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The Packers embarrassed themselves with self-inflicted mistakes in the loss to the Lions


The Packers embarrassed themselves with self-inflicted mistakes in the loss to the Lions

GREEN BAY, Wis. – No stat tells the story of Green Bay's dismal loss to Detroit on Sunday at Lambeau Field better than this: The Packers had six drops. The Lions had four incompletions.

For all the talk leading up to Sunday's supposed heavyweight battle between arguably the NFC's two best teams about how the Lions hadn't played outdoors yet, that didn't matter in a persistent downpour. The Packers were far too sloppy to beat a respectable team, let alone one that might be the best in the league.

Six drops. Ten penalties, that was the highest of the season. Three botched snapshots. A dark pick-six. A turnover on downs after the Packers failed to gain a yard on three consecutive plays. Don't blame the rain, because it didn't hinder the Lions (7-1) in their 24-14 victory over the Packers (6-3), Green Bay lost 2-0 in the NFC North. The blue sea of ​​Honolulu performing to “Jump Around” and chanting “Ja-red Goff” in garbage time demonstrated this.

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“A lot of self-inflicted wounds, a lot of momentum killers, a lot of drive killers,” running back Josh Jacobs said. “It’s all on us, man. I feel like we got away with a lot by masking it with the wins, but when you play against a good team all the little things catch up with you.”

The Packers wasted no time in shooting themselves in the foot. Keisean Nixon returned the opening kickoff to the 40-yard line, but long after the play on the sideline, he shoved his right hand into the face of Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor, resulting in an unnecessary 15-yard roughing penalty.

“Completely unacceptable,” head coach Matt LaFleur said of Nixon’s penalty.

That was just a taste of the opening drive and, for that matter, the entire game. On third-and-5 from the Lions' 12-yard line later in the drive, quarterback Jordan Love threw a short over the middle behind running back Chris Brooks, but Brooks still should have caught it, which would have earned a first down. The Packers settled for three points instead of seven in their third straight opener that did not end in a touchdown after opting for a reception to start the game.

Green Bay also couldn't complete its first defensive attack without a costly mistake. The Lions lined up as if they were going to take advantage of fourth down from the 5, seemingly with no intention of doing so, just to try and force the Packers offside. It worked. Defensive tackle TJ Slaton jumped and carried the ball halfway to the goal line while still on fourth down. Instead of kicking a field goal after a delay of game, which the Lions seemed inclined to do, quarterback Jared Goff hit wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on a fade with cornerback Keisean Nixon in coverage for a touchdown to take the lead Lions wouldn't give up. Nixon jetted after St. Brown across the formation and St. Brown faked a stop route before executing the fade and making a phenomenal catch on the left side of the end zone.

When St. Brown entered the stadium on Sunday, he was wearing a sweatshirt that read “GREENBAY SUCKS.” Nixon was asked about St. Brown's sweatshirt after the game and said, “I didn't see it. I mean, he's a clown. It just is.” Nixon may think St. Brown is a clown, but the message on his sweatshirt wasn't wrong, at least as far as the football team's hotness is concerned.

The Packers had a chance to respond and started their next drive with a 37-yard run by Jacobs. But a false start by right guard Sean Rhyan as the Packers faced a third-and-3 from the Detroit 32-yard line preceded an incomplete bomb to wide receiver Christian Watson in double coverage. The Packers punted instead of attempting a 55-yard field goal in the rain.

LaFleur has lamented his team's pre-snap penalties this season, and there were several more on Sunday, including Slaton's costly neutral zone violation and a whopping four false starts.

“I think you can definitely put these in the focus category where we need to be better,” LaFleur said of the false start penalties. “Some of them are completely unnecessary. We play in double rhythm and that is an advantage for the offensive. I never want us to not do this. I think that's an important part of it. That's your only advantage on offense: you have control over when the ball is snapped. That’s a big advantage when you’re at home and there’s not so much noise.”

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The Packers couldn't even capitalize on their advantage when the Lions tried to give them a scoring opportunity. Detroit safety Brian Branch was warned 15 yards for going helmet-to-helmet on wide receiver Bo Melton on a second-and-20. Melton dropped deep on the left sideline. Branch was stopped for unsportsmanlike conduct for an additional 15 yards after being ejected for targeting. That gave the Packers a first-and-10 at the Detroit 32-yard line, but wide receiver Romeo Doubs committed another false start on first down and tight end Tucker Kraft dropped a pass on third down before kicker Brandon McManus 46-yard field missed wide left to keep the score at 7-3.

