Over the past two years, the Detroit Lions have gone from being the hunted to being the hunters in the NFC North. Hell, dating back to the last three seasons, the Lions were 5-1 against Green Bay. The Packers hadn’t beaten the Lions at Lambeau Field since 2021.
That all changed Sunday when the Packers gave the Lions a dose of their own medicine.
The Lions have thrived by being the aggressor, the team playing with all the confidence, the one that would deliver the early punches. Last season, Green Bay trailed 17-3 and 17-7 at halftime against Detroit in the two head-to-head matchups.
This time around?
Green Bay received the pigskin first, and quarterback Jordan Love orchestrated a poetic 12-play, 83-yard drive capped off by a seed thrown right through the heart of Detroit’s defense to Tucker Kraft.
The Lions proceeded to go three-and-out, and when the Packers got the ball back, they marched right down the field for three more points on a Brandon McManus field goal.
In the blink of an eye, the Packers were up 10-0.
Love and Co. were perfectly aware of their habit of getting off to a sluggish start last year. One of the focuses of the offseason was jumping out faster and throwing the first jab in these heavyweight bouts. It’s one thing to say it. It’s another actually to do it.
The Packers did it on Sunday, and Love highlighted that afterwards.
Just going out there and executing at a high level and making plays. … It was a big goal for us to come in here and start fast and I feel like in our past couple games against these guys we’ve got off to some slow starts and put ourselves behind. It was a big goal for us to come out here and start fast and we did exactly that.
In previous seasons, Detroit’s ground game would deliver devastating blows. At Lambeau Field last year, David Montgomery rushed for 73 yards while Jahmyr Gibbs went for 65 and a touchdown. When the Lions needed to flex their muscles and close out the game, they dominated Green Bay in the trenches.
On Sunday, Montgomery and Gibbs combined for 44 rushing yards on 20 attempts. On top of that, Gibbs had 10 receptions but only manufactured 31 yards receiving out of it. Had you said Gibbs would have 10 receptions going into this one, you’d assume he torched the Green Bay defense.
Instead, it was the exact opposite. Gibbs’ 10 receptions for 31 yards were the fewest receiving yards by a player in NFL history who had at least 10 catches.
Green Bay’s defense set the tone and kept Detroit guessing.
Sunday’s role reversal was beautifully transposed with the Packers leaning on their bell cow, Josh Jacobs, to send Detroit home with a loss. In the first half, Jacobs had six carries for eight yards. The passing game did the heavy lifting. But in the final 30 minutes, Jacobs had 13 carries for 58 yards and a late touchdown that made it a three-possession game and put a dagger into Detroit’s comeback hopes.
This wasn’t just a regular notch in the W column for Green Bay; it was a show of dominance and a statement victory.
Jacobs wanted to set the tone early, and the Packers did just that.
That was something that was big going into the offseason. A lot of the games last year we started real slow. So, you know that was something that we, as an offense, try to emphasize on. … The biggest thing for me against that team was, I didn’t want to cut on the tape and feel like they out-physicaled us. That was something that was big for me personally.
Detroit was facing the reality of replacing both its offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. It will take a bit of time for them to find a rhythm with a new regime, even though Dan Campbell is still at the controls.
None of that precludes the Packers from bringing more effort and packing a more powerful punch on Sunday. For the first time in a couple of years, it was the Lions with their tail tucked between their legs, unable to counter what the Packers were throwing at them on both offense and defense.
It was a dose of medicine that must taste awfully bitter for Detroit.