DETROIT – Nothing the Detroit Lions or their head coach Dan Campbell did Thursday night came as a surprise to the Packers.
They just came up a stop or two short from making the Lions pay for their aggression.
Keisean Nixon's interception and the Lions turning the ball over on downs at their own 30 in the third quarter gave Green Bay an opening to usurp the NFC North leaders, but the Lions converted enough down the stretch for a 34-31 win on their home turf.
Detroit went for it five times on fourth down, including two goal-to-go situations and on the final drive that set up Jake Bates' game-winning 35-yard field goal as time expired.
"It's Detroit. We know what they come with," Nixon said. "It's a division game, so you gotta expect everything. That's they M.O. and that's what they do."
The Lions started fast, opening the game with an 11-play, 70-yard scoring drive that included three of their seven third-down conversions on the evening. After an illegal contact penalty on Nixon on third-and-7, David Montgomery punched in a 3-yard TD.
The Lions punted on their next two possessions and settled for a 43-yard Bates field goal on the third. After that Campbell started to push the gas on fourth downs.
With Detroit holding a 10-7 lead, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Green Bay 2 with 14 seconds left in the half. Jahmyr Gibbs cut back in on his route and caught the touchdown to push the Lions' advantage to 17-7 at the half.
"He was going out to the flat. I probably should've let him out there," said linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, who was defending Gibbs on the play. "He ran the angle route, he had leverage on me and it was a good play by him."
The Lions saw their 10-point lead evaporate in the first 3 minutes, 45 seconds of the third quarter after a quick scoring drive by the Packers and Nixon's first interception of the year setting up the second of Josh Jacobs' three touchdown runs.
From there, Detroit wouldn't punt again. It went for it on fourth-and-goal from the Green Bay 3, as Goff hit Tim Patrick for the touchdown to pull back ahead 24-21.
Despite holding a that lead, Campbell chose to go for it again later in the third quarter from their own 31. That time, Gibbs was tackled on fourth-and-1 for a 1-yard loss by Packers linebacker Quay Walker.
The play led to a 4-yard Jacobs TD run that gave Green Bay a 28-24 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
"We put two scores up on the board immediately after that," said tight end Tucker Kraft of Nixon's INT. "That's just what we talk about early in the season, goals of ours playing complementary football."
The Lions made their head coach right, though. When the game was tied at 31 later in the quarter, Campbell called for another fourth-and-1 run – this time from the Green Bay 21.
Goff nearly slipped on the handoff but got the ball to Montgomery, who slipped by the Packers' defensive front for a 7-yard gain to set up Bates' 35-yard game-winning field goal.
Montgomery and Gibbs were held to 94 yards on 29 carries (3.2 yards per carry) but found success in the screen game, combining for 63 yards on 11 receptions. The Lions finished 7-of-15 on third downs while converting four of five fourth downs.
"Just gotta be better situationally. We gotta get timely stops," defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. "They got some fourth downs, screened us to death, for real. We just gotta do better in certain situations. Proud about how we fought (but) gotta just be better situationally."
Like their 24-14 loss last month in Green Bay, the Packers didn't leave Detroit feeling they were outclassed, but they didn't do enough to come away with a much-needed win to stay in contention for the NFC North crown.
Safety Xavier McKinney didn't have an explanation for the inability of the defense to get off the field on third and fourth down, but said it ultimately comes down to urgency.
"We gotta find ways to get stops," McKinney said. "We gotta find ways to generate more turnovers to put our offense in a better spot. We gotta get the stops. When we need to get the stop, we gotta get the stop. That's what it is."
