Lions Beat Packers on TNF
-Frank Leon, Contributor
The Lions rolled into Lambeau Field and beat the Green Bay Packers 34-20, and the game wasn't ever that close. This is the Lions 4th straight win against the Packers and 2nd straight win in Green Bay.
The defense was the star for the Lions in this one. In the first quarter, the Lions held the Packers to zero first downs and 1 total yard. They were causing problems for Jordan Love and his offensive line could not slow down anyone on the defensive line. At halftime, the Lions had sent 0 blitzed and had a pass rush success rate of 45%. This is an insane stat to have and it allows your secondary to freely cover the receivers. Aidan Hutchinson led the way with 8 QB pressures and 1.5 sacks (also almost had a sack in the end zone for a safety but Love threw the ball left handed to get away from him) and the Lions defense combined for 27 QB pressures,per PFF. Hutchinson now has at least 5 QB pressures in every game this season. The Lions had 4 sacks on Jordan Love. John Cominsky, Alim McNeil, Hutchinson, Charles Harris and Isaiah Buggs all got in on the action in the sack game.
Jerry Jacobs continues to show he's an underrated corner in the NFL with 2 interceptions and he was on tight coverage on most throws throughout the night. Cam Sutton is a one man lock down machine on his side of the field. He gave up just one catch and immediately tackled Watson. The Lions secondary is only going to get better with a healthy version of Kerby Joseph and Emmanuel Mosley coming back to the lineup.
The defense also held the Packers to 27 total rushing yards. The Lions went into the game as a top 5 ranked rushing defense and this game really showed what they can do. The game did get away from the Packers early so they had to throw more but even early on, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon could not find a hole in this Lions line.
The offense started slow with a Jared Goff interception on the first passing play that led to a field goal by the Packers. But they were able to turn it around and run the ball well throughout the game and David Montgomery led the way with 32 carries, 121 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. They ended up with 211 rushing yards. Josh Reynolds, Amon-Ra St Brown and Sam Laporta led the way in the receiving game all with over 50 yards. The offensive line held a good Packers defense to only one sack.
The Lions get a rest until next Sunday October 8th against the Panthers and their young QB Bryce Young. The Lions path to success will be to continue to rush the QB and make young QBs miserable in the pocket.
Notes:
- Brian Branch continues to lead the team in tackles with another 7 and a pass breakup. The young rookie continues to impact the game every time he's out there. He was down and taken into the locker room with an ankle injury but came back into the game heavily taped. Hopefully he's healthy going forward.
- Rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs was limited to just 8 rushes for 40 yards and the Lions are slowly building him up for a good end of the season. They don't want to show too many of the good plays with Gibbs involved this early in the year if they don't need to
- Sam Laporta set the record for the most yards in a tight end's first 4 games in NFL history. He has at least 4 catches in every game he's played. - Kalif Raymond had an impressive 40 yard run on an end around that was set up by an effective block by QB Jared Goff. Goff set the edge but got dropped hard onto the turf for his efforts. Great play by both.
-The Packers got off a big play to the the third quarter that should not have gotten off. The game clock hit 0 and the play should be ruled dead by the officials but they let the play continue and the Packers had a big gain. Officials will surely be told to keep on an eye on this from now on. But it's the Lions who get to find out about it first, as per usual.