No Defense: Undisciplined Lions Lose Embarrassingly, 42-21
It was bound to occur. The Detroit Lions were embarrassed by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon.
Critical mistakes, a porous Lions defense and a Green Bay offense that turned on the afterburners led to the Packers' 42-21 victory.
The afternoon, in fact, started off pretty well for Detroit head coach Matt Patricia and his injury-plagued roster.
Detroit scored touchdowns on its first two offensive drives of the game to jump out to an early 14-3 lead Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
Detroit opened the scoring with Matthew Stafford leading the offense on an eight-play, 75-yard drive, highlighted by a 29-yard completion to tight end T.J. Hockenson.
The scoring drive was capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Kerryon Johnson.
Head coach Matt Patricia and quarterback Matthew Stafford
© Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
Last week, Johnson only rushed for 14 yards on seven carries.
In the opening drive, Johnson rushed on five occasions for 20 yards.
Detroit's rushing attack, led by a rejuvenated Adrian Peterson, picked up where it left off against the Chicago Bears.
In the first half, Detroit was able to rush for a combined 80 yards.
Green Bay was able to find its rhythm offensively on its second offensive possession, as head coach Matt LaFleur dialed up several crossing routes on the Packers' first touchdown of the afternoon.
Lions rookie defensive back Jeff Okudah, who was making his NFL debut, learned quickly that NFL wide receivers have a whole different set of skills than college wide receivers.
Davante Adams and the Packers' offense were able to take advantage of Detroit's inexperience, communication struggles and several mistakes in the secondary.
Stafford made a critical error late in the first half by getting pinned in the pocket and narrowly avoiding a safety.
Green Bay took over with less than a minute remaining in the half, and used two, inexcusable personal foul penalties on Lions safety Will Harris to score a late touchdown and take a 17-14 lead into halftime.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Danny Amendola
© Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Immediately after the halftime break, Detroit's defense was gashed right up the middle, as Packers running back Aaron Jones broke free for a career-long touchdown run of 75 yards to extend Green Bay's lead to 24-14.
Stafford's pick-six, coming after a sack from veteran linebacker Jamie Collins on the previous defensive possession, all but put the game out of reach for Detroit.
Packers cornerback Chandon Sullivan jumped the route, and intercepted a pass intended for Danny Amendola and quickly found his way into the end zone.
A Mason Crosby 35-yard field goal and Jones' third touchdown of the day -- via a 14-yard rush -- helped pad Green Bay's lead.
Detroit now sits at 0-2, and is losers of eight straight NFC North battles and 11 consecutive regular season games.
The Lions will look to notch their first win of the season next week when they travel to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals.
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