Lions control NFC North after picking Packers apart, 24-14

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Any time, any place.

That’s been one of the Detroit Lions’ mottos under head coach Dan Campbell.

And they lived that to the fullest extent on Sunday in Green Bay, where they walked into a sopping-wet Lambeau Field, decimated the rival Green Bay Packers with the division lead on the line, and maintained the NFC's No. 1 seed with a 24-14 victory that was far more decisive than the final score indicates.

For the second time in four games, the Lions (7-1) turned a highly anticipated matchup on America's Game of the Week into a swift victory. Detroit beat the Dallas Cowboys, 47-9, on America's Game of the Week in Week 6. Across those two games, they've allowed just one touchdown.

Earlier in the week, Packers safety Xavier McKinney said the Lions "try to embarrass people," telling reporters that the Green Bay organization and its players "don't really take that lightly."

To their credit, the Packers avoided getting blown out, after trailing, 24-6, entering the fourth quarter. Green Bay added a touchdown and two-point conversion with 3:46 left in the game to cut its deficit and make the scoreboard a little prettier.

But Detroit had its way with the home team, despite the persistent downpour of rain — conditions that, entering the game, many pundits believed would favor the Packers — and Green Bay made all of the game's critical errors.

The Packers had 10 penalties to Detroit's five and made several critical drops, while also failing to capitalize on the majority of their opportunities. With 10:07 left in the game and Detroit nursing a 24-6 lead, wide-open Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks watched a third-down pass go right through his hands in the end zone, and Green Bay turned it over on downs the next play.

But the critical error came with 32 seconds left in the first half. After Detroit added a field goal to make it a 10-3 lead with 58 seconds to go, Packers quarterback Jordan Love made his worst decision of the game. Hoping to avoid a sack by Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone, he tried to dump the ball off to running back Josh Jacobs but was intercepted by Kerby Joseph for a pick-six that made it a 17-3 Lions lead, with Detroit getting the ball to start the third quarter.

The Lions made the most of their opportunity and drove down the field with a nine-play, 71-yard drive, culminating with a 15-yard touchdown run up the gut by Jahmyr Gibbs to make it 24-3.

Gibbs had 65 rushing yards on 11 carries and set the NFL record for most consecutive games averaging above 5.0 yards per carry (seven).

Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who entered the stadium on Sunday wearing a sweatshirt that read "GREENBAY SUCKS" got the scoring started for Detroit with a 3-yard touchdown and totaled seven catches for 56 yards. Lions quarterback Jared Goff — often criticized for being much better indoors than out — was 18-for-22 passing for 145 yards and one touchdown. He nearly had another perfect first-half passing but threw an incompletion on his final attempt to finish 11 for 12 through the first two quarters.

Packers running back Josh Jacobs took 10 first-half carries for 89 yards, but the Packers were forced to go away from the run game while trying to claw back from a double-digit deficit for the entire second half. He finished with 95 yards on 13 carries. Love finished the game 23-for-39 passing for 273 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, while ex-Michigan State star Jayden Reed led all receivers with 113 yards.

The Packers, which entered Sunday with the league's 25th-ranked red-zone offense, marched down the field with a 14-play drive to begin the game but settled for a 30-yard field goal by Brandon McManus to go up, 3-0, when running back Chris Brooks dropped a third-down pass over the middle to end the threat.

When the Lions first got the ball, they had an equally arduous 13-play drive. After getting to fourth-and-goal at the 5, Detroit baited Green Bay into an encroachment penalty that made it first-and-goal at the 3. St. Brown put a ferocious double-move on Packers defensive back Keisean Nixon and made a toe-tapping catch on a perfect back-shoulder pass from Goff to go up, 7-3, on the opening play of the second quarter.

After beginning their second drive with a 37-yard run up the middle from Jacobs, Green Bay suffered a brutal false-start penalty before third-and-3 from the Detroit 32, forcing the Packers to throw up a pass that fell incomplete and led to a punt.

Lions safety Brian Branch was ejected with 6:18 left in the second quarter for a head-to-head hit against Packers receiver Bo Melton. Branch was clearly not enthused with the decision and received an additional unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for appearing to flip his middle fingers to the Green Bay sideline, leading to a 30-yard penalty. The Packers couldn't capitalize on the opportunity, however, and McManus missed a 46-yard field goal to end the drive.

Detroit extended its lead with 58 seconds left in the half with a 10-play, pass-happy drive. Detroit got to the 9-yard line of Green Bay before Goff threw his first incompletion of the game (he started 11 for 11 for 86 yards) on third down and the Lions settled for a 27-yard field goal from Bates to go up 10-3.

The Lions then gained a 17-3 lead before halftime when Joseph intercepted a terrible pass by Love and returned it 27 yards to the house for his first career pick-six and sixth interception of the season. Joseph's pick-six was the first by a Lions player in Green Bay since 1979.

Green Bay tacked on a 38-yard field goal from McManus with 48 seconds left in the third quarter to cut Green Bay's deficit to 24-6.

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