4 standouts from Packers’ Week 9 loss to Lions

Four standouts from the Packers’ Week 9 loss to the Lions.

The conditions were nasty at Lambeau Field on Sunday, but still not as unpleasant as the Green Bay Packers’ mistake-ridden performance. The Packers suffered their third loss of the season in Week 9, falling to the Detroit Lions 24-14.

Double-digit penalties, tons of dropped passes, going 1-for-4 in the red zone, and a back-breaking pick-six from Jordan Love to go down 17-3 at halftime were too much for the Packers to overcome in this NFC North showdown.

Even though Love wasn’t 100 percent, Green Bay’s offense moved the ball effectively to the tune of 394 yards. However, mustering only 14 points against a Lions team that leads the NFL in points per game was never going to cut it.

Defensively, the Packers held the league’s top-scoring offense to 17 points, though Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery did combine for 172 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. Meanwhile, while he wasn’t extraordinary, quarterback Jared Goff had an efficient day at the office, completing 82 percent of his passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. Green Bay not having Jaire Alexander or Evan Williams certainly didn’t help, but it might not have even mattered. They were outclassed in virtually every phase in this one.

The Packers will try to regroup heading into a much-needed bye week, where they hope to correct their mistakes and come out a healthier team.

Green Bay will see Detroit again on December 5, but before we start talking about revenge, let’s first highlight the standouts from Sunday’s game.

RB Josh Jacobs

With Love hobbled, everyone, including the Lions, knew they were going to feed Jacobs, and yet he was still productive. From the very first drive, Jacobs was a focal point, touching the ball seven times for 37 yards. His impact right out of the gate eventually led to the game’s first points. Overall, it was a good day for Jacobs, who finished with 95 rushing yards on 13 attempts against a stout run defense. Unfortunately, his lack of carries was likely due to playing from behind for most of the game.

Edge Arron Mosby

After playing only two defensive snaps all season, Mosby more than doubled that total on Sunday and made the most of them. On an important third down in the second quarter, he and Rashan Gary combined for a sack against Jared Goff, with Mosby arriving first. The most impressive part of the play was Mosby plowing through one of the best right tackles in the NFL in Penei Sewell to make it happen. Predominantly a practice squad player over the last two seasons, Mosby took advantage of an opportunity to claim the first half-sack of his career and forced a Lions punt. It was definitely a cool moment for the young edge rusher after all the work he put in over the summer to make the team.

WR Jayden Reed

After getting off to a hot start, Reed’s productivity had cooled off over the past few outings, but he managed to get back on track this week. Reed had his third 100-yard receiving game of the year and recorded a game-high 113 yards on five receptions. The second-year receiver has been responsible for some impressive plays this season and had two more this week. The first was a 41-yard deep ball that got Green Bay into field goal range just before the half, but they were out of timeouts. The second came on a must-have fourth down during the fourth quarter, where Reed ran a fade from the slot and made a tough contested catch for a gain of 28. Consistently making these types of plays is what has allowed Reed to emerge as the team’s top receiver through the first half of the season. The team hopes that trend will continue in the second half.

Edge Kingsley Enagbare

There weren’t many notable plays from the defense on Sunday, but Enagbare had one of them. While trying to salt away the clock in the fourth quarter, Detroit ran a wide receiver reverse with Kalif Raymond. However, the trick play didn’t fool Enagbare, who read it perfectly and tackled Raymond for a loss of 11. The Packers could use more production from their edge rushers this season, so the TFL by Enagbare was a net positive even though it was inconsequential to the outcome.