The Green Bay Packers on Thursday got an unexpected extra chance to stop the Detroit Lions’ offense night, but could not do it.
With 43 seconds left in a 31-31 tie, the Lions faced fourth-and-inches from the Packers 21. They were in easy field-goal range for Jake Bates, but coach Dan Campbell decided he did not want to leave Green Bay any time on the clock, so he kept his offense on the field.
If the Packers had gotten a stop, they would have had a chance at a shocking victory.
Photo: Lon Horwedel / Imagn Images
“That maybe surprised me a little bit, but that’s how Dan has been throughout his career,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
David Montgomery sliced through the line for a 7-yard gain. Two plays later, Bates kicked a 35-yard field-goal as time expired to give the Lions a 34-31 win.
“They gave us an opportunity and we didn’t take it,” LaFleur said. “Hats off to them.”
Since a 2-2 start, the Packers have gone 7-2.
However, both of those losses were against the National Football Conference North rival Lions (12-1), likely putting a division title out of reach.
The Lions’ win assured them of a spot in the playoffs.
Green Bay’s earlier two defeats came against the other top teams in the NFC: the Philadelphia Eagles and division rivals the Minnesota Vikings.
This time, Jordan Love led Green Bay to 24 second-half points and two four-point leads: 21-17 and 28-24. The defense just could not get off the field.
The Lions had two possessions in the fourth quarter — a 70-yard touchdown drive to take a 31-28 lead and a 53-yard game-ending drive after the Packers had it. Jared Goff was 10-of-10 for 105 yards and a touchdown on those possessions.
“We gave him a ton of a time to throw at the end,” LaFleur said. “They ran a ton of screens today and it really hurt us.”
On the first fourth-quarter drive, Goff completed passes of 11 and 14 yards. On the final possession, he had completions of 19, 11 and 16 yards.
“I’m sure there are things we could do differently, but Jared is a great quarterback and they have great playmakers on offense,” LaFleur said. “He gets them the ball and they get their yard-after-catch machine rolling.”
Love did not blame his teammates.
“Obviously, we’d love to see the defense get the stop at the end and give us the ball back with a chance to win or get to overtime, but we put them in a 17-7 hole in the first half — we got off to such a slow start,” he said.
Love completed three of seven passes for 31 yards in the first half and also took a sack. He was great after the intermission — nine-of-13 for 175 yards and a touchdown — but he was not happy about his performance.
“I just didn’t make enough plays early on,” he said. “They’ve got a really good offense, and I think we are just as good, but that slow start hurt us.”
The Packers could get a third shot at the Lions in the post-season.
“That’s a long way away, but I do think we have a really good ball team,” LaFleur said.
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