Packer Central

Packers Lose to Lions: Snaps, Stud, Dud, Defining Play

Who was the big loser in the linebacker rotation? Let’s dig into Green Bay’s 24-10 loss to the Lions with snap counts, stats, studs and duds.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs was the best player on offense in the loss to the Detroit Lions.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs was the best player on offense in the loss to the Detroit Lions. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers lost to the Detroit Lions 24-10 at Lambeau Field. Let’s dive into the snap counts – with one veteran losing a lot of playing time – and other postgame analysis.

Packers Snap Counts

The Packers played 65 snaps on offense.

Offensive line: Without center Josh Myers (wrist), Rasheed Walker, Jordan Morgan, Elgton Jenkins, Sean Rhyan and Zach Tom went the distance.

Tight end: Tucker Kraft is a warrior. He played every snap. Ben Sims played 12 and John FitzPatrick played one. With five snaps on special teams, Kraft played a team-high 70 snaps.

Receivers: Romeo Doubs, 54; Jayden Reed, 44; Christian Watson, 37; Dontayvion Wicks, 35; Bo Melton, 11.

Running backs: Josh Jacobs, 36, Chris Brooks, 17; Emanuel Wilson, 13. Brooks’ snaps came early and Wilson’s came late.

The Packers played 57 snaps on defense.

Linebacker: With Quay Walker’s return from a concussion, how would the Packers divide the snaps among their four linebackers? Isaiah McDuffie was the big loser. Having played about 73 percent of the snaps entering the game, he played a season-low 33 percent against Detroit.

The breakdown: Walker, 57; Eric Wilson, 42; Edgerrin Cooper, 38; McDuffie, 19.

Walker had a team-high 12 tackles; McDuffie had one of three tackles for losses.

Cornerbacks: With Jaire Alexander (knee) inactive, Keisean Nixon and Eric Stokes started at corner, with Carrington Valentine entering at corner in nickel situations and Nixon moving into the slot. Stokes and Valentine alternated series as the No. 2 corner.

The breakdown: Nixon, 47; Stokes, 37; Valentine, 35.

Safeties: McKinney and Bullard played every snap. Bullard also played 12 snaps on special teams, giving him a total of 69.

Defensive ends: Rashan Gary,36; Lukas Van Ness, 24; Kingsley Enagbare, 22; Preston Smith, 21; Arron Mosby, 5. Gary was the only player who played half the snaps.

Defensive tackles: Kenny Clark, 36; TJ Slaton, 31; Devonte Wyatt, 26; Karl Brooks, 15; Colby Wooden (who suffered a shoulder injury), 11.

Stud

The only thing that could stop Josh Jacobs was the scoreboard.

He finished the game with 13 carries for 95 yards, with 10 carries for 89 yards in the first half – highlighted by a 37-yard run in which he broke a tackle and gained 35 yards after contact.

By our unofficial count, Jacobs gained 75 yards after contact and broke five tackles.

The weather “obviously played a factor,” Jacobs said. “But it’s football, man. You can’t never say we dropped the ball because it was raining, we fumbled because it was raining. That’s part of the game and you got to take everything that come with it. I would never make an excuse on any type of weather. We got to play whatever the weather. Whatever the situation, we got to play and we got to be good at what we do.

Dud

First-round pick Jordan Morgan made his first NFL start. He had been rotating at right guard with Sean Rhyan, with the Packers opting to keep Rhyan at right guard and move Morgan to left guard to take the place of Elgton Jenkins, who slid inside to center.

Morgan had some quality blocks for Jacobs. But he was flagged for holding during the game-turning sequence that included the ejection of Lions safety Brian Branch and ended with a false start by Romeo Doubs on first down, a drop by Tucker Kraft on third down and a missed field goal by Brandon McManus.

Then, the fateful pick-six (detailed next), Morgan was late to recognize blitzing linebacker Alex Anzalone.

Play of the Game

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a video worth? Who knows – perhaps 14 points?

Stat of the Game

The Packers went 0-for-3 in the red zone before Emanuel Wilson’s touchdown. Of Green Bay’s nine possessions, seven advanced onto Detroit’s side of the field. They scored on 2-of-6 before Wilson scored. That’s how you lose with a 150-yard advantage (including plus-86 in the first half).

Quote of the Game

From LB Eric Wilson: “If you are what you are, we’re a f***ing good football team then. If you are what you are, we’re a good f***ing football team. We’ve just got to clean that penalty sh** up and we’ll be just fine.”

More Green Bay Packers News 

Lions “built” for bad weather; Packers are not | Packers-Lions: Report card | Another annoying interception | Packers-Lions: Stock report | Packers-Lions: Game story | Packers-Lions: Live updates | Packers-Lions: Highlights | Packers-Lions inactives | Three reasons why Packers will lose to Lions

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.