What the box score didn’t tell you: The Lions defense took a real step against Green Bay, but one problem still won’t go away
Detroit limited Green Bay’s explosive passing game and repeatedly got off the field, but the conversions it did allow were far too damaging.
The Detroit Lions walked out with a win over the Green Bay Packers, and the last thing they need to do is apologize for it. Now it’s time to talk about what the box score didn’t tell us about this game.
This was not the offense’s best showing, but the defense definitely did its thing. They kept the Lions in this game. It was a showing that should make Lions fans optimistic about this team going forward and showed that their game against the Cardinals was not a flash in the pan.
But there is still a big thing this team needs to figure out
The Lions’ defense is still having a hard time just getting off the field, and when they allow teams to convert, they generally are allowing them to convert big. It’s not just a one- or two-yard gain on a fourth down. It’s a 15-20-yard play that changes the game a bit.
When the Packers converted on third down in this game, the Lions allowed plays of 10, 14, 20, 25, and 8 yards. You just can’t have that. Even worse, when they converted on fourth down, they had plays of 27, 22, and 28 yards. That is a much more concerning thing because these are plays you have to force a turnover on downs on.
Now, the good news is that overall, the Packers were 5-for-15 on third down and 3-for-4 on fourth down in the whole game. Stops were made. That’s important.
The Lions took away the Packers’ biggest weapon
All we’ve really ever heard about the Packers is how much they can beat you deep. Make no mistake, the Packers did get some shots in there because you’re never fully going to get rid of those, but the Lions held the Packers to just seven explosives and, remarkably, only two in the second half.
That’s a major thing considering that, coming into this game, the Packers had put up 33 explosives through six weeks and the Lions had allowed 40. Through the last two games, they’ve only allowed 11 total. The Lions are on the right side of this thing. Let’s see if they can keep it going.
The Detroit Lions walked out with a win over the Green Bay Packers, and the last thing they need to do is apologize for it. Now it’s time to talk about what the box score didn’t tell us about this game.
This was not the offense’s best showing, but the defense definitely did their thing. They kept the Lions in this game. It was a showing that should make Lions fans optimistic about this team going forward and showed that their game against the Cardinals was not a flash in the pan.
But there is still a big thing this team needs to figure out
The Lions’ defense is still having a hard time just getting off the field, and when they allow teams to convert, they generally are allowing them to convert big. It’s not just a one- or two-yard gain on a fourth down. It’s a 15-20 yard play that changes the game a bit.
When the Packers convert on third down in this game, they allowed plays of 10, 14, 20, 25, and 8 yards. You just can’t have that. Even worse, when they converted on fourth down, they had plays of 27, 22, and 28. That is a much more concerning thing because these are plays you have to force a turnover on downs on.
Now, the good news is that overall, the Packers were 5-for-15 on third down and three for four on fourth down in the whole game. Stops were made. That’s important.
The Lions took away the Packers’ biggest weapon
All we’ve really ever heard about the Packers is how much they can beat you deep. Make no mistake, the Packers did get some shots in there because you’re never fully going to get rid of those, but the Lions held the Packers to just seven explosives and remarkably only two in the second half.
That’s a major thing considering coming into this game, the Packers had put up 33 explosives through six weeks and the Lions had allowed 40. Through the last two games, they’ve only allowed 11 total. The Lions are on the right side of this thing. Let’s see if they can keep it going.
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