The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers 34-20 on Thursday Night Football in Week 4 to take over control of first place in the NFC North. It was a game that provided an inordinate amount of mood swings for a game that wasn’t within one score after the middle of the first quarter.
Here are some quick takeaways from watching the Lions beat the Packers for the fourth straight time.
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The first half was as much fun as I've ever had as a Lions fan
Being a long-time Lions fan comes with a notable absence of pure football bliss. The first 30 minutes of football in Green Bay on Thursday night was as awesome of a half of Detroit Lions experience as I can ever recall.
I’m someone who didn’t get to watch the lone playoff victory in the Super Bowl era in real time (I was working). In my 51 years on earth, I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun watching the team as I did in the first half of Thursday night.
I took a snapshot of the box score to remember it by, one that I will look at to remind me to provide some sunshine on a cloudy day:
It was the apex of Lions fandom, a complete and utter physical domination by Campbell’s team. Doing it on the road in Green Bay in front of a national audience, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Or can it…?
The Taylor Decker and David Montgomery returns were huge
Left tackle Taylor Decker and top running back David Montgomery both missed the Week 3 win over Atlanta and were listed as questionable for Week 4. An erroneous report Thursday morning cast doubt that the duo would play, but they did return to the lineup.
Decker getting back at left tackle was a huge boon for the run game — in part because it moved Penei Sewell back to his customary right tackle spot. Decker didn’t have his best night; he was guilty of a false start and got beaten on the pass rush a couple of times. But putting the pieces back in their optimal places had a huge overall benefit for the Lions offense.
Montgomery was the primary beneficiary. He’d never beaten the Packers in his career, losing all seven of his matchups while a member of the Chicago Bears. Despite dealing with a painful thigh bruise, Montgomery had an incredible game.
He ran 32 times, gaining 121 yards and scoring three touchdowns. He became the first Lions player ever to run for three TDs in a road game against the Packers. Montgomery attacked and punished the Packer defense with powerful, decisive runs that took advantage of the nice holes created by Decker & Co. up front.
Detroit ran for 211 total yards. While some might grumble about the relative lack of rookie Jahmyr Gibbs (8 carries, 40 yards), it’s hard to argue against how effective Montgomery was with his style and chip on his shoulder. When the Lions needed to ice the game, No. 5 got the job done.
Going passive after halftime was nearly a disaster
For as blissful as the first half was for Detroit, the second half got a little uncomfortable. The team got away from what had worked so well in the first 30 minutes, making the remainder of the game a lot more stressful and competitive than it needed to be.
On offense, the playcalling from Ben Johnson turned conservative and bland. Timid. Gone were the creative route combos, the aggressive attitude, the sharpness from Jared Goff and the line in front of him. And the offense was the more impressive of the Lions units in the second half.
The defense reverted into the passive, read-and-react sieve that predominated the team’s Week 2 loss to Seattle. After racking up sacks, mixing up coverages and dictating the action to the Packers while seizing the huge lead, coordinator Aaron Glenn showed mercy in the Packers’ dojo.
Jordan Love found a nice little groove for the Green Bay offense, with receivers exploiting the softer coverage and consistently marching down the field. The drives were time-consuming, a saving grace for Detroit. I suspect when I rewatch the game I’ll feel better about the Packers burning so much clock to try and claw back into the game. But in real-time, paired with the offense doing nothing, it was somewhere between aggravating and infuriating. The scars run deep in being a Lions fan, and the fundamental switch from juggernaut tank to a lame horse, especially in the third quarter, made some of those scars start to itch a little.
Quick hits
I’ve got an abundance of the quick hits from this one…
–The Brian Branch injury scare was a very dark cloud, at least for a bit. It was great to see the superb rookie DB return after leaving the field on a cart, but reaggravating the ankle injury was not something anyone wanted to see. The extra days off are going to be very beneficial here.
–Jared Goff throwing a legit block on the early Kalif Raymond end-around on the last play of the first quarter is a tremendous example of grit and leadership. You’d better believe that means something to the linemen who are tasked with blocking for Goff.
–Jerry Jacobs, who has not had a good start to the season, picked off Jordan Love twice and nearly had a third INT. While Jacobs was guilty of a (very iffy) pass interference call, he had a much-needed good overall game.
–Not all takeaways are positive, not even in a win. And it pains me to write this, but it might be time for Marvin Jones to be inactive. He’s just not showing he can move at the requisite speed anymore. It really showed on his one target, a play where Goff led him away from the coverage but Jones just couldn’t close on a catchable throw. This isn’t the first game that’s happened in the young season.
–I was impressed with how Goff handled the bad early INT. During the game, he quickly put the mistake behind him and proceeded to have a pretty strong game (19-of-28, 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). After the game, he owned the lousy throw and then talked up the team’s resiliency.
–I noted backup TE Brock Wright’s strong blocking a couple of times.
–Aidan Hutchinson was relentless in spearheading the defensive dominance early. The Packers were sending extra help to RT Zach Tom (a pretty promising young player) and it helped open opportunities for Isaiah Buggs, Alim McNeill and Charles Harris to find pass-rush success. McNeill had a great game for “only” registering two tackles and a sack.
–John Cominsky keeping Jordan Love out of the end zone on the second 2-pt. conversion effectively ended the Packers’ chances. Great effort and tackle by No. 79.
–I didn’t catch if Chase Lucas played on defense, but the cornerback has quickly emerged as a special teams ace. He had a fantastic game on punt and kick coverage, registering two tackles and helping Jack Campbell get free for another.
–Sam LaPorta had another impressive game, but the rookie TE only has himself to blame for not extending his string of games with at least five catches to four. LaPorta had a dropped pass late in the second quarter on a pass from Goff that should have produced significant yardage. LaPorta quickly redeemed himself by making a strong catch to bail out Goff under duress. LaPorta finished with four receptions for 56 yards.
–Hutchinson was robbed of a safety on the play late in the second quarter when Love threw the ball left-handed. It avoided the sack, but No. 97 was also egregiously held in the end zone before forcing Love into the panicky improvisation. That should have been two points and the ball. Quick props to Love for actually completing the pass with his off hand; that’s impressive.
–Riley Patterson remains perfect on the season, making both of his field goal attempts (33 and 37 yards). Even better, the kicks were free of any drama or dangerous proximity to hitting anything yellow.
–If it’s a game in Green Bay it is decreed that the officiating will make itself part of the story. For once, the Lions had the gumption and the overriding talent to overcome some truly abysmal calls. It helped that Green Bay’s Quay Walker committed an absurdly stupid special teams penalty to swing the officiating momentum back Detroit’s way in the fourth quarter.
–It was interesting seeing Craig Reynolds as the kick return specialist for Detroit. He had one return for 28 yards in a role he doesn’t typically play.
–Punter Jack Fox did not have a good game. He had one good punt out of four kicks, with another one greatly aided by a muff from Packers rookie Jayden Reed.
–The Lions fans in the stadium made themselves known, both visually and audibly. Seeing the hundreds of Lions fans still celebrating in the stands well after the game ended and being loud enough to disrupt the postgame shows warmed the heart.
