Report Card: Grades From Packers’ Victory Over Lions
DETROIT – The Green Bay Packers started fast and finished strong in beating the Detroit Lions 29-22 on Thursday at Ford Field.
Less than two months ago, the Lions came into Green Bay and humiliated the Packers on their home field. That game felt like a message that there was a clear pecking order in the NFC North, and the Packers were a notch below.
That may still be true by the end of the season, but the Packers have put together three consecutive good games on offense.
In line with that, Jordan Love has played the best game of his career in each of the last three games, culminating with his 268 yards and three touchdowns vs. the Lions. The Love-led passing game received the highest marks in our weekly postgame report card.
Pass Offense
Look out, NFL. The Packers may have done it again.
Jordan Love, after a lengthy slump, has put together three consecutive really good performances.
At the halfway point of the season, it was fair to wonder whether the Packers had their long-term answer at quarterback or if they were going to need to look elsewhere.
Those questions can be shelved.
Love has more to prove, but the Packers are incredibly unlikely to be looking for his replacement this offseason.
Love's day started with a 53-yard bomb to Christian Watson to set up the opening touchdown.
Love said the team wanted to start fast, so it threw deep on the first snap. It was that type of aggression that carried the Packers' offense for most of the day.
With no run game to speak of, Love and the passing game had to carry the offense.
It's about more than just the results for Love. He looks like a different quarterback.
He's playing with confidence. He's throwing with conviction. He's finding open receivers. His accuracy, while not perfect, has improved.
He completed 22 passes to seven different receivers.
Each of his three touchdown passes went to a different receiver.
Apart from Love, the other big story is Watson. Watson has not had the season he was hoping for to this point. He's even heard some boos at Lambeau Field.
On Thursday, he delivered his best performance of the season. He had five catches for 93 yards and a touchdown on a contested catch in the third quarter.
Those stats may have been even gaudier if the Lions' pressure had not forced Love to throw the ball off his back foot a couple times.
For all his faults, Watson remains Green Bay's most talented receiver. He's a big play waiting to happen.
The Packers need more performances like this one. When they get this out of Watson, the rest seems to fall into place.
There's no question that the passing game gets a high mark for the day.
Grade: A
Rush Offense
On a day in which the Packers piled up a season-high 29 points, there is one place where they struggled.
AJ Dillon was the only healthy running back that was in Green Bay as of Monday.
He ran for just 43 yards on 14 carries. That included a big blunder on a fourth-and-1, when quarterback Jordan Love collided with Dillon. It was a “miscommunication,” Love said.
The biggest run of the day came from Love on a quarterback keeper for 37 yards. Receiver Jayden Reed and running back Patrick Taylor, who was signed off the Patriots’ practice squad this week, added five carries for 27 yards.
Ultimately, the Packers' run game has struggled immensely this season.
Aaron Jones is not going to miss the rest of the season, but he's unlikely to be back when the Packers take the field against the Kansas City Chiefs in a week.
They need more from their run game. Today's effort wasn't good enough.
Grade: D
Pass Defense
Safety Jonathan Owens deserves a gold star. He flew all over the field. He made impressive open-field stops on Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown as part of a 12-tackle day.
In addition, he scooped up a fumble forced by Rashan Gary and returned it for a touchdown to give the Packers an early two-score lead.
The Packers' secondary is in shambles with Jaire Alexander missing another game with a shoulder injury.
One way to make up for a deficient secondary is by rushing the passer.
The Packers had Jared Goff under duress all game. He was pressured on 16 of his first 35 dropbacks. Officially, the Packers were credited for 12 quarterback hits.
Rashan Gary sacked him three times. Preston Smith added another for good measure.
The yardage numbers look solid for Goff, but the Packers tightened up when they needed to.
Their pass defense added three turnovers – all fumbles by Goff.
Grade: B
Rush Defense
In Week 4, Lions running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs ran all over the Packers.
The Lions piled up 211 rushing yards on their way to 34 points. It was a physical humiliation.
Thursday's performance by the run defense wasn't going to remind anyone of the Steel Curtain from the 1970s, but it was much better.
Montgomery and Gibbs combined for 125 yards on 26 carries. Both averaged more than 4.0 yards per carry, but the Packers kept an explosive run game under wraps.
Gibbs escaped for a 23-yard run but did not have the explosive runs that the Lions have become accustomed to.
Thursday's game wasn't a great game, but it was passable.
With the Packers ranking near the bottom of the league in rush defense, good enough is, indeed, good enough.
Grade: C
Special Teams
Anders Carlson missed another extra point. That's his third missed PAT in three games.
He missed another field goal late in the first half, but we're not going to hold missing a 63-yard field goal against him.
The extra-point issue is getting bigger. The Packers need to get Carlson straightened out, especially as the weather starts to turn colder. The Packers will play three games down the stretch at Lambeau Field. They'll have one more road game in cold weather against the New York Giants.
The kicking game has to get itself sorted out.
Otherwise, the special teams earn high marks for making one of the biggest plays of the game. Lukas Van Ness and Henry Pearson combined to stuff a fake punt to give Green Bay the ball deep in Lions territory.
Daniel Whelan punted four times, forcing the Lions to start drives from their 16, 3, 9 and 9. On the second punt, Robert Rochell prevented a touchback and Zayne Anderson downed the ball.
The special-teams unit has had a lot of rough days, but the missed kick is the only thing holding them back from getting an A.
Grade: B+
Coaching
Coach Matt LaFleur set the tone.
Former college defensive coordinator Don Brown used to say, "Solve your problems with aggression."
LaFleur started the day with aggression. The Packers won the coin toss and took the ball to start the day.
That's almost unheard of these days. Teams almost always defer to the second half.
Once the Packers got the ball, LaFleur second-guessed himself but was aggressive on the first play of the game. He trusted Jordan Love to air it out against an aggressive Lions defense.
His aggressiveness paid off. The Packers scored three touchdowns in the first half and moved up and down the field.
LaFleur stayed aggressive throughout the game. On a day when they were outflanked in terms of personnel, they needed their coaching staff to make up the difference.
On this day, LaFleur, Rich Bisaccia and, yes, Joe Barry did just that.
Grade: A
