Love ties career high with 3 TDs; Packers win
Jordan Love dropped back and threw deep on his first snap, taking advantage of what the Green Bay Packers thought the Detroit Lions defense would give them.
They were right.
Love set the tone with a 53yard pass to Christian Watson on the game's first play and finished with a career-high-tying three touchdowns, leading Green Bay to a 29-22 win over the NFC North-leading Lions on Thursday.
“It was something we put in this week that we thought was going to work,” said Love, who had to reassure coach Matt LaFleur to stick with the first call when he had second thoughts about it on the morning of the game. “We were confident in it.”
The Packers (5-6) were in control of a game they never trailed, taking advantage of Jared Goff's career-high three fumbles — returning one for a score in the first quarter — and Dan Campbell's aggressiveness on fourth down.
The Lions (8-3) went for it five times on fourth down and only converted once on the final touchdown drive. One of the failed attempts was a risky decision to fake a punt with a run from their 23 in the third quarter down by nine points.
“That obviously was a very critical play in the game,” LaFleur said. “And, that translated into a touchdown.”
Three plays after the failed fake, Love threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Watson to give Green Bay a 29-14 lead. Campbell later lamented that decision.
“It's a bad call,” Campbell said. “I shouldn't have done that to those guys.”
Goff pulled Detroit within seven points with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds and 2-point conversion pass to Sam La Porta with 41 seconds left, but couldn't get closer four days after rallying from a 12-point deficit in the last few minutes in a comeback win over Chicago. COWBOYS 45, COMMANDERS 10 >> DaRon Bland set an NFL record with his fifth interception return for a touchdown this season, Dak Prescott threw four TD passes and Dallas pulled away for a Thanksgiving victory over Washington.
The Cowboys (8-3) extended their longest home winning streak in 42 years to 13 games. Dallas won 18 in a row at home from 1979-81.
The Dallas lead going into the fourth quarter was less than two touchdowns for the first time in five home games this season, but the Cowboys ended up tying a 55-year-old franchise record with a seventh victory by at least 20 points this season.
A Dallas defense that gave up more than 200 yards for the first time in three games stiffened at key points in the second half, stopping the Commanders on fourth down three times.
Sam Howell threw for 300 yards and had a rushing touchdown, but was sacked at his 24-yard line on fourth down early in the fourth quarter, setting up CeeDee Lamb's touchdown and 2-point conversion catches for a 21-point Dallas lead.
Washington (4-8) lost for the eighth time in 10 games since a 2-0 start and dropped to 2-9 as the most common Thanksgiving opponent for their NFC East rivals.
Prescott threw for 331 yards in his fifth consecutive game with at least two TD passes, one shy of his career best. Rico Dowdle, Brandin Cooks and KaVontae Turpin had the other scoring grabs.
Bland capped a 25-point fourth quarter when he stepped in front of Howell's pass intended for Jahan Dotson and ran free along the Dallas sideline before having to cut back inside to avoid the pursuing Washington quarterback.
Receiver Terry McLaurin and running back Brian Robinson Jr. were the last hope for a tackle just outside the 10-yard line, but Bland sidestepped both and cruised across the goal line.
Bland's teammates lifted him into one of the kettles, and coach Mike McCarthy was appreciative of the officials working with him to “get control of it,” which included Dallas using a timeout.
“That's a big moment. Let's be honest. The sideline erupted,” McCarthy said. “It's good to celebrate and you need to. You need to smell the roses when you walk through the garden, as our guys did today. Because when you're on the other side, it's hard.”
Bland came into the game sharing the NFL record with Philadelphia's Eric Allen (1993), Kansas City's Jim Kearney (1972) and Houston's Ken Houston (1971).
“We just got beat by a lot of points on Thanksgiving,” McLaurin said. “The game was within reach. And we just didn't make the necessary plays to kind of put the ball in the end zone and do our part. So that's never a good feeling.”