After an encouraging opening possession that featured an effective run game, the Green Bay Packers fell apart inside a wet and rainy Lambeau Field — giving up 24 straight points while committing too many penalties and dropping too many passes in a 24-14 defeat.
The Packers are now 0-2 inside the division to start 2024, and both losses came at home to the top contenders inside the NFC North.
The only good news is the Packers are still in a playoff spot at 6-3 and now have a chance to get healthy and regroup during the bye.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of the Packers’ loss to the Lions:
The Good
Run game: Josh Jacobs rushed for 95 yards on only 13 carries and had five carries of at least eight yards and three over 10. Emanuel Wilson had a 19-yard run on third down and a 2-yard touchdown. Chris Brooks even produced a 9-yard run in the red zone. By success rate, 12 of the Packers’ 20 attempted runs were successful — including a 61.5 success rate for Jacobs. The Packers ran the ball well early — especially on the opening drive — but fell behind late in the second quarter and all but abandoned the run game. Jacobs received only three attempts in the second half. With a better game script, the Packers could have pounded away at the Lions front. Instead, a big deficit — which erupted from seven points to 21 in the blink of an eye — made the Packers one-dimensional and essentially took Jacobs out of the game.
The Bad
More penalties: The Packers finished with 10 penalties. An unnecessary roughness penalty on the opening kickoff ruined good field position. An encroachment penalty on fourth down on the Lions’ final drive made the conversion a little easier. A false start turned a 3rd-and-3 into 3rd-and-8 and a punt in Lions territory. Kamal Hadden’s holding on punt return cost the Packers 10 yards of field position. Jordan Morgan was flagged for holding. Keisean Nixon extended the Lions’ first scoring drive of the second half with a holding penalty on third down. And a false start from Zach Tom on first down eventually created third-and-long. Overall, the Packers had four false start penalties. Matt LaFleur’s team has the sixth most penalties in the NFL, and they are now one of five teams with three games of 10 or more penalties in 2024.
The Ugly
The pick-six: A truly awful play and the game’s obvious turning point. Down 10-3, the Packers had the ball and a chance to go cut into the lead or tie the game before the half. Instead, Jordan Love threw a terrible pass under pressure and Kerby Joseph returned the interception for a back-breaking touchdown. Love attempted to dump the ball to Josh Jacobs, but he missed badly inside, and Joseph made the leaping pick. Jordan Morgan, who was making his first career start, gave up the pressure that led to the pick. Just a disastrous play.
More drops: The Packers dropped as many as six passes, and the big drops came in big spots. Chris Brooks dropped a likely first-down conversion on third down in the red zone on the first drive, potentially costing the Packers four points. Tucker Kraft dropped a likely third-down conversion before Brandon McManus’ missed field goal. Dontayvion Wicks dropped a sure-fire third-down conversion on the Packers’ first drive of the second half and a would-be touchdown on third down one play before Josh Jacobs was stuffed on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Sunday plays out in drastically different fashion if the Packers just catch the football. The rain can’t be blamed because the Lions had no issues making catches for Jared Goff.
