Jared Goff (303 passing yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-32 passing with a lost fumble) and Jordan Love (274 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception on 27-of-45 passing) put on a show with Goff’s Lions prevailing over Love’s Packers 20-17.
Both teams did their best to give the game away in Week 7. The Lions lost two fumbles, one by Goff on a botched snap and another by Jahmyr Gibbs. Dan Campbell also surprisingly went for it on fourth-and-1 on Detroit’s 24-yard line only to see Gibbs get stuffed.
The Packers missed two field goals after Campbell’s gutsy fourth-down decision backfired. Green Bay also committed eight penalties for 81 yards.
Green Bay’s offense hanging around with Detroit’s No. 2 scoring offense was a minor miracle considering the team lost both its starter center, Sean Rhyan (ankle), and its backup center, Jacob Monk (quad), to lower-body injuries in the first quarter, but that didn’t deter Love despite being pressured on almost half of his dropbacks. Green Bay marched right down the field on its opening drive. They had to settle for a 21-yard field goal after the drive stalled out, but a delay of game penalty forced a re-kick from 26 yards out that rookie kicker Trey Smack missed wide right. Love then countered Goff’s opening drive touchdown pass to Jameson Williams with a 14-yard strike of his own to tight end Tucker Kraft.
Detroit took a 10-7 lead into halftime, but a Love checkdown to Josh Jacobs went for a 25-yard catch-and-run touchdown to give the Packers a 14-10 lead with 12:14 left in the third quarter. That touchdown occurred thanks to Goff fumbling away an under-center snap on the Lions’ first drive of the third quarter. Goff and the Lions punched back with a 10-yard touchdown toss to Williams to take a 17-14 lead with 6:33 left.
After forcing the Lions’ first three-and-out of the day halfway through the fourth quarter, Green Bay tied the game at 17 on a 43-yard field goal from Smack. That’s when the chaos of Campbell’s ill-fated fourth-down call that involved a slow-developing run up the middle for Gibbs, Smack’s missed field goal, and the Lions’ made field goal as time expired occurred.
Stay tuned for takeaways.