The Green Bay Packers fell behind early, made a big run to start the second half but ended up squandering a pair of leads and giving up the game-winning field goal as time expired in a hard fought but disappointing 34-31 defeat to the Detroit Lions on Thursday night at Ford Field.
Now 9-4, the Packers’ dreams of making a run in the NFC North are all but over. The Lions are 12-1 and cruising toward the top seed in the conference with four games to go.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of the Packers’ loss to the Lions:
The Good
Quick second half strikes: The Packers needed all of three minutes and 45 seconds to erase a 17-7 deficit and take a 21-17 lead to start the second half. Jordan Love hit Christian Watson on a 59-yard bomb, Tucker Kraft caught another red-zone touchdown, Keisean Nixon picked off his first pass of the season and Josh Jacobs rumbled in for a touchdown during the first four minutes of the third quarter. This was an impressive response by the Packers to a lackluster first half.
The fight: Despite an ugly start on the road in a hostile environment, the Packers held a pair of second-half leads and would have had a third lead late in the fourth quarter if not for a questionable OPI penalty on Christian Watson. The Lions are damn good, even with all the injuries on defense, but the Packers held their own at Ford Field and had plenty of chances to make the winning plays late. The NFC North race is over for Matt LaFleur’s team, but at least they know they can go on the road and play with anyone.
The Bad
First-half start vs. division rival: For the third straight game against the Lions or Vikings, the Packers fell behind big early and had to claw back from behind. This one wasn’t as bad as the others — only 10 points at half after trailing by 21 to the Vikings and 14 to the Lions earlier in the season — but it was still a tough start. Playing from behind — especially on the road — isn’t easy against top teams. The Packers need to reduce the difficulty level on these games and start faster.
High leverage spots: The Packers’ one stop on fourth down ended up setting up a touchdown, but the Lions converted four other fourth downs, including two for touchdowns. Time and time again, the Packers lost high leverage situations, including on third down with the ball in their hands. Overall, the Lions converted 11 third or fourth downs. The Packers? Just one (1-for-5).
The Ugly
Covering screens and digs: The Lions tore the Packers up with screens to running backs and dig routes to the middle of the field. Per Next Gen Stats, Jared Goff was 14 of 17 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns on in-breaking routes on Thursday night. And running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery caught 11 passes for 63 yards. Sam LaPorta, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams all had a catch of at least 10 yards on a quick screen. One of the back-breaking plays was a deep dig from St. Brown against the coverage of Keisean Nixon. It’s possible cornerback could be a fatal flaw for this team.
