GREEN BAY – Some lingering bad habits caught up with the Packers during Sunday's pivotal NFC North matchup with the Detroit Lions.
Green Bay outproduced the Lions 411-261 on a rain-soaked afternoon at Lambeau Field but myriad penalties, Detroit converting two fourth downs into touchdowns and a pick-six factored heavily into the Lions pulling out a 24-14 win.
The Packers finished with 10 penalties for 67 yards compared to Detroit's five for 51, though 30 of those came on back-to-back unsportsmanlike flags on Lions safety Brian Branch in the first quarter.
It's been a persistent issue for Green Bay during its 6-3 start, though the team appeared to turn a corner amidst its four-game win streak.
"A lot of self-inflicted wounds, a lot of momentum-killers, a lot of drive-killers," running back Josh Jacobs said. "That's just on us, man. I feel like we've been getting away with a lot of it because we've been kind of masking it with the wins. But when you play a good team, all the little things catch up to you."
Things started well enough for Green Bay, though an unnecessary roughness penalty on Keisean Nixon pushed back an initial kickoff return to the Packers' 40.
The Packers overcame a false start on Jacobs on a 14-play, 63-yard opening drive that lasted nearly eight minutes, but settled for a Brandon McManus 30-yard field goal.
Detroit responded with a 13-play scoring drive of its own. The Lions were facing fourth-and-goal from the Green Bay 5 before defensive lineman T.J. Slaton was called for encroachment.
Two yards closer to the end zone, Detroit quarterback Jared Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 3-yard touchdown off a pre-snap motion to start a stretch of 24 consecutive points.
Jacobs, who had 89 of his 95 rushing yards in the first half, broke a game-long 37-yard run on the next series but left guard Sean Rhyan was called for false start on third-and-3 at the Detroit 32.
The penalty preceded a Jordan Love incompletion on third-and-8 and Green Bay opted to punt.
"We were running the ball throughout the game, but I had that penalty that brought us from third-and-3 to third-and-8, so that was a huge (mess) up on my part," Rhyan said. "I gotta listen better. Just key in to what Jordan is saying, what Elgton (Jenkins) is saying and all of that, because even if you have someone else different, it can't really matter, you gotta just go out there be able to execute like it's normal."
It was one of four false start penalties on the Packers, including one on Romeo Doubs during the next drive. That time, McManus missed from 46 yards out.
The first half ended with a massive momentum swing – Jake Bates made a 27-yard field goal, Kerby Joseph intercepted Love for a 27-yard touchdown and Detroit scored again coming out of halftime on a Jahmyr Gibbs' 15-yard TD run on fourth-and-1.
Green Bay came close to getting off the field during the possession, but Nixon was called for defensive holding on third-and-6 near midfield.
The Lions' offense cooled off, but the Packers struggled to chip into the 24-3 deficit. Green Bay drove to the Detroit 14, but Love fumbled the snap from center Elgton Jenkins on back-to-back shotgun plays.
Jenkins was starting in place of center Josh Myers, who missed Sunday's game with a wrist injury.
"I feel like we left some yards out there, obviously," Jenkins said. "Me, myself, with some of the snaps, I feel like some of those runs could've hit. It was good but we definitely got more out there. We definitely left stuff out there on the field."
The Packers' receiving corps had some troubles, as well. Tucker Kraft and Dontayvion Wicks were unable to pull down key third-down passes, and Love and Christian Watson failed to connect on a long pass in fourth quarter.
Offensively, Green Bay tallied more than 400 total yards for the second straight week but went 3-of-12 on third downs and 1-of-4 in the red zone.
"We can't keep putting the defense in positions like that," Kraft said. "We have 400 yards of offense and one touchdown, so we need to finish in the red zone.
"That's going to be our main point moving forward, is finishing in the red zone, because, really, the pre-snap penalties and things like that, that just comes from maybe not being locked in. I don't know, but those got to stop."
Defensively, the Packers struggled to break the Lions' rhythm. David Montgomery and Gibbs combined for 138 rushing yards and a TD while Goff completed his first 11 passes.
Green Bay also was unable to get a takeaway to help offset the pick-six in the second quarter.
"We got things we gotta correct," safety Xavier McKinney said. "As players, we just keep making the same mistakes and we gotta figure it out. … We gotta do it and we gotta stop having all these mistakes because (when) we play other good teams we can't afford those type of mistakes. We can't afford penalties. We can't afford having turnovers and not getting turnovers. It's just a lot of things that's built up and we just gotta make corrections, man."
Despite falling two losses behind 7-1 Detroit in the NFC North, Green Bay still feels good about its outlook. Asked if there's a gap between the Packers and Lions, Jacobs said he feels Green Bay is right there with its division foe.
The Packers just need to clean up the penalties and self-inflicted wounds that hurt them during their three losses this season.
"Right now, they're the top team," Jacobs said. "They're the top team in this division. We knew if we were to win this game where it would've put us. We knew it was gonna be a playoff-type game. We knew they're the ones we're chasing right now. It definitely stings but it's a reality check."
