Detroit Came Into Lambeau Field Looking For A Win And Got It.
One win in Green Bay in a quarter century is crazy. Detroit got one in 2015, but before that, it was 1991. Well, 2017 is now the most recent year that the Lions beat Green Bay in Lambeau Field. Sure it wasn’t against Aaron Rodgers, but it is still a win against a rival in their own stadium. Detroit needed this victory as they now move into second place in the NFC North standings and are one and a half games behind Minnesota. Check out how it all went down below.
Offense
Matt Stafford couldn’t find the end zone last week, but he didn’t have that issue as he was able to find Marvin Jones for the first touchdown of the game. Stafford finished 26/33 for 361 yards and two touchdowns. He was like his old self once again after having hiccups earlier this season.
Running the football was still a struggle for the Lions. Abdullah finished with 48 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, but had fumbling issues, fumbling two times, once going to Green Bay. Abdullah was the main back used as Riddick only had five carries for 11 yards, and Washington only saw the field late in the game after Abdullah’s fumbling issues appeared, only getting five carries for one yard. Detroit used the jet sweep for Jamal Agnew again and it got four yards.
Golden Tate and Marvin Jones led the way for the Lions receivers with seven catches, 113 yards for Tate, while Jones had 107 yards and two touchdowns. Theo Riddick came alive in the passing game with four catches for 62 yards. Eric Ebron got in on some of the fun with three catches for 35 yards.
The offensive line did well in protecting number nine again, only allowing one sack, but the running game still struggled to get going. Brian Mihalik did well again in his second start with Detroit as he will most likely be in until Taylor Decker returns.
Defense
The defensive line was able to make some big stops in the game tonight. Anthony Zettel had three tackles and a big sack to help stop the Packers late in the second quarter to hold them to a field goal. They held the Packers rushing game to just 78 yards.
Tahir Whitehead and Jarrad Davis were at it again on defense. Davis led the team in tackles with eight, while Whitehead had five tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Martellus Bennett being out was a big help in their coverage game as they only had to deal with Richard Rodgers, who only had one catch for five yards.
Stopping Brett Hundley was the main goal and the Lions were able to do that as they held the Packers offense to just 182 passing yards. Glover Quin had seven tackles, one for loss on a fourth down play, while D.J. Hayden had three tackles and a helpful pass deflection. Darius Slay was able to hold Jordy Nelson well in coverage, holding him to just 35 yards on four catches, and had two stops back to back, finishing with just one tackle and a pass deflection.
Special Teams did well despite a miss by Matt Prater, who finished 3/4 in field goal attempts, making his longest from 44 yards out and missing a 55-yard field goal. Jamal Agnew had one kick return for 12 yards and two punt returns for nine yards. The biggest play by them was a block by A’Shawn Robinson who blocked the first field goal attempt by the Packers.
Week Nine: What It Means
Detroit moves to 4-4 and 2-0 in NFC North play. They got two wins on the road, both against the main contenders in the division, Green Bay, and Minnesota. If Detroit can beat Cleveland next week and Chicago in two weeks, and Minnesota wins one of their next two games, the winner of the game takes the lead in the division.
If Detroit goes into their Thanksgiving game 3-0 against divisional rivals, all of the wins would be on the road, leaving the easier home games for later in the season. That is a perfect recipe for them to win the division and gives them no excuse to blow this chance.
Week Nine: What To Think About
Kenny Golladay hasn’t played since the controversial loss to Atlanta due to a hamstring injury. He looked like he was doing better and could return a few weeks back, but seemed to have a setback and was missing practice again. Detroit has been doing fine with TJ Jones at the third-string spot, but having Golladay return could seriously help the offense even more.
Decker didn’t play after getting activated off the PUP list this week, but expecting him to play this game was a longshot. He could possibly return against Cleveland in week 10, but odds are he will return against the Chicago Bears in week 11.
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