Pointless First Half Dooms Green Bay in Detroit

 By Eric Goska

Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay's offense dialed up 205 yards
and no points in the first half against Detroit Sunday.
(screen capture from NFL Game Pass)

So pointless!

No, that’s not a snarky comment on the Packers’ season to date, although it could be. Rather, those two words sum up Green Bay’s offense in the opening two quarters of its game with the Detroit Lions.

The Packers assembled three drives that reached into Detroit territory in the first half but came up empty on the scoreboard each time. This lack of points cost Green Bay as it came up short in a 15-9 loss to the Lions at Ford Field.

Green Bay came out moving the ball as a team hoping to avoid a fifth consecutive loss. The Packers converted six-of-eight third downs in the first 30 minutes. They put together drives of 13, 7 and 12 plays to reach the Detroit 5-, 1- and 38-yard lines, respectively.

Toss in Aaron Rodgers’ kneel-down to end the half, and the Packers stockpiled 205 yards on 33 plays before halftime.

Normally, that output would not merit mention. But normally, that output would come with points.

Only twice before has the Green and Gold posted 200 or more yards and failed to score in the first half of a regular-season game. They grabbed 207 in a snowstorm in Denver in 1984 before succumbing 17-14. They got an even 200 in a 31-23 loss to these Lions four years in this same building.

Rodgers, of course, didn’t throw two red-zone interceptions in either of those contests. He did Sunday for the first time in his career.

Kerby Joseph snagged the first. The safety came down with the ball in the end zone after a pass intended for Allen Lazard hit linebacker Derrick Barnes’ helmet and shot skyward.

Rookie defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson grabbed the second. He jumped in front of a pass intended for tackle-eligible David Bakhtiari who was open in the end zone.

Those picks snuffed out Green Bay’s first two advances. The third ended when a 26-yard, fourth-down catch by Lazard to the Lions’ 12-yard line was overturned and ruled incomplete when challenged by Detroit.

Perhaps nothing sums up the Packers’ first-half frustration more than their four successive failures from the 1-yard line as the first quarter turned to the second. AJ Dillon failed to gain on first and third down, wideout Sammy Watkins and Rodgers were worlds apart on a second-down pass attempt, and Hutchinson ended the affair with his pick on fourth down.

A touchdown on any one of those plays could have made a difference. Instead, Green Bay went into halftime down 8-0 and never got closer than two the rest of the way.

The Packers are now 0-5 (regular season) under head coach Matt LeFleur when the team does not score in the first half. All five losses (to the Chargers, 49ers, Chiefs, Vikings and Lions) occurred on the road.

Coming away with no points before the break is no way to do business in the NFL. In 2022, teams are 4-17 when doing so.

Three teams have lost two or more such games already this season: the Colts (3), the Commanders (2) and the Pack (2). All three – Indianapolis (3-5-1), Washington (4-5) and Green Bay (3-6) – have losing records.

Pointless Yardage
Since 1923, the three regular-season games in which the Packers produced 200 or more yards of offense in a first half in which they were held scoreless.

Yards	Date	Opponent	Result
207	Oct. 15, 1984	Broncos	GB lost, 14-17
205	Nov. 6, 2022	Lions	GB lost, 9-15
200	Oct. 7, 2018	Lions	GB lost, 23-31