at the end of the game a little bit," LaFleur said, referring to when the Lions could've kicked a 39-yard field goal with 43 seconds left on fourth-and-1, but decided not to risk giving the Packers the ball back.
"But that's how Dan has done it throughout the course of his career. It doesn't necessarily surprise me but that gave us an opportunity there. Hats off to them. They executed and we didn't."
The Lions wound up 4-of-5 on fourth down and 11-of-20 overall on third and fourth downs combined, while the Packers went just 1-of-5 on third down.
- Another big regret came on Green Bay's last possession.
Trailing 31-28, the Packers drove for a first-and-goal at the Detroit 7-yard line with about five minutes left thanks to big plays from receivers Watson (four catches, 114 yards) and Dontayvion Wicks (4-53).
But on second down, Watson was called for pass interference on an odd play, as he was running a shallow cross from the right side as a secondary option and crashed into the defender trying to chase Josh Jacobs leaking out of the backfield.
The play wasn't even designed to go there, but when QB Jordan Love couldn't get the ball to receiver Jayden Reed on a screen to the left, he came back to the right and Jacobs was wide open. So the flags flew.
"I was reading the opposite way," Love said, as he never saw the collision that drew the penalty. "Christian and the DB just ran into each other, and the refs thought there was a pick going on so that's what they called."
The lost 10 yards put the Packers in a tough spot and they eventually had to settle for just the tying field goal.
"It's unfortunate," LaFleur said, who had been talking to the officials about another play where he thought a Green Bay defender got picked. "The bottom line is if you're running a shallow cross, you have to avoid the defender and we didn't. That was a tough one. We weren't even trying to throw it to the right side and the play went off-schedule."
- In what became a shootout, the Packers took too long to get going.
The Lions scored on the opening drive of the game, but the Packers didn't answer right away, and that put Green Bay behind the 8-ball early against high-powered Detroit.
The Packers punted on their first two possessions, and then Watson lost a fumble on the first play of the second quarter at the end of a 20-yard reception that got the ball into Detroit territory.
"Obviously didn't start fast enough," said Love, who wound up 12-of-20 for 206 yards with a TD (to tight end Tucker Kraft) and 111.7 rating. "Anytime you can't stay on the field there, it's not going to be good."
The Lions turned the takeaway – Green Bay's first turnover in three games – into a field goal for a 10-0 lead before the Packers hit their stride on offense.
Running back Josh Jacobs (18 carries, 66 yards) rushed for three TDs for the second time this season and now has eight rushing TDs in his last four games. But the Lions just had too much firepower, especially down the stretch as they put together drives of 70 and 53 yards on their last two possessions for 10 points.
QB Jared Goff put up a triple-digit passer rating of his own at 109.7 (32-of-41, 283 yards, three TDs, one INT), while running backs Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 157 rushing and receiving yards, and two TDs. The Lions used an effective screen game, to both their backs and receivers, to get the ball out of Goff's hand quickly and move the chains regularly.
"We just started, especially on the offensive side of the ball, too slow," LaFleur said. "I mean, we go, punt, punt, fumble, then we score a touchdown. So you know, it's only a handful of plays that separate these types of games."
- The Packers are playing for a wild card now.
At 9-4, Green Bay has fallen three games behind 12-1 Detroit with four games to play, so the NFC North is essentially out of reach.
So the Packers will look to get into the playoffs as a wild card and see if they at some point can get a third shot at the Lions after the regular-season sweep.
"Like I told our team, we have to earn the right to potentially come back here," LaFleur said. "It's not going to be easy and we have to put in the work, but I'm confident in the resiliency of our group.
"They're going to continue to fight and push each other to get better and stay connected, because I do think we have a pretty good football team."
