Lions Beat Packers 34-31, Sweep Season Series on Last-Play Field Goal

The Detroit Lions won their 11th consecutive game and ended the Green Bay Packers’ three-game winning streak, 34-31 on Thursday night at Ford Field.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Tim Patrick (17) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Green Bay Packers linebacker Eric Wilson. / David Reginek-Imagn Images

DETROIT – Jake Bates kicked a 35-yard field goal on the final play as the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers 34-31 in a drama-filled Thursday night showdown.

The win was the 11th in a row for the Lions (12-1), who clinched a playoff spot. The Packers (9-4), who had won three in a row, were swept by the Lions for the second time in three years.

“I thought we just started, especially on the offensive side of the ball, too slow,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We go, punt, punt, fumble, then we score a touchdown. So, you know, it's only a handful of plays that separate these types of games, and like I told our team, we're going to have to earn the right to potentially come back here, and it's not going to be easy.”

Brandon McManus’ field goal tied the game at 31 with 3:38 remaining, setting up a do-or-die drive for Green Bay’s defense.

But there were no answers for the Lions, their aggressiveness or their screen game. After completions of 19 yards to Jameson Williams and 11 to Tim Patrick, the Lions faced a third-and-6 from the 36. The Lions had run several successful screens throughout the game, and they did again with Jahmyr Gibbs weaving his way for a first down to the 30.

Offensive holding by center Frank Ragnow moved it back to the 40. With that, the Packers had a breath of hope, but not for long. On second-and-17, Jared Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown against Keisean Nixon for 16 yards. On third-and-a-foot, backup safety Zayne Anderson upended David Montgomery at the line of scrimmage.

Incredibly, the Lions went for it on fourth down – choosing to go for the first down and run out the clock rather than give Love and the Packers a chance with about 40 seconds to go. Goff tripped coming out with the snap but managed to get the ball to Montgomery, who ran for 7 yards and the first down.

“They’re playing to win,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “They’re confident in their offense that they’re going to be able to convert that fourth down. Obviously, you’d like to be able to see the defense get a stop right there and get us the ball back and be able to go put up points or even go to overtime. But they’re playing to win, obviously, when it works out for them.”

That made Detroit 4-of-5 on fourth down. Moments later, Bates kicked the winning field goal to end a tension-filled NFC North showdown.

For the Packers, their NFC North championship hopes are dead. They are in strong position to make the playoffs, though, and will hope for another crack at the Lions in January.

Love finished 12-of-20 passing for 206 yards for the Packers and Josh Jacobs ran for three touchdowns.

Goff was 32-of-41 passing for 283 yards and three touchdowns. He was 10-of-10 for 105 yards in the fourth quarter.

Late in the third quarter, the Lions led 24-21 and faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 31. They were 3-for-3 on fourth down but this gamble backfired when Quay Walker ran down Gibbs on a toss to the right for a loss of 1.

So, Green Bay started at the 30. After a 21-yard catch by Tucker Kraft to the 6 to end the third quarter – Kraft took a wicked hit from Jack Campbell and flipped himself right back on his feet – Jacobs got key blocks by Sean Rhyan and Zach Tom on a 4-yard touchdown run. Jacobs’ third touchdown run of the night and seventh in three games gave the Packers a 28-24 lead with 14:20 remaining.

The Lions answered with Goff’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Tim Patrick on third-and-goal.

The Packers tied the score at 31. Christian Watson had a 29-yard catch when Love somehow escaped a sack, and Dontayvion Wicks added catches of 26 and 12 yards on back-to-back plays. However, pass interference on Watson nullified a touchdown pass to Jacobs and killed the drive. McManus’ 32-yard field goal tied the game at 31 with 3:38 remaining.

Trailing 17-7 at halftime, the Packers faced what might have been a must-score drive to start the second half. And score they did. On second-and-11, Love went deep to Watson, who got a couple steps past cornerback Carlton Davis for a catch-and-run for 59 to the 12.

On third-and-10, Love ripped a fastball to Kraft against tight coverage by Davis for the touchdown.

The made the score 17-14 – but not for long.

Moments later, Goff fired one to Patrick, but Keisean Nixon stepped in front of the pass for an interception, which he returned to the 16. Moments later, the Packers were in front 21-17. The Lions weren’t quite organized when Love got the snap and handed it to Jacobs. Jacobs ran through Za’Darius Smith’s tackle attempt and bullied his way the final 4 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Lions responded. On fourth-and-goal from the 3, Goff hit Patrick for the touchdown. It was the second fourth-down conversion on the drive. Gibbs had a 20-yard run on a play in which defensive tackle Karl Brooks practically took the handoff. Instead, Gibbs exploded through the gap left by Brooks on a run to the 8.

The Lions led 17-7 at halftime, with the big sequence coming late in the second quarter.

After Jacobs scored from the 1 to cut the margin to 10-7, the Lions roared right down the field. Goff hit Jameson Williams for 20 and Sam LaPorta for 13 and 11 to the 4. David Montgomery ran to the 1 and Goff was stopped just short of the goal line on a sneak with about 1 minute to go.

On third-and-goal at the 1, Kenny Clark stormed into the backfield and dropped Montgomery for a loss of 1. Lions coach Dan Campbell let the clock tick away before calling a timeout with 14 seconds to go.

Of course, Campbell went for the touchdown rather than a field goal .Jahmyr Gibbs ran a Texas route against linebacker Isaiah McDuffie. As Gibbs angled out, McDuffie followed. Gibbs then took the route inside and was wide open for the touchdown.

So, not only did the Lions make it a two-score game, they were able to drain most of the first-half clock so the Packers didn’t have time to answer.

Because of an unbelievable number of injuries, the Lions lined up without 18.5 of their 30 sacks and 53 of their 79 quarterback hits.

You wouldn’t have known it.

The Packers had 104 yards in the first half. Love was 3-of-7 passing for 31 yards. His longest completion was 20 yards to Watson, who fumbled on the play, which allowed Detroit to kick a field goal to lead 10-0.

The Packers’ only scoring drive of the half featured a 19-yard run by Jacobs and a 14-yard scramble by Love, who was escorted by pesky blocking by Bo Melton. On third-and-goal from the 3, Love was intercepted but rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold was all over Watson for interference. Jacobs scored on the next play.

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