“We have seen in the past what happens when we shoot ourselves in the foot in critical games,” said Kraft. “The Lions are too good a team to make the mistakes we did.”

Oh, you thought the game-changing mistakes were made? Not even close.

The Lions scored three points after McManus' missed shot and the Packers got the ball back at their 30-yard line with 58 seconds left and a timeout, resulting in a 10-3 deficit with the Lions taking the kickoff in the second half received. On the second play of the drive, Love tried to check the ball over the middle to Jacobs on second-and-2, but safety Kerby Joseph hit him for a pick-six, giving the Lions a 17-3 lead. Love's second confusing pick-six of the past month was his league-best 10th interception of the season.

“I pulled out of the bag. Obviously Josh was blocking and protecting and I saw him trying to get out and throw it off,” Love said. “It was a check-down for him and the ball didn’t go where I wanted it. They played it well…I didn't see (Joseph) when I threw it. Like I said, I just saw Josh trying to get out of there. As I said, the ball didn't land where I wanted it to. And yes, a critical error.”

What has already been written is enough to tell a whole story, but that was just the first half where the Packers got in their own way.

Nixon's third-down holding penalty on the first drive of the second half turned a punt into a first down. On the next drive, Love's third-down pass, which could have yielded a first down, hit wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks square in the chest before falling to the turf. On second and third downs, Love dropped two errant snaps in a row from left guard-to-center Elgton Jenkins (starting center Josh Myers missed the game with a wrist injury), with the latter forcing the Packers to pull ahead with a field goal at the 21st points to be satisfied.

“The ball was wet. My hand was wet. It was wet,” Jenkins said. “It slipped out of my hand.”

The Packers seemed to use the weather after the game not as an excuse, but rather as a justification. Still, a team that had never played an outdoor game braved the elements. The team that calls Lambeau Field home has collapsed within them.

Perhaps the worst self-inflicted wound — which is saying something on a day littered with them — came from Love and Wicks on third-and-1 from Detroit's 9-yard line as the Packers clung to life, trailing by 18 points . Love executed Aaron Rodgers' patented guitar fake perfectly, leaving Wicks wide open in the end zone. As he rolled to his right, Love threw slightly behind Wicks – still a more than catchable pass. It went through the hands of Wicks again and Jacobs was stuffed on the ensuing four-and-1, essentially sealing the game.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Lions were coming off a loss early in the game. Wicks now has six goals this season after his two costly games on Sunday. Wicks was far from the only obstacle for the Packers on Sunday, but this comparison serves as a microcosm for what we saw at Lambeau Field.

These teams entered the game relatively evenly matched, but the final 10-point lead says nothing about how far apart they actually appear to be. Not because the Lions dominated their game. They didn't do that. But because great football teams don't do everything wrong that the Packers did wrong – the six drops, the ten penalties, the three blown snaps, the head-scratching pick-six.


Jordan Love stands up after throwing an interception on Sunday that was returned for a touchdown by Lions safety Kerby Joseph. (Mark Hoffman/Imagn Images)

They didn't just commit pre-snap penalties on Sunday. They have the second-most in the NFL with 30 (as of Sunday night). They didn't just drop the passes because it was raining. That was already an issue before Sunday. And Love didn't just accuse the Lions of an isolated, costly interception. He has put the ball in danger far too often since the start of the season.

If the Packers clean up all of these mistakes, can they keep up with the Lions? Naturally. Last season, they suffered a defeat similar to Detroit's at Lambeau Field, then beat them convincingly at home on Thanksgiving before coming within a quarter of beating them in the NFC Championship Game in Detroit. There's still a lot of season left and there are places worse than 6-3. But to do that, the Packers have to heal everything that's bothering them right now, especially the self-inflicted problems, and that's not as easy as it sounds.

“As players, we keep making the same mistakes and we have to figure it out,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I can’t keep saying it. We just have to find out. We have to do it and we have to stop making all these mistakes because we are playing against other good teams. We cannot afford such mistakes. We can't afford any penalties. We can't afford to make sales and not get sales. It's just a lot of things that have built up and we just have to make corrections, man. That’s all I have for it.”

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(Top photo: Dan Powers / Imagn Images)

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