Lions News

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions can scream it loud: The NFC North runs through us!




Jeff Seidel
Detroit Free Press


GREEN BAY, Wis. — Wait a second! What are they doing?

It was fourth-and-3. The Detroit Lions had the ball on the Green Bay 12. Up 10 points. And they lined up to go for it. What in the world was Lions coach Dan Campbell doing?

Ah — I see — he was just trying to draw the Packers offsides. The Lions kicked the field goal and went up, 30-17.

Smart.

Then, a late penalty emerged — the kind that used to plague the Lions. But this is a new time, a new age. And the Packers were making the mistakes. Linebacker Quay Walker did a Lambeau Leap over the Lions long snapper, which happens to be against the rules.

So, the Lions went back on the field, took points off the board, ate up more clock and then Campbell risked it at the perfect time.


David Montgomery plunged into the end zone on fourth down, effectively clinching the game.

What a wild turn of events.

Maybe after letting a huge lead slip away, after all the momentum flipped, the old Lions would have crumbled and lost this game.


But this is a new team.

They withstood the Packers' surge and held on for the win, 34-20.

So, let’s say it slowly: The. Detroit. Lions. Are. In. First. Place. In. The. NFC. North. They just went into Lambeau Field, on a short week, on national TV, and showed they are for real. They screamed loud and clear: This is our division now!


Have you paid any attention to the rest of the NFC North?

The 0-3 Chicago Bears are a complete mess — they have scored 47 while giving up 106.


And the Vikings have lost three straight, too.

It’s a two-team race for the division.

Check that. It’s Detroit and everybody else.


A perfect start


The first half was a thing of beauty for the Lions. They scored 27 points, the most they have scored in a half against the Packers. Ever.

The offense was clicking and the defense was dominating, and then the offense did some more clicking.


It was complementary football at its best. Everything was working. Everything was connected.

The Lions' rebuilt secondary clamped down on the Packers receivers, forcing Jordan Love to hold the ball, and then that Lions defensive line turned into sack machines. They had four sacks in the first half alone: Alim McNeill (1), Aidan Hutchinson (1½), Charles Harris (½) and Isaiah Buggs (1).


Was it the pressure or the secondary?

The chicken or the egg?

Ah, who cares, it was working.


At halftime, the Lions had a 27-3 lead.

It was complete domination.


And the Lions had put together six straight quarters without giving up a TD, since Seattle scored in OT.


This was old-fashioned football — pounding the ball at times — mixed with some razzle-dazzle.

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, the Lions had a 23-3 lead. It was the 13th straight game in which the Lions had scored 20 points or more, tying the franchise record set in 1995.

This wasn’t just winning a half. This was a complete domination.


Withstanding the Green Bay comeback


The most interesting part of the second half was this question: How would the Lions respond to a big lead?

Could they handle the success?

“I wanna see this team fight,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said at halftime of the Amazon Prime Video broadcast.


Just four days earlier, the Packers had rallied from a 17-point deficient in a victory over New Orleans at Lambeau — the biggest comeback in organization history.

On the Packers' first possession, the Lions started making dumb penalties.


Worse yet? Brian Branch, the dazzling rookie defensive back, went down with an ankle injury. He was helped up and walked off gingerly.

And the Packers did mount a comeback.

Yes, the Packers benefited from a ref screwup — huge surprise, right? Love hit Jayden Reed on a 44-yard pass at the end of the third quarter. And by "end," I mean, "after time had expired." The play shouldn’t have counted.



But the Lions, more than anybody, should know you have to overcome things like that.

Suddenly, the Packers had all the emotion and juice and energy.

But the Lions held on.

They did just enough in the second half — they found just enough plays — to clinch the win.

That’s all that mattered.

For your first-place Detroit Lions.


Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

[whatever_gong82]

Packers sunk by ‘embarrassing’ first half vs. Lions: How Detroit grabbed control of the NFC North


By The Athletic Staff
September 28, 2023


By Matt Schneidman, Colton Pouncy and KC Joyner


The Detroit Lions used a dominant first half to shut down the Green Bay Packers on “Thursday Night Football,” winning 34-20. Here’s what you need to know:

*- The Packers (2-2) finished the first half with just 21 total yards and were booed off the field by their home crowd, while the Lions (3-1) racked up 284 en route to an early 27-3 lead. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur called his team’s first-half showing “humbling” and “embarrassing” during a halftime interview.

*- After throwing an interception on Detroit’s opening drive, quarterback Jared Goff ended the game 19-of-28 passing for 210 yards and one touchdown.

*- Lions running back David Montgomery, who was listed as questionable heading into the game, put up 121 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. He also had 20 receiving yards.

*- Packers QB Jordan Love went 23-for-36 passing for 246 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, also rushing for one touchdown. Green Bay posted 230 total yards on the day after the abysmal first half.



