Everything was working against the Green Bay Packers in their Week 9 matchup with the Detroit Lions, even themselves. In a rainy, windy afternoon matchup, the Packers not only lost to their NFC North counterparts, but they also lost to themselves with how many simple mistakes they committed.
Too many dropped passes, too many missed block assignments, too many missed opportunities to put points on the board doomed Green Bay from the jump, as they fell to the Lions, 24-14.
Offense
Jordan Love was active and the starter for the Packers, a week after he suffered a groin injury and missed time. Love was absolutely a shell of himself, although he stayed on his feet all game and wasn’t sacked. A 273-yard, scoreless performance left a lot left on the bone for Love, who missed Dontayvion Wicks for a late touchdown that turned into a scoreless drive when they needed it the most.
Love continued his hold on the NFL interception, as he found a Lions defender for his league-leading 10th of the year. A sub-70 QB rating is a perfect encapsulation of Love’s inconsistent performance in the loss, as this offense failed to do much.
Josh Jacobs was one of only two bright spots, averaging over seven yards per carry on his way to 108 total yards. Emanuel Wilson converted a short carry for Green Bay’s lone touchdown on the day, as the rushing attack chugged away for 138 yards.
Jayden Reed led all receivers with 113 yards on five receptions, getting back on track after a few quiet weeks. Five players in total hauled in three-plus receptions, again showing how balanced the passing attack is.
Defense
As a unit, Jeff Hafley’s defense more than did its job against the vaunted Lions offense. Holding this unit to only 261 yards of total offense shouldn’t go unnoticed, but unfortunately it still wasn’t enough.
Detroit averaged less than five yards per play, throwing for only 137 yards and rushing for 124. While the Lions led in the time of possession battle, the Packers defense more than held its own, keeping the offense in the game as best as possible.
Detroit was kept below its season averages in both rushing and passing yards per game, as the run-focused offensive attack for the Lions found some daylight, but far less than usual. Jared Goff wasn’t asked to do much in leading the offense, throwing for 145 yards and a lone score.
With Green Bay earning a much-needed bye in Week 10, hopefully this will help get Love healthy and the offense back on the right track for a tough upcoming schedule.
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Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23
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