It's difficult to bring you any polluted thoughts when the Lions game was 6 days ago and has been dissected every which way since, but. I'll try.
For me, this loss is fully on the Packers coaching staff. The Lion's eyes were clearly focused on the tape during the days leading up to the game. They seemingly identified specific weaknesses on this Packers team and attacked them head on with great success. This was a Ben Johnson Master Class - please don't let him go to the Bears next year. And Aaron Glenn wasn't too shabby either!
On offense, it was targeting specific players in the red zone, They isolated a WR or RB on McDuffie, Wilson and Stokes, challenging them to do one thing - cover a player running right at them - and they couldn't. Three incredibly easy TD receptions with little resistance. They challenged those same players as well as Quay Walker to cover the middle of the field in the passing game and found continual success.. Jared Goff completed 14-of-17 for 152 yards targeting the middle of the field against the Packers. It helped that they had no reason to fear the Packers' pass rush and knew Goff would have time for those routes to get run.
On defense, it was sending all out pressure and trusting that the Packers receivers couldn't beat man coverage. Other than the long pass to Watson, it's not like the Packers took advantage of single coverage across the secondary when presented with it..The Lions also attacked the Packers' pass pro weak link on the offensive line - Josh Myers. Here's an interesting video by Kurt Benkert - while he exaggerates that this was the #1 reason the Packers lost to the Lions, I did notice Myers getting beat a lot and this definitely would be one reason why.
I have to throw some kudos to Jordan Love for handling the Lions' pressure as well as he did. It certainly helps that he has his legs back under him and can better navigate the pocket and get out of trouble, which he had to do a lot last Thursday. He also made some really impressive throws while taking hits from the Lions, of which there were many (including illegal ones).
And that last note brings us to the referees. I'm not a fan of complaining about the refs, but I'll make an exception here. The penalty count was even, seven each on the Packers and Lions, but this game it was often about what wasn't called. See the videos at the end of this column for evidence (Be sure to click on "read replies" to see all of the videos in the thread).
Every season, Matt LaFleur has a game where I just don't understand why he is doing what he is. This was one of those games. With the Lions putting so many players in the box, why did he not attempt to get some run game going to the outside? It was all right into the mass of Lions players, which by the way, makes it even more impressive how Josh Jacobs can find a way to gain yards when none are there. Next, with all the blitzing and pressure the Lions were bringing, not a single screen pass? The Lions sure used that play to plunge knives into the hearts of the Packers. Also, why not a single pass to the running backs - another great way to counteract heavy pressure? But Al, you say, the Packers scored 31 points! My response is they got the benefit of tremendous field position twice (Nixon's INT and the Lions failed 4th down). With a better offensive plan (or adjustments in-game), the Packers offense would not have been out-snapped by 30 plays and out-posessed by 12 minutes. I'd posit that would have cut back on the Lions' scoring and could have added some points for the Packers. Finally, I know it's been brought up ad nauseam all week, but I had this instant reaction after the game about some coaching malpractice from LaFleur:
From an offensive standpoint, how does Jayden Reed never touch the ball?
— Jersey Al - GBP (@JerseyAlGBP) December 6, 2024
As for the defense, yes, they could have been better, but they actually did a nice job against the run. The problem was going into the game without Alexander and Cooper and then losing Williams and Bullard in-game. When you have to play McDuffie 80 snaps and Wilson 44 snaps and then Zayne Anderson (who had played a total of zero defensive snaps over three and a half years in the NFL), for 53 snaps, there isn't a lot you can do as a defensive coordinator but pray that the Lions make mistakes and beat themselves. But they didn't.
Getting back to Josh Jacobs, here's an interesting tidbit I heard on the RIch Eisen show: Only two Packers running backs in the team's history have scored 10 or more touchdowns over a six-game span, Josh Jacobs and Jim Taylor. Josh is in pretty good company...
Go Pack Go!
A phantom illegal contact penalty that leads to a Lions touchdown. pic.twitter.com/XmJEXSFq9p
— Nile🇪🇷 (@nileriverx2) December 6, 2024