Through the first three weeks, the Green Bay Packers won two games and were in prime position to win a third thanks to three big things: winning the pressure/protect battle, protecting the football on offense and coming up clutch in the game’s big situational moments.
Entering Week 4, the Packers were plus-six in sacks (3 allowed, 9 created), had turned the ball over just once and were top 11 in the NFL on third down and in the red zone on both offense and defense.
The Detroit Lions blew up that winning formula and blew out the Packers on Thursday night.
The Lions sacked Jordan Love five times and produced 11 quarterback hits. He was under constant duress and rarely handled the pressure well. The Packers got a couple of sacks on Jared Goff in the second half but managed just six quarterback hits overall. At the line of scrimmage, and especially in the passing game, the Lions created a huge advantage and essentially controlled the game.
In terms of protecting the ball, the Lions turned the Packers over twice and quickly recovered from their lone giveaway. Love threw two interceptions: one inside his own 20-yard line that set up an easy Lions touchdown, and another inside the Lions’ red zone in the fourth quarter. Goff’s interception became a distant memory because the Lions defense forced a quick stop and then Goff got rolling. Last year, the Lions won the turnover battle 5-1 over the Packers and swept the season series. Dan Campbell’s team has a 2-1 lead after one game in 2023.
On third down, the Packers started 0-for-5 and finished 3-for-11. The defense gave up seven third-down conversions and two fourth-down conversions. The Packers finished 50 percent both in terms of scoring touchdowns in the red zone (2-for-4) and preventing Lions touchdowns in the red zone (3-for-6), but it’s hard to win in the NFL when a team is in the red zone six times.
The end result was lopsided defeat. The Packers’ margin for error is so small — especially with the injury situation along the offensive line — that any deviation from the winning script is going to be difficult to overcome. They were fortunate to catch fire in the fourth quarter against the Saints on Sunday and erase a 17-0 deficit, but the Lions are a better football team and were far better equipped to protect a lead.
The Packers will be competitive and in every game this season as long as they can protect Love, pressure the opposing quarterback, protect the ball on offense and play well on third down and in the red zone. It’s a winning recipe for most teams. More ugly weeks are possible if opponents can find ways of poking as many holes in the plan as the Lions did Thursday night.