The Athletic’s instant analysis:


What worked for Detroit

The Lions began this game in the worst way imaginable: an interception on the first series, giving Green Bay the ball within striking distance of a touchdown. The crowd was rocking. It was a disastrous start and a movie we’ve seen before. But then, the defense held firm: a field goal — great response. Then, it was the offense’s turn. The Lions scored 27 straight. They didn’t flinch. They took control of a game in ways we haven’t often seen. They maintained it, despite a push from the Packers, and still won comfortably. It’s a sign that this team just might be different. This is one they wanted. They got it. — Pouncy


It’s all happening for the Lions

Detroit is 3-1, in first place of a division looking weaker by the day, playing a brand of football this city can get behind. Their defense appears to have taken a leap. Their offense remains potent. It’s all coming together, evidenced by a 14-point win at Lambeau. From here, they have a favorable schedule. They’ll host a Carolina Panthers team that’s 0-3, then head to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. Have to think the Lions will be favorites in both of those games. Don’t look now, but the Lions might be for real. — Pouncy


What went wrong for Green Bay?

In the first half alone, the Lions had six more points (27) than the Packers had total net yards (21). Green Bay averaged an abysmal 1 yard per play while the Lions scored more points in the opening 30 minutes than they ever have in a single half playing the Packers. According to Next Gen Stats, every Packers offensive lineman allowed at least one pressure in the first half despite the Lions not blitzing until the last play of the half, on which Love was sacked before he could get off a Hail Mary attempt.

After an opening-drive interception by safety Rudy Ford that the offense was only able to turn into 3 points, Green Bay’s defense collapsed. The Packers were loudly booed off their home field going into halftime. Enough damage had already been done to Green Bay’s hopes of victory with this deficit proving too large to overcome in a battle for early NFC North supremacy, which the Lions seized convincingly. — Schneidman


Packers magic ran out

For a moment that was more than fleeting on Thursday night, it seemed as if Love and the Packers might be able to conjure more Lambeau Field magic. After erasing a 17-0 fourth-quarter deficit in an 18-17 win last Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, the Packers cut a 27-3 Lions lead to 27-11 on their opening drive of the second half before forcing a three-and-out on Detroit’s ensuing drive. They even forced a punt on the Lions’ next drive, too, after a largely inept defensive showing in the first half, before a Love designed run into the end zone made it 27-17 with 14:52 left in the fourth quarter.

This time, however, the Packers’ comeback attempt proved to be just a tease in an eventual 34-20 loss.

There remained hope even after the Lions made it 30-17 with 8:10 left, but inside linebacker Quay Walker’s leaping penalty on the field goal attempt gave the Lions an automatic first down and they scored a touchdown while running 2:10 off the clock instead. That, in essence, was the ballgame with six minutes left. — Schneidman



What happened with the play at the end of the third quarter?

Terry McAulay, the rules analyst for the Amazon broadcast, said that the play that the Packers ran at the end of the third quarter should have been called off because the clock hit zero and the quarter should have ended at that point. McAulay then went on to point out that the play is not reviewable, as end-of-quarter or end-of-game timing errors do not fall into the reviewable play category.

It seems like this is something the NFL should address. Imagine the hue and cry from a team’s fans if a playoff game or Super Bowl was decided on a play that started after the game was over. — Joyner

[El Axe]

[-Deborah-]

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[whatever_gong82]

Jordan Love Had No Chance Against the Lions, and Neither Did the Packers

Green Bay let a crucial NFC North matchup turn into a rout with Love under constant pressure while making his first primetime start without two Pro Bowl offensive linemen.


MATT VERDERAME
13 HOURS AGO


There were always going to be nights like this. In fact, these are the nights which define careers.

Not in the evening itself, but in how a player rebounds from them.


For Jordan Love, the potential for a dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Under a full moon at Lambeau Field, the Packers and Lions were set to battle for first place in the NFC North on national television.

The battle never materialized. It was a beatdown from the start. Detroit won 34–20 after leading 27–3 at halftime.


“We got our ass kicked,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said in the postgame press conference of the team’s first half. “If I knew [why], it wouldn’t have happened.”

Love finished 23-of-36 for 246 yards with two touchdowns (one rushing) and two interceptions. He was also an ugly 6-of-13 for 50 yards with an interception before the break.


Friday’s air and radio waves will crackle with hot takes about the Love being decisively beaten in his fifth career start. The fourth-year quarterback struggled early and essentially ended the game on the second quarter’s fourth play when he threw an interception to Lions corner Jerry Jacobs on a pass tipped by linebacker Alex Anzalone.

Yet, while Love played poorly, the offensive line was a disaster.


“It’s hard to throw on your back,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got to protect him better. We’ve got to look at some of the things we’re asking our guys to do. … There’s plenty of blame to go around. I’m always going to look at myself first and foremost, and see what kind of position we’re putting our offense in. It wasn’t good enough.”

Without former All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari and Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins up front, Love was constantly under duress. On Green Bay’s first five drives, it failed to pick up a first down, with third-down distances of 19, 16, three and seven yards.


“It's not where you want to be, especially when you’re playing the Lions and they have a really good pass-rush front,” Packers guard Jon Runyan Jr. said. “I think their defensive line is definitely the strength of their team. Defensive and offensive line. When they’re able to know what the situation is, and know they’re going to have to get after the quarterback, it’s hard on us to hold up. We’re putting ourselves in those second-and-10s, third-and-12s … these last two weeks have just been unacceptable for us.”

