Matt Eberflus |
Johnny Unitas |
Matt Eberflus |
Johnny Unitas |
By Eric Goska
Jordan Love was in attendance at Lambeau Field Sunday. (photos by Eric Goska) |
Come away with 400 yards and the Packers had always been golden
against the Lions at Lambeau Field.
Alas, like any streak, this one was bound to end.
Detroit – a team that plays its home games in a dome – had little
trouble adjusting to the elements Sunday. The Lions shrugged off the wind and rain
to dispatch Green Bay 24-14 in a much anticipated battle for supremacy in the
NFC North Division.
Had the outcome been determined by the stat sheet, Green Bay
would have won. The Packers produced more first downs (20 to 17) and manufactured
more yards (411 to 261) en route to engineering a more robust average gain per
offensive play (6.6 to 4.7).
Josh Jacobs led all runners with 95 yards rushing, 22 better
than Detroit’s David Montgomery. Jayden Reed paced all receivers with 113
yards, more than double the output of the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown.
But, like empty calories, the Green and Gold’s
abundance provided little nutritional value. Besting the Lions in a
host of statistical categories did little to effect the scoreboard.
Coach Matt LaFleur’s outfit can’t even brag about having outgained Detroit by 150 yards. The Titans (+191) did so by a wider margin (on Oct. 27) and lost 52-14.
Where it mattered most, Green Bay floundered. It had twice
as many penalties (10 to 5), far more dropped passes (6 to zero by one count)
and three botched snaps.
And while Jordan Love passed for more yards (273) than his counterpart Jared Goff (145), he also threw an inexcusable
pick-six just before the half to put the Lions up 17-3 at the break.
Yards gained can get a team only so far.
Years ago, gaining 400 or more yards was usually followed by
a win. Green Bay went 16-0-1 in such games from 1923 to 1945.
Even this century, getting to 400 often pays dividends. Since
2000, the Packers are 88-28-1 when doing so.
Green Bay has attained 400 yards a total of 233 times during
the regular season since 1923, going 175-55-3 in those games. It struck for the first time against the Racine Tornadoes in 1926. It struck most often against – you guessed
it – the Detroit Lions.
The Motor City Eleven have often served as a punching bag for
the Packers. Sunday was the 40th time Green Bay nicked the Lions for 400 or
more yards in the regular season. The team is 32-8 when doing so.
And while the Packers could get there and still lose when playing in Detroit, hitting the benchmark at Lambeau Field had always come coupled with victory. From 407 yards in a game in November 1964 to 488 yards in an early-season matchup in 2020, Green Bay had gone 12-0 against the Lions in the stadium named for its first head coach.
(L-R): Marques Eversoll, Bill Rabeor and Chris Havel. |
Green Bay hadn’t been perfect against the Bears (9-2). It hadn’t been without blemish against the Vikings
(5-3-1).
But against the Lions, it had been spot on.
Over a 32-year span from 1992 – the season Green Bay again
began to win with regularity – through last season, the Packers gained more
yards and scored more points against the Lions than they did against any other
team. While the differences between what they inflicted on the Bears and
Vikings were small, one fact remained: Detroit was on the bottom.
Not anymore. As the division-leading Lions (7-1) have
shown, they can win when outgained. LeFleur and his Packers (6-3) had better marry
points to yards when the two teams tangle on the first Thursday in
December.