Detroit Lions 19, Green Bay Packers 7: GB offense falls flat

The Detroit Lions used their offense as its defense today in their 19-7 win, turning long, time-chewing drives into time that Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were off the field.

Aaron Rodgers gestures at the line of scrimmage during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Weber-USA TODAY Sports photograph

The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions – it was supposed to be a shootout. Aaron Rodgers; Jordy Nelson; Matthew Stafford; Calvin Johnson.

The scoring machines were wound up and ready to go.

But the Lions also got enough on their defensive side of the ball to beat the Packers today; because of that, the Lions’ domination of the time clock seemed like an afterthought.

It looked a lot like 2013 when Aaron Rodgers was on the sidelines for half of the season. Like last year, the Packers offense couldn’t sustain drives and converted just 4-of-10 third down conversions.

Aaron Rodgers completed just 16-of-27 passes today for only 162 yards. He did have one touchdown.

On the other side of the ball, Matthew Stafford was 22-of-34 for 246 yards and 2 interceptions.

But the story of the day was the defense – on both sides of the ball. The Lions biggest defensive play came when Don Carey picked up an Eddie Lacy fumble and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown on the second play of their first possession. For the Packers, the defensive play of the game came when Julius Peppers sacked Stafford and recovered the fumble as the Lions were driving the ball inside the red zone. For the second time in as many weeks, the Packers found themselves down by a touchdown early – very early. Last week they were able to overcome it at home. Today, they couldn’t get much of anything going offensively. Once again, the Packers couldn’t get their running game going. As a team, they rushed 22 times for 76 yards, a 3.5-yard average. James Starks led the team with 38 yards; Lacy had 36. On the receiving end, Jordy Nelson led Green Bay with five receptions for 59 yards. On the flip side, Calvin Johnson led Detroit with 6 catches for 82 yards. The Packers managed just 223 total yards, while the Lions amassed 353.

General Stats

Team StatsDet

Score19 

Total yards353 

First Downs21 

Rushing Attempts-Yards (Avg.)38-115 (3.0) 

Passing Yards (Made-Att.-Int.)238 (22-34-2) 

Penalty Yards (Penalties)40 (6) 

Third-down efficiency11-18(61.00) 

Fourth-down efficiency0-0(0.00)

  The Packers couldn’t  sustain their own drives and were on the field nearly 15 minutes less than the Lions. More game coverage statistics follow … turn the page.