Lions Show Packers Who’s Boss, Beat Packers 34-20

The Detroit Lions thoroughly dominated the Green Bay Packers during the first half to earn a big NFC North victory at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – From 1992 through 2014, the Detroit Lions came to Wisconsin 24 times. Every time, they lost.

With Brett Favre and Reggie White, with Aaron Rodgers and Charles Woodson, the Green Bay Packers were the bullies on the block. The Lions were the spindly little kids with no muscle on their bones but lunch money in their pockets.

This isn’t 1994, when the Packers demolished Barry Sanders in a playoff game. Or 2008, when Rodgers put the final nail in the Lions’ 0-16 coffin. Or 2011, when Matt Flynn had a game for the ages.

This is 2023. The Lions are the bullies. The Packers lost their lunch money.

In a clash of 2-1 teams battling for early NFC North superiority, the Lions showed they are the division’s definitive power, a team ready to make noise in the playoffs. The Packers showed they are the young pretenders, a talented team that’s nowhere near ready for primetime.

The Lions blasted the Packers back to reality on Thursday night, delivering an early knockout for a 34-20 victory. Just like last year’s season finale, when the Lions stunned the Packers to keep their rivals out of the playoffs, the bottom rows of Lambeau’s venerable bleachers were filled with blue-clad fans eager to celebrate with their surging team.

“Let’s go Lions,” they chanted.

Love, who was 6-of-13 passing for 50 yards with one interception during a dreadful first half in which open receivers were as rare as solid pass protection and offensive balance, finished 23-of-36 for 246 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The Packers didn’t reach 200 yards of total offense until about 4 minutes remaining in the game.

“They whooped us pretty good,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Every area, there’s a lot of improvement out there for us. They manhandled us really in every phase.”

The Lions, who had a 121-7 edge in first-half rushing yards, topped 200 rushing yards as David Montgomery plowed through the Packers for three touchdowns. Afterward, LaFleur was exasperated about the rushing defense and rushing offense.

“We’re going to do have to do something different. It’s insane to do the same things over and over again and expect a different result,” LaFleur said of the run defense.

Packers RB Aaron Jones is upended by Lions LB Alex Anzalone :: Photo by Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports Images

How thorough was the Lions’ performance? By the time the Packers had their initial first down of the game, 22 minutes had elapsed and the Lions had scored 24 points. The Lions were more physical, more explosive and more efficient.

The Packers struck first with Rudy Ford’s interception setting up a chip-shot field goal.

And those were the first-half highlights.

Detroit led 27-3 at the break. The first-half numbers were as lopsided as anything seen at Lambeau Field in years.

Yards: 284-21.

First downs: 15-3.

Rushing yards: 121-7.

Passing yards: 163-14.

“I don’t think we’re playing like the team we are yet,” Love said.

It took the Packers 22 minutes to get a single first down. Would that be a spark? Nope. On the next play, AJ Dillon lost 3 yards. On the next play, Love was sacked.

With left tackle David Bakhtiari on injured reserve, left guard Elgton Jenkins inactive and right tackle Zach Tom playing on one good leg, Love was sacked four times in the first half. That includes the final play of the half. As half the Lions’ defense got off Love, the crowd booed the team into the locker room.

That boost the Packers were supposed to get on offense with the return of running back Aaron Jones and receiver Christian Watson? Jones had two carries for 3 yards and Watson had zero catches on two targets in the first half.

What about that quick 3-0 lead?

The Lions scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession. Jared Goff’s shoulder fake burned veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas to a crisp as Amon-Ra St. Brown made a stumbling 24-yard touchdown catch.

That was part of a four-possession stretch in which the Lions went touchdown, touchdown, field goal and touchdown to lead 24-3.

At halftime, LaFleur told the Amazon Prime TV crew that he wanted to see his team put up a fight. Too little, too late, but it responded.

Coming out of halftime, the Packers drove 86 yards for a touchdown. Watson had a 24-yard grab before double-catching a 1-yard touchdown pass. A two-point throw to Jayden Reed made it 26-11.

That’s where it stood until the final play of the third quarter. To sneak in one more play, Love rushed the offense to the line. With the clock reading 0:00 when the ball was snapped, he threw his best ball of the night, a 44-yard bomb to Reed to the 9. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Love scored on a quarterback draw. His two-point run was stopped, though, the difference between a one-score game and a 10-point margin.

Detroit’s Riley Patterson kicked a 30-yard field goal to increase the Lions’ lead to 30-17 with 8:10 to play. But only for a moment. Quay Walker was flagged for trying to jump the pile on the kick. The Lions took the points off the board and eventually scored a touchdown on Montgomery’s fourth-and-goal run from the 1. So, Walker’s penalty resulted in four more points for Detroit and 2:10 less time for Green Bay.

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