Packers sunk by ‘embarrassing’ first half vs. Lions: How Detroit grabbed control of the NFC North

By Matt Schneidman, Colton Pouncy and KC Joyner

The Detroit Lions used a dominant first half to shut down the Green Bay Packers on “Thursday Night Football,” winning 34-20. Here’s what you need to know:

The Packers (2-2) finished the first half with just 21 total yards and were booed off the field by their home crowd, while the Lions (3-1) racked up 284 en route to an early 27-3 lead. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur called his team’s first-half showing “humbling” and “embarrassing” during a halftime interview.
After throwing an interception on Detroit’s opening drive, quarterback Jared Goff ended the game 19-of-28 passing for 210 yards and one touchdown.
Lions running back David Montgomery, who was listed as questionable heading into the game, put up 121 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. He also had 20 receiving yards.
Packers QB Jordan Love went 23-for-36 passing for 246 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, also rushing for one touchdown. Green Bay posted 230 total yards for the game after the abysmal first half.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

What worked for Detroit

The Lions began this game in the worst way imaginable: an interception on the first series, giving Green Bay the ball within striking distance of a touchdown. The crowd was rocking. It was a disastrous start and a movie we’ve seen before. But then, the defense held firm: a field goal — great response. Then, it was the offense’s turn. The Lions scored 27 straight. They didn’t flinch. They took control of a game in ways we haven’t often seen. They maintained it, despite a push from the Packers, and still won comfortably. It’s a sign that this team just might be different. This is one they wanted. They got it. — Pouncy

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It’s all happening for the Lions

Detroit is 3-1, in first place of a division looking weaker by the day, playing a brand of football this city can get behind. Their defense appears to have taken a leap. Their offense remains potent. It’s all coming together, evidenced by a 14-point win at Lambeau. From here, they have a favorable schedule. They’ll host a Carolina Panthers team that’s 0-3, then head to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. Have to think the Lions will be favorites in both of those games. Don’t look now, but the Lions might be for real. — Pouncy

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What went wrong for Green Bay?

In the first half alone, the Lions had six more points (27) than the Packers had total net yards (21). Green Bay averaged an abysmal 1 yard per play while the Lions scored more points in the opening 30 minutes than they ever have in a single half playing the Packers. According to Next Gen Stats, every Packers offensive lineman allowed at least one pressure in the first half despite the Lions not blitzing until the last play of the half, on which Love was sacked before he could get off a Hail Mary attempt.

After an opening-drive interception by safety Rudy Ford that the offense was only able to turn into 3 points, Green Bay’s defense collapsed. The Packers were loudly booed off their home field going into halftime. Enough damage had already been done to Green Bay’s hopes of victory with this deficit proving too large to overcome in a battle for early NFC North supremacy, which the Lions seized convincingly. — Schneidman

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Packers magic ran out

For a moment that was more than fleeting on Thursday night, it seemed as if Love and the Packers might be able to conjure more Lambeau Field magic. After erasing a 17-0 fourth-quarter deficit in an 18-17 win last Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, the Packers cut a 27-3 Lions lead to 27-11 on their opening drive of the second half before forcing a three-and-out on Detroit’s ensuing drive. They even forced a punt on the Lions’ next drive, too, after a largely inept defensive showing in the first half, before a Love designed run into the end zone made it 27-17 with 14:52 left in the fourth quarter.

This time, however, the Packers’ comeback attempt proved to be just a tease in an eventual 34-20 loss.

There remained hope even after the Lions made it 30-17 with 8:10 left, but inside linebacker Quay Walker’s leaping penalty on the field goal attempt gave the Lions an automatic first down and they scored a touchdown while running 2:10 off the clock instead. That, in essence, was the ballgame with six minutes left. — Schneidman

What happened with the play at the end of the third quarter?

Terry McAulay, the rules analyst for the Amazon broadcast, said that the play that the Packers ran at the end of the third quarter should have been called off because the clock hit zero and the quarter should have ended at that point. McAulay then went on to point out that the play is not reviewable, as end-of-quarter or end-of-game timing errors do not fall into the reviewable play category.

With the clock on triple zeros, Jordan Love finds Jayden Reed for a BIG Packers gain.
🎥 @NFL
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) September 29, 2023

It seems like this is something the NFL should address. Imagine the hue and cry from a team’s fans if a playoff game or Super Bowl was decided on a play that started after the game was over. — Joyner