Lions clinch playoff spot with gutsy win. Jared Goff hit 13 straight passes in the fourth quarter, and the Lions converted four of their five fourth downs, including a dicey one late. In a 31-31 game with 43 seconds remaining, the Lions could have kicked a field goal to take a three-point lead. But that’s, of course, not the Dan Campbell style. The Lions went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Green Bay 21-yard line, and Goff was stepped on by one of his lineman, barely able to hand it to David Montgomery for a 7-yard gain. That set up Jake Bates’ game-winning 35-yard field goal that sent the Lions to 12-1, winners of 11 straight – and they’re now officially in the playoffs. This felt like a playoff atmosphere, and as good a Thursday nighter as you could ask for. The Packers played very well, but the Lions were just a tad better.
Love got hot late, but Packers came up short. Jordan Love had trouble getting in a groove in the first half, but he made up for it with a strong second half, completing 9 of 13 passes for 175 yards and leading four scoring drives in the second half to erase a 10-point deficit. But the Packers burned a timeout in the third quarter on a possession where they ended up punting (on fourth-and-3 from their 37), which hurt them late. Christian Watson had a big game stretching the field for the Packers, but he was flagged for a costly illegal contact penalty blocking on a Josh Jacobs touchdown that was wiped out. Watson also fumbled in the first half after a 20-yard gain into Detroit territory. Penalties hurt them in the first half, falling behind, 17-7. Little mistakes added up all night, and against the Lions, it doesn’t take much for them to beat you.
Lions’ shorthanded defense was game, but they are even more banged up. Detroit’s defense was already down Joshua Paschal, Levi Onwuzurike and D.J. Reader -- not to mention their 18 players on injured reserve -- when one of their best remaining defensive linemen, Alim McNeill (head) was ruled in the first half. It stretched the Lions’ defense about as far as it could go. Pat O'Connor played a career-high 37 snaps – and was a menace. Later, Brian Branch came off the field. It was all hands on deck. The Lions allowed four touchdowns, but two of them came on short fields after an interception and a turnover on downs. Can’t blame them for those two. It wasn’t pretty, and the Lions had some costly first-half penalties (and some fortunate calls that weren’t made against them), but they gummed up in a really gritty effort. They forced a late three-and-out and held Green Bay to a late field goal, and the offense took care of business.
Packers can beat anyone out there. Yes, Green Bay just lost a tough divisional game and watched its rival celebrate a playoff berth. Sure, the Packers walk away bitter. There will be a few calls that went against the Packers that will be debated. But they also have to know after this game that they can go toe to toe with just about any team out there and match up pretty darned well. The Lions were banged up, but so were the Packers, missing key starters on both sides. I suspect one of the reasons Dan Campbell went for it late on fourth down was that he didn’t want to give the ball back to Jordan Love another time. Love was starting to carve up the Lions a bit. He averaged more than 10 yards per pass attempt; the problem was that the Packers barely had the ball, running only 45 plays. The Green Bay defense couldn’t hold the Lions in the red zone and on four out of the five fourth downs, but otherwise that group held together fairly well. Losses seldom are encouraging, but the Packers are a dangerous team.
Goff, Johnson rally after INT, fourth-down stop. The Lions built a 17-7 lead with an impressive first half, but they watched it melt away quickly as the Packers scored two touchdowns in the first three-plus minutes of the second half. Jared Goff was mostly good Thursday, but he forced a pass to Tim Patrick that was picked off at the Detroit 16, right after the Packers had scored on their first drive of the third quarter. Momentum swung in a huge way. But offensive coordinator Ben Johnson called a cool, smart drive for Goff, mixing in the run game and getting the Lions back in the end zone. On their next drive, Johnson called for a Jahmyr Gibbs run on fourth down that was stopped – their only fourth-down failure of the night. But both he and Goff were in their bag on the go-ahead and game-winning drives. Patrick (two TDs) was outstanding. Dan Skipper, even with an early penalty, was terrific in Taylor Decker ’s place. The Lions played with their typical bravado and toughness, and their two main offensive minds were locked in late.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Packers-Lions (via NFL Pro): Christian Watson was matched up against Carlton Davis on eight of his 19 routes (42.1%) in Week 14, catching three of his five targets for 108 yards (62.5% target rate). Watson was targeted just twice across his 11 other routes (18.1% target rate). Watson recorded a 59-yard reception in the third quarter, the deepest reception by air yards (39) allowed by Davis this season. Watson was pressed on 73.7% of all his routes against the Lions, finishing with season highs in targets (five), receptions (three) and yards (94) against press coverage.
NFL Research: Tim Patrick had gone 1,082 days – and two major injuries – since his last touchdown. On Thursday, he scored twice.
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