Third-quarter dominance sets up significant victory
A recap of the Green Bay Packers' 3124 victory against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Ford Field.
Big picture
The Packers are firmly in the driver's seat for the NFC's top seed and only first-round playoff bye. At 10-3, they are tied with New Orleans for the conference's best record and own the tiebreaker thanks to their Week 3 win over the Saints. New Orleans also must play the potent Kansas City Chiefs next week while the Packers host the mediocre Carolina Panthers. Green Bay clinched its second straight division title under coach Matt LaFleur, who is 10-1 against NFC North opponents.
Turning point
With the score tied 14-14 at halftime, the Packers took control on the opening drive of the third quarter. The Packers marched 75 yards on 14 plays and kept the ball for 8:49, with Aaron Rodgers capping the drive on a 6-yard TD run. After the Lions went three-and-out, the Packers chewed up the rest of the quarter with another extended drive. In all, they ran 21 plays for 143 yards in the quarter compared to the Lions' three plays for 4 yards. Their second drive of the half extended into the fourth quarter and culminated in a four-yard TD toss to tight end Robert Tonyan, capping a 12play, 79-yard march in 7:49 for a 28-14 lead.
Thumbs up
Davante Adams again was dominant with seven catches for 115 yards, including a 56-yard TD on the Packers' first drive. But don't overlook the impressive performance by the much-maligned Marquez Valdes-Scantling: six receptions for 85 yards and a TD. More and more, Valdes-Scantling is looking like a legitimate deep threat and worthy No. 2 receiver.
Thumbs down
The Packers' defense was unable to prevent the Lions from putting together some lengthy touchdown drives of their own, which kept the Packers' offense on the sidelines and prevented them from blowing the game open. Although Detroit did little with its run game, quarterback Matthew Stafford (24-for-34, 244 yards and a TD) did a masterful job of finding open receivers until he was forced out of the game late in the fourth quarter after taking a hit on a scramble from Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
5 things to watch revisited
1. DIGGING OUT OF A HOLE: Adams and LaFleur pointed out last week how often the Packers had fallen behind the Lions in games at Ford Field (and at Lambeau Field as well). Adams joked that the Lions might have been putting "some drowsy (stuff)" in the air conditioning. The Packers had rallied to win the most recent three games but lost the four prior to that, so getting ahead early was considered essential Sunday. Yet the Packers again fell behind as the Lions used an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. But Adams answered with a 56-yard TD catch to tie it and the Packers went ahead 14-7 before settling for a 14-14 halftime tie.
2. PLAYOFF CLINCHER: The Packers began the day with a chance to clinch both a playoff berth and the NFC North title. Mission accomplished, with some help from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who beat Minnesota to help give Green Bay the division crown. Then they got a bonus when the Eagles, starting rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts, upset the Saints 24-21 to give the Packers the inside track on the NFC's top seed with three games remaining.
3. DUELING RETURNERS: The Packers rolled out Tavon Austin on special teams for the first time since signing him two weeks ago, but it figured to be a challenge for him to get opportunities against Lions punter Jack Fox, who led the league in both gross and net average. Opponents had returned only 13 of his 45 punts. Austin had one return on three punts for 2 yards. On the other side, veteran Lions returner Jamal Agnew came in averaging 8.8 yards per punt return and 24.0 yards per kickoff return. Agnew kept the Lions alive with a 75-yard kick return that enabled Detroit to kick a field goal and pull within seven points late in the game. Kicker Mason Crosby, after making a key 57yard field goal, made the tackle that prevented a touchdown.
4. THE MATCH-UP GAME: After hearing from some of his pass rushers about wanting to have more freedom to get after the quarterback, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine obliged and in so doing put more coverage burden on his cornerbacks against Philadelphia last week. There was less two-deep zone and more man coverage and three-deep zone, and with the exception of a breakdown by cornerback Jaire Alexander and an open-field slip by safety Darnell Savage that led to big plays, the coverage was good. The Lions like to throw a lot and Pettine had to decide whether to go conservative with soft zone or allow his corners to challenge more. In the end, the Packers kept the Detroit running game in check but were picked apart by Stafford's darts.
5. ON THE RUN: The last two games between the two teams had been showcases for running back Aaron Jones. He had 18 carries for 168 yards and two touchdowns rushing and four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown in a 42-21 win in Week 2. And in December 2019, he had 25 rushes for 100 yards and two catches for 43 yards. That's 379 total yards in the previous two meetings. And after keeping Jones under wraps in the first half, the Packers used him as a third-quarter battering ram. He finished with 69 yards on 15 carries and helped wear down the Lions' defense.
Injuries
Packers CB Chandon Sullivan left the game with a hip injury. He was replaced by Will Redmond.