Thanksgiving Six-Pack: Game Ball for Rashan Gary as Packers Beat Lions
DETROIT – Well, one thing was clear at the start of the Green Bay Packers' Thanksgiving Day showdown in Detroit.
They weren't going to come into the game timid.
The Packers won the toss and elected to take the ball. On the first play of the game, coach Matt LaFleur dialed up a shot to Christian Watson. Jordan Love hit Watson for 53 yards, and the big plays followed from there.
Love and Co. piled up 247 yards in the first half, and Rashan Gary and Karl Brooks had strip-sacks as the Packers led 23-6 at halftime.
With three sacks, Gary gets the game ball, while the running game gets the lame ball and Watson, who has been under fire for most of the season, gets play of the game.
Here's your holiday six-pack.
Here's the rest of your holiday six-pack.
Game Ball: Rashan Gary
Thursday's game had to feel like a full-circle moment for Rashan Gary. He was playing in the state where he played football collegiately. He also was playing in the stadium where his career nearly turned upside down a year ago.
About 54 weeks earlier, Gary suffered a torn ACL at Ford Field. On Thursday, he returned with a vengeance.
Gary sacked Jared Goff three times. The first came late in the first quarter, with Gary forcing a fumble that was picked up by Jonathan Owens for a 27-yard touchdown that gave Green Bay a 20-6 lead. The third came on fourth down early in the fourth quarter with the Lions trailing 29-14 but in scoring range.
“As everybody knows,” Gary said, “this is my return from the field that I got injured at. Throughout this whole time, there’s been a lot of emotion. I was praying, trying to keep my head cool. I’m just happy that I had the opportunity to step on the field and God took over. That’s why I was emotional, man. Coming back to the spot where I had my first major injury to be able perform how I performed and win the game most importantly.”
It was Gary's second three-sack game of the season, the other coming on Sept. 24 against the New Orleans Saints.
Gary is one of the top players on the defense, and the Packers need him to continue to make impact plays.
He broke out of his slump last week with a sack on third down that helped preserve the Packers' tenuous lead vs. the Chargers.
Today, he wrecked the game. He gets the game ball.
Lame Ball: Run Game
This is a bit of a harsh grading because the Packers didn't show much interest in running the ball. That game plan makes sense with AJ Dillon hobbled and playing in the backfield with two guys who were signed from practice squads earlier in the week.
The lack of a run game didn't matter, as the Packers piled up yards through the air.
Dillon finished with 43 yards on 14 carries. Their best run of the day came from Jordan Love on a quarterback keeper in which he sprinted 37 yards as part of a late drive that helped clinch the victory.
Jayden Reed was part of the run game again. Patrick Taylor ran for 11 yards on three carries.
Overall, Packers running backs ran for 54 yards on 17 carries.
The Packers need more than that, whether Aaron Jones is in the lineup or not.
Play of the Game: Christian Watson's Opening Bomb
There were other big plays in this game that may have had a greater impact on the scoreboard.
Jonathan Owens' fumble returned for a touchdown was a candidate for this spot, but the first play of the game set the tone for the day.
With seemingly half the roster on the injury report and facing a vicious Lions pass rush in front of their home crowd, it would have been easy to come out of the gate conservatively.
Instead, coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love dialed up a deep shot for Christian Watson.
The ball was a little underthrown, but Watson skied for the ball and made a leaping catch for a gain of 53 to set up the opening touchdown.
That set the tone for the rest of the game. The Packers didn't back down from a team that had a superior record. They threw the punches and made the Lions fight back.
Pivot Point: Packers Stuff Fake Punt; Watson Cashes In
The Packers led 23-14 in the third quarter, but the Lions had all the momentum after the Packers' first series of the second half stalled at midfield.
The Packers got a stop to force a fourth-and-5, when Lions coach Dan Campbell's aggressive nature showed up.
Instead of punting and trying to play defense against Green Bay, Campbell called for a fake punt.
On a direct snap to the personal protector, Henry Pearson helped set an edge and Lukas Van Ness chased the play down from behind well short of the first-down marker.
The turnover on downs gave the Packers the ball deep in Lions territory.
Christian Watson made sure that the Lions would pay for their reckless decision.
Watson caught a 16-yard touchdown to cap the drive and give the Packers a 29-14 lead.
Any momentum the Lions had was snatched away in that moment.
Fourth-Down Fortune
The Packers didn't convert a fourth down against the Lions, but they were excellent in those situations on defense.
Lions coach Dan Campbell is famously aggressive on fourth downs. The Packers had to be prepared for that.
The Lions did not convert a fourth down until the Packers were playing soft late in the game as the Lions trailed by two scores.
The Lions finished 1-of-5 on fourth downs, including a ridiculous fake punt call that essentially handed the Packers six points.
The Packers ended up winning by seven. Their prowess on fourth down was one of the big differences in the game.
Looking Ahead
The Packers will have an extended break before returning home to take on the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday night.
The Chiefs (7-3), coming off a loss on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles, will play at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
While the Chiefs have the reputation of a high-powered offense with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce roaming the field, their defense has been their stronger unit this season.
The Chiefs are the lowest-scoring team in the NFL in the second half this season. They scored zero points against the Eagles.
When the season started, his game looked like a daunting task, if not an impossible situation. It's still daunting because of Mahomes and Andy Reid being on the other sideline, but it no longer feels like a game the Packers have no chance of winning.
