Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes, including two to Tim Patrick, and the Detroit Lions extended their irresistible winning streak with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
Detroit inherited the ball with 3:38 remaining in the fourth quarter and a 31-31 tie on the scoreboard, after a successful field goal by Brandon McManus.
Goff, who was once again very efficient by completing 32 of his 41 pass attempts, orchestrated the offensive sequence leading to Jake Bates’ winning field goal from a distance of 35 yards.
A first down on a fourth down and a few inches deep in Packers territory set the stage for Bates to run as the final seconds ticked down.
The unstoppable Lions thus signed an 11th consecutive victory to increase their record to 12-1, moving one step closer to the coveted Northern division title. They are the first team in the NFL to post 12 wins on the clock.
Furthermore, the place in the post-season calendar for Dan Campbell’s men is now assured.
Since 1975, the year the current format of the American and National associations was established, the Lions have never finished in first place in their association.
For their part, the Packers suffered a fourth defeat (against 9 victories) despite a valiant performance punctuated by three rushing touchdowns from running back Josh Jacobs.
The Packers stopped the Lions only once on a fourth down and Jacobs took the opportunity to score his third touchdown of the game, on three yards, during the following sequence.
The Lions’ final offensive sequence began with a 19-yard pass from Goff to Jameson Williams. He also connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for 16 yards.
The Lions quarterback finished the game with 283 yards of aerial gains. Six players on the Detroit roster caught the ball at least five times.
Jordan Love, for his part, completed 12 of his 20 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft at the start of the third quarter.
The Lions will have another difficult test to face in their next game, in ten days, when they host the Buffalo Bills, authors of a seven winning streak.
