Three points short. Three games behind. That about sums it up.
Immediately after this one, I was feeling pretty bitter. But, after thinking and reflecting, the Pack just went toe-to-toe with the team that is considered one of the best at this point. I think that really says something about this team…and I still feel like they haven’t hit their peak yet. Excited to see where the next few weeks takes us!
Here’s my take, tell me I’m wrong: This team can beat anybody! Sure they lost but if the offense lets the defense rest a few more minutes in the first half, the Pack wins.
The slow start offensively certainly hurt, but the game was there to be won in the second half, and the Lions executed to a T when they had to. Bottom line is the Lions overcame a late penalty and the Packers didn’t. That was one of the differences. I do think this Packers team can beat anybody. Felt the same way about them late last season. It’s who makes the plays at crunch time. Always.
We didn’t lose, we just ran out of time.
You’re not going to win every game that comes down to the last play. The Packers already had won three. So it goes.
Sure, there was one huge stop on 4th down that resulted in a short field and quick TD for us. But to allow 4/5 conversions on fourth down is a killer. I don’t really think it would have made any difference in the outcome of the game if we had scored a TD on our last possession. Our defense just wasn’t up to it.
Maybe not, but that’s the shot you have to give yourself against that offense.
It’s a less fun Inbox today, isn’t it? What play could have changed the outcome for the Packers to come out on top?
You gotta hand it to Dan Campbell, he sticks to what he believes in and it has the results. After the failed fourth-down conversion (and subsequent GB TD) other coaches would have taken the field goal and hope the defense will hold JL back. But he went for it, and sealed the win. I wonder if he would have done the same if Detroit were down by 1, would you?
I think he does the same if the Lions are down by 1 or 2. He wasn’t going to give the ball back to Love if he could help it.
Why wasn’t Goff marked down on the fourth-down handoff late? His knee touched the ground before he handed the ball off.
A surprisingly popular query. Lots of folks grasping at straws. He wasn’t taking a knee and wasn’t touched by a defender. Pretty simple.
Joe from Duffield, Canada
It was a good game and I thought we might sneak out the W. But our defense felt like death by 1,000 cuts… I give credit to the Lions for methodically chipping away, but I never felt like the defense was going to get a stop. With the injuries players seemed lost in coverage, and I couldn’t be the only one yelling at the TV to cover the center of the field. Take the extra days to get healthy and on to the next one!
That’s a difficult chess match with Ben Johnson the way that offense is built. They have a whole library of screens and other quick passes that are great answers for any blitz. The ball is just gone in a heartbeat. If you don’t blitz, Goff can sit back, step up in the pocket, and let one rip downfield. And if you blitz and it’s not a screen, he knows right where to go with it to get rid of the ball, or how to escape and throw it away. They rarely make a mistake, especially when the four-man rush is held at bay. Goff made one, and the Packers cashed in on it. They also got a big second stop in the second half on the fourth down. But they needed a third stop and couldn’t get it.
Mike, in the end is it that GB couldn’t stop Detroit’s offense or is that a too simplistic view?
They couldn’t stop them when they had to despite having ample opportunity.
12 fewer minutes time of possession. 31 fewer plays. Five third-down plays to their 15. How was this game tied with 2 seconds left? Arrgghh!
20 third- and fourth-down plays to the Packers’ five. That’s insane. The Lions make you stop them all four downs quite a bit, which isn’t easy. They scored four TDs against Green Bay this year on fourth-and-goal conversions. I’ve never seen that in one season series before.
Bryan from West Salem, WI
ML mentioned, and it’s been said many times here in II, that only a handful of plays separate wins and losses in this league. I would also argue that there is a distinct difference between teams that lose those handful of plays because their opponent is simply better, and teams that lose them because of poor execution or self-inflicted wounds. It seems to me that our 9-4 Green Bay Packers fall squarely into the latter category, which gives me hope because that is fixable. Is that fair?
I don’t know. The Lions are awfully good. The two plays that bothered me the most in this game were (1) the Christian Watson fumble, because he just grossly exposed the ball, which you can’t do (though he certainly did his best to make up for it as the game went on) and (2) the second fourth-and-goal touchdown, when the Packers weren’t ready and the Lions quick-snapped. That just can’t happen in such a crucial situation.
The officiating sure left a lot to be desired. A lot of phantom and missed calls throughout the night.
I get that they need to rise above the refs, but wow was that a horribly inconsistent game. They’ll call things like the illegal contact on Nixon or the rub route on Watson, but won’t call Love getting hit in the face, holding when Nixon blitzed, or OPI on ARSB’s in-breaking route. If you’re gonna let them play, make it consistent. Those two calls on us were an eight-point swing.
Chris from Rhinelander, WI
Can you please explain the OPI on Watson near the end of the game? It looked like he was running his route and the defender ran into him. I’m sure his job was to clear out defenders, but it didn’t look like he went out of his way to do so. It directly changed the outcome of the game.
LaFleur and Love talked about it at length postgame. All I can say is it’s a tough break. The refs thought the Packers were running a pick play but they weren’t. They were trying to run a screen to Jayden Reed to the left, and Christian Watson was the next option in the progression on the shallow cross from the right. But he ran into the defender trying to chase Josh Jacobs leaking out of the backfield. As LaFleur said, bottom line is you have to avoid the defender on the crosser there. Tough call that I don’t think is even made if Love throws left, where he’s initially looking.
Good morning II. No question, just a comment. That, was a slobberknocker. I could voice a few complaints, but don’t think I will. We just went toe to toe with one of the best in the league … we just needed a bigger foot with more toes. Tell Detroit we’ll be seeing them again soon and we’ll have all of our weapons.
The Packers have at least a couple more games to win, but if they’re fortunate enough to get another shot at the Lions, I suspect Detroit will be healthier too. Focus on what’s in front and see where the chips fall.
