GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Detroit Lions have waited a long time for this. Without a Division title for 30 years, a fan base desperate for their first playoff victory since 1991, thousands of blue jerseys poured into Lambeau Field Thursday night thanks to generous Gold Package season ticket holders who exchanged a long ride home for a couple of bucks and they watched their team pour it on the Green Bay Packers in a thorough 34-20 blowout. The win moves the Lions to 3-1, a game clear of the 2-2 Packers in the NFC North race at the season’s quarter pole, but the difference between these clubs looked far wider than one game in the standings. Detroit has been building a strong club since Head Coach Dan Campbell arrived in the Motor City three years ago and they manhandled a young, shorthanded team in every way possible.
Yet it was the home side that produced the game’s first big play as safety Rudy Ford intercepted Jared Goff on the third snap, returning the interception to the Detroit 16 yard line. Aiden Hutchinson sacked Jordan Love for a loss of nine on second down and the Packers had to settle for a 34 yard Anders Carlson field goal for the quick, 3-0 lead. It was an ominous foreshadow of what was to come for the Packer offense the rest of the half.
The Lions quickly answered with rookie tight end Sam LaPorta getting loose for a 35 yard catch and run. On the next snap, Amon-Ra St. Brown’s stutter and go route brought Rasul Douglas up hard looking to jump the pass that didn’t get thrown until St. Brown ran right by a slipping Douglas for an easy 24 yard touchdown and Detroit was just getting started. Another sack and a false start penalty in punt formation gave Detroit a short field and they moved 55 yards in 8 plays with former Chicago Bear running back David Montgomery crashing in from three yards out to make it 14-3. A third straight three and out from the inept offense gave the ball right back to the Lions. Goff hit Josh Reynolds up the sideline for 26 yards followed by Kalif Raymond taking an end around for 40 more. Thanks to a Detroit holding penalty, the Lions managed only a 33 yard Riley Patterson field goal to make it 17-3.
Another Packer penalty, a Dallin Leavitt hold on the ensuing kickoff had Green Bay start at their own 10 and on the first play, Love’s pass to Christian Watson, making his season debut, got tipped by linebacker Alex Anzalone and Jerry Jacobs picked it off, returning it 20 yards to the Packer 7. Two plays later, Montgomery found the end zone again and the rout was on at 24-3.
It took until their 6th possession for the Packers to pick up a first down and that came when Detroit jumped offsides. Another sack against an overwhelmed offensive line brought out Daniel Whelan for his 4th punt of the half. Patterson’s second field goal rom 37 yards out pushed the lead to 27-3 and the half ended with Love getting sacked for the 4th time.
The intermission numbers were downright numbing. Detroit amassed 284 yards of offense while the Packers had all of 21 total yards on 22 offensive snaps.
Green Bay was able to put together it’s longest drive of the season to open the third quarter, moving 86 yards in 12 plays. Watson caught a 24 yard pass over the middle and finished the drive with a wide open one yard touchdown catch. Love connected with Jayden Reed on the two point conversion to make it 27-11. On the final play of the third quarter, even after the clock looked to hit zero, Love threw deep to Reed who pulled in a 44 yard bomb. A clean quarterback draw opened for Love who scampered nine yards untouched for another score. His two point option run was stopped short but the Packers had pulled to within 10.
Detroit’s ground game revved up as they drove to the Green Bay 12 and kicked another field goal but a penalty flag was thrown after Quay Walker took a running start to try and leap over the line of scrimmage to bock the kick. That’s against the rules. Defenders have to be within a yard of the line of scrimmage to try that and the penalty gave Detroit a first and goal from the six and Montgomery became the first Lion running back ever to score three rushing touchdowns in a game at Lambeau Field by scoring on 4th and goal from the 1.
Love’s second interception took points off the board late when Romeo Doubs broke to the back of the end zone but Love anticipated a hook and Jacobs easily pilfered the pass at the 4 yard line.
The defense got it back and Carlson connected from 50 yards but the ensuing onside kick rolled out of bounds and the Lions ran out the final 2:52.
It was a humbling evening for Head Coach Matt LaFleur.
The numbers bore that out. Detroit outgained the Packers 401-230. For the second time in four weeks, the Packer defense allowed over 200 rushing yards with Detroit piling up 211, 121 on 32 carries from Montgomery, who after four years with Chicago, finally was on the winning side against Green Bay. Detroit controlled the ball for nearly 38 minutes. Their defense took it away twice and piled up five sacks of Love, giving the Lions an even dozen in the last two games. The Packer offense looked a mess, even with Watson and Aaron Jones back on the field. Jones had all of six touches, five carries for a team high 18 yards on the ground and one catch that actually lost four yards. Green Bay had just 27 rushing yards total. Love finished 23 of 36 for 246 yards with one score and two picks, a passer rating of 69.9. Doubs set career highs with 9 catches for 95 yards. Josiah Deguara was next in the air with 4 catches for 34 yards. He saw extensive action at tight end after Luke Musgrave suffered a first half concussion. Guard Jon Runyan had an ankle injury in the first half but finished the game, however he was seen in a walking boot on his left foot in the locker room afterwards. That’s nothing compared to the news that emerged prior to kickoff.
The Packers placed five time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari on injured reserve. He played the season opener in Chicago but hasn’t been able to dress since with recurring issues in his surgically repaired knee. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Bakthiari underwent an arthroscopic procedure on Wednesday and is scheduled to have yet another operation later this fall which the team hopes will correct the issues and have him ready for the 2024 season. It’s a devastating blow to the offensive line that’s also without Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins, mending from an MCL sprain suffered in Atlanta. Second year pro Rasheed Walker is expected to man the left tackle spot the rest of the year. The Packers brought up linebacker Kristian Welch from the practice squad to take Bakhtiari’s roster spot.
Two defensive starters were among the inactive players as De’Vondre Campbell couldn’t go with an ankle injury and Jaire Alexander missed both games this week with a back injury. The Packers won’t play again until Monday, October 9 in Las Vegas against the Raiders before their regularly scheduled bye week, returning to the field on October 22 in Denver. It will offer the team a chance to heal up and toughen up. The most physical part of football, the run game, is sorely deficient on both offense and defense right now. And don’t look now, but the Lions have restored the roar in Detroit, the old Black and Blue Division better take notice, for on this Thursday night, they were clearly superior to the home team that had won this division 15 times since the visitors last captured it.
