This was not the Thanksgiving celebration the Lions had in mind.
The Packers opened Thursday’s game in Detroit with a quick touchdown drive and never trailed, en route to a 29-22 victory over the NFC North leader. Quarterback Jordan Love and edge rusher Rashan Gary led Green Bay to the victory.
Love threw touchdown passes to Jaden Reed, Tucker Craft and Christian Watson, completing 22 of 32 for 268 yards. Love also picked up a third down on a late 37-yard run in perhaps his best game since taking over as starting quarterback earlier this season.
Watson had his most productive day of the year with five catches for 94 yards. Rookie Malik Heath made some key catches while playing in place of Dontaevion Wicks.
This performance comes a week after a strong win over the Chargers, and the Packers should be encouraged by the progress Love and the offense have shown after a tough start to the season.
The opposite is true for the Lions’ defense. Thursday’s game was the third straight under par, but this time the offense didn’t perform well enough to overcome it.
Gary had three sacks and forced Lions quarterback Jared Goff to fumble twice. He recovered the second one on fourth down early in the fourth quarter, and safety Jonathan Owens returned the first for a first-quarter touchdown. There wasn’t much to like on either side of the ball for Detroit for much of the day, as Goff lost his third fumble on a scramble and the Packers pressured Goff throughout the game.
The Lions looked to come back from a two-point deficit in the fourth quarter for the second straight year. A drive into the red zone with less than seven minutes left ended in an incomplete pass, but wide receiver Josh Reynolds scored a touchdown with 41 seconds left. He completed a two-point pass to tight end Sam LaPorta to make it a one-point game, but was unable to convert the onside kick.
Goff was 29-of-44 for 332 yards and two touchdowns on the day, but the biggest focus after the loss will likely be the turnover issues of the past two weeks.
By playing Thursday, the Lions will have a little more time to iron out what went wrong on that front and defensively in recent weeks. They are scheduled to play the Saints in New Orleans in Week 13.
The Packers are currently 5-6 and will look to maintain that momentum at home against the Chiefs. If they can get a win in Sunday night’s game, the playoff buzz will start to get louder in Wisconsin.