The Packers didn’t earn a first down without the benefit of a Detroit penalty until there were seven seconds left in the second quarter with Detroit playing prevent defense.


In the first two quarters, the Packers allowed four sacks, five tackles for loss and six quarterback hits. Green Bay ran a total of five times in the first half, gaining seven yards.

Meanwhile, the defense was smoked one play after the next. Over the Lions’ next four drives after Rudy Ford’s interception of Jared Goff on the game’s opening possession, Detroit scored 24 points and averaged a whopping 8.6 yards per play.


By the time Green Bay forced Detroit’s first punt with 9:21 remaining in the second quarter, the Packers trailed by 21 points.

Barely 20 minutes into the game, Love was forced into an impossible spot of having to constantly throw behind an undermanned and overwhelmed offensive line.


At halftime, the Lions held a 284–20 advantage in total yards. Somehow, that was an improvement from the first-quarter numbers, which favored Detroit 194–1.

The lazy narrative will be whether Love is good enough to win games such as these. Of course, it’s too early to have any real clue. The reality is Love had no chance on Thursday night, which is both a credit to the Lions and a demerit for Green Bay’s coaching staff.


Coming into the game, LaFleur knew he’d be shorthanded up front. Green Bay needed to create easy throws for Love and slow down Detroit’s inevitable pass rush, either with clever runs or quick passes, such as screens.

Instead, Love was given no support on the ground while consistently being asked to look downfield, often with his receivers getting little separation.


The same is true defensively. The Packers knew a heavy dose of the ground game was coming, and yet Detroit still ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 4.9 yards per carry.

“We’re going to have to do something different,” LaFleur said of his problematic run defense. “It’s insane to do the same things over and over again and expect a different result. That’s a good offensive line and they have really good runners. I think [Jahmyr] Gibbs and [David] Montgomery are two of the better backs, and one of the best offensive lines in [the league], but it’s still inexcusable.


Still as is always the case with quarterbacks, the blame and praise are outsized.

Love will get ample ire for Thursday’s failure, but he shouldn’t. Even an experienced quarterback would have been hard-pressed to generate offense. While he certainly deserves criticism for his second-quarter interception on one of the few dropbacks where his pocket was clean, most plays simply weren’t there to be made.



In a second half full of garbage time, Love put up numbers (17-of-22 for 196 yards and two touchdowns with a pick) but it was academic both in real time and afterwards. Yet there was a moment in which you saw Love’s potential and why the Packers are so bullish on him.

On the final play of the third quarter (which shouldn’t have counted due to the clock running out), Love had the awareness to rush to the line, snap the ball and uncork a gorgeous 44-yard deep ball to rookie receiver Jayden Reed. It’ll be lost in defeat, but it was instructive of the future.


Ultimately, the Packers should still feel emboldened by their situation.

Green Bay is 2–2 in a bad division and a weak conference. The Packers will soon get Jenkins back from a sprained MCL in his left knee, and Jones’s usage will likely ramp up. While Thursday night was a mess up front, Green Bay entered the night with Pro Football Focus’s top-ranked offensive line.


The Packers had also ranked 10th in pressure rate against through three games at 18.9 percent, while allowing just three sacks. Only the Chiefs and Dolphins have been better in the latter department.

Moving forward, Green Bay has a mini-bye before playing the Raiders, Broncos and Vikings over its next three games. Those teams are a combined 1–8, with the only victory being Las Vegas’s win over Denver.


For both Love and the Packers, their seasons won’t be defined by a lopsided Thursday night loss in Week 4.

They’ll be defined by how they respond, and what happens next.

[whatever_gong82]

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2023/9/29/23896096/the-lions-are-dominating-their-rivalry-with-the-packers

[edindetroit]

Report: Lions WR Jameson Williams eligible to return next week after NFL gambling policy change

https://www.clickondetroit.com/sports/2023/09/29/report-lions-wr-jameson-williams-eligible-to-return-next-week-after-nfl-gambling-policy-change/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaig n=snd&utm_content=wdiv&fbclid=IwAR0x0dCa4Xh5HMkEPx FX2XOZPh8zmq7cGzD8hbuisgHHHxeKAW-Y2skeQQc

Notice that the NFL waited until after the Green Bay game to make the change

[Newbomb Turk]

Whoooo hoooo

[GALion68]

More great news after the big win last night!

Now Jamo, let's see your career get on track for real now.

[LightninBoy]

I went looking for a more authoritative outlet for that news. Its real.

https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-reinstating-jameson-williams-nicholas-petit-frere-gambling-policy-changes

[jaadam4]

Wow that’s awesome! That has to mean the end for Marvin Jones right?

[Lionsfan123]

Wow that’s awesome! That has to mean the end for Marvin Jones right?

We finally have him back just in time! If Jamo is who we think he is, he will take the cap off of a defense. We may finally get to see what this offense is truly capable of

[froot loops]

I think Marvin is in there just to block.

[joshlions]

Is his hamstring 100%?

[Blue Lagoon58]

"He's good."