Packers 17 Lions 20: Refs Ruin Return of Josh Jacobs
The Green Bay Packers are a good football team. Unfortunately, Sunday night in Detroit, it felt like they had to beat both the Detroit Lions and the game’s officials to prove it. Green Bay took a 14-10 lead when star running back Josh Jacobs powered in a 25-yard touchdown with 12:14 remaining in the third quarter. From that point forward, the officiating became impossible to ignore, with a string of questionable flags repeatedly rescuing Detroit from difficult situations and putting the Packers on the wrong end of costly decisions. The Lions defended their home turf with a 20-17 win as rookie kicker Trey Smack missed field goals from 35 and 26 yards.
Refs Ruin Return of Josh Jacobs
The first 33 minutes of this matchup featured just two accepted penalties. Then the flags came flying. By the final whistle, the officials had called 13 penalties, with Green Bay repeatedly paying the price for many baffling officiating decisions. Detroit received fresh sets of downs on questionable calls, Packers defensive stops were wiped away, and it seemed like every critical moment came with another flag ready to bail out the Lions. The timing was suspicious, the consistency was nonexistent, and the impact was undeniable. For a team fighting to win a pivotal divisional matchup, the Packers had to contend with an officiating crew that seemed determined to make life as difficult as possible.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But given the controversy surrounding Jacobs, it is fair to ask whether the NFL’s treatment of Green Bay has become something more than bad luck. The Packers and their fans deserved better than an officiating crew that repeatedly tilted the game in Detroit’s favor.
Detroit Lions edge rusher DJ Wonnum (98) tackles Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026.
Jacobs Delivers, Refs Disappoint
Josh Jacobs and Jahmyr Gibbs entered Sunday night’s matchup as two of the NFC’s most dangerous running backs, but their performances told different stories about how Green Bay and Detroit deployed their stars. Gibbs finished with 34 touches for 143 yards, including 116 rushing yards on 29 carries and 27 receiving yards on five catches. Jacobs, meanwhile, managed 91 yards on 16 touches, recording 36 yards on 11 carries and another 55 yards on five receptions.
Although Gibbs had the bigger workload and the statistical edge in total production, Jacobs actually had more yards per touch. He averaged 5.5 yards per touch compared to Gibbs’ 4.2, making the most of significantly fewer opportunities. His 25-yard receiving touchdown also gave Green Bay a 14-10 lead early in the second half, putting the Packers in position to take control of a pivotal divisional matchup.
Then the game took a turn. Jacobs delivered the explosive play Green Bay needed, yet the Packers’ advantage was quickly negated by a series of officiating decisions that repeatedly benefited Detroit. While Gibbs continued to receive opportunities to grind out yards, Green Bay struggled to maintain momentum as questionable flags disrupted defensive stops and extended Lions’ possessions.
The contrast is difficult to ignore. Jacobs averaged 5.5 yards per touch, outproducing Gibbs on a per-touch basis despite getting less than half of his workload. But Jacobs’s 25-yard touchdown also marked a dramatic turning point in this game’s officiating. After just two accepted penalties through the first 33 minutes, the flags came flying following Jacobs’ score, with the most damaging calls going against Green Bay. With Jacobs at the center of a growing media firestorm, fans have reason to wonder whether that controversy is influencing how the NFL calls games for Green Bay. There is no concrete proof of a deliberate agenda, but the timing and sheer volume of questionable calls certainly invite suspicion.
Baffling Call Breeds Bitterness
With 7:46 remaining in the third quarter, the Packers appeared to have forced a third-and-long after linebacker Isaiah McDuffie stopped Amon-Ra St. Brown. Without hearing a whistle, St. Brown tried to get back up and continue running, prompting defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt to finish the tackle. St. Brown’s leg caught umpire Terry Killens in the stomach, sending the official to the ground, where he threw a flag. After a lengthy discussion, Wyatt was penalized for unnecessary roughness, gifting Detroit a first down at Green Bay’s 11-yard line. Two plays later, Jameson Williams scored a 10-yard touchdown.
The sequence was embarrassing for the officiating crew, and the decisions that followed only made matters worse for Green Bay. Wyatt stood by his actions after the game, saying, “If you asked me right now, I’d do the same thing 100 times over.”
The NFL later released a pool report, but referee Alex Moore’s explanation hardly settled the controversy. Asked whether a whistle had blown before Wyatt’s second tackle, Moore admitted, “I can’t honestly hear if there was a whistle or not,” while maintaining that the play had been ruled dead. The crew could not confirm whether defenders had received an audible signal to stop, yet Wyatt was penalized anyway. Whether out of embarrassment or a desire to defend that decision, the officials appeared to compound their mistake with a string of questionable calls against Green Bay for the rest of the game.
Oct 25, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur reacts after a call during the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
One Bad Call After Another
Wyatt’s unnecessary roughness penalty was only the beginning. At 4:09 in the third quarter, Barryn Cox was flagged for unnecessary roughness on third-and-10, turning a likely punt into a fresh Detroit possession at Green Bay’s 37-yard line. Minutes later, rookie Brandon Cisse intercepted Jared Goff, only for defensive pass interference (St. Brown pushed off of Cisse hard, but slipped) to erase the takeaway. Jordan Love then somehow drew an intentional grounding penalty to open the fourth quarter, despite Tucker Kraft appearing to be well within reach of the pass.
The officials briefly threw Green Bay a bone (talk about a make-up call) when Marshawn Lloyd drew an unnecessary roughness penalty at 10:02, but a holding on right tackle Anthony Belton followed two plays later, and the Packers had to settle for a game-tying field goal. With 2:45 remaining, Karl Brooks was called for roughing the passer on Goff, which turned what would have been third-and-long into a Lions first down at Green Bay’s 40-yard line.
These were not borderline calls; they were horrendous decisions that repeatedly bailed Detroit out of trouble and crippled Green Bay’s chances of winning. After the embarrassing play with Wyatt and St. Brown, the officiating crew was determined to justify its initial decision rather than admit mistakes, compounding one bad call with another. And with Josh Jacobs carrying a cloud of controversy that has made him a lightning rod for criticism, it is hard not to wonder whether the NFL’s broader attitude toward the Packers’ star has contributed to the way this team is treated. There is no smoking gun proving a deliberate agenda, but the timing, inconsistency, and sheer number of damaging flags make the pattern difficult to dismiss.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talks to a referee regarding a play against Green Bay Packers during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026.
The Last Word
The Green Bay Packers are still the same team they were last year. They have incredible talent at key positions, a franchise quarterback in Jordan Love, and a running back who can change a game with one touch. Yet, for all their potential, the same problems continue to undermine them. Missed kicks, dropped passes, untimely penalties, and wasted scoring opportunities have kept Green Bay from taking the next step. The talent is there, but the results remain frustratingly familiar.
Sunday’s loss to Detroit only reinforced that reality. Green Bay had opportunities to win, but questionable officiating repeatedly put the team at a huge disadvantage. The Packers must own their mistakes, but that does not excuse a crew that seemed intent on inserting itself into every critical second-half moment.
And then, of course, there is Josh Jacobs. If the controversy surrounding the Packers’ star running back has genuinely put a target on Green Bay’s back with NFL officials, the organization has to ask itself an absurd question: Would it have been better to cut him? Obviously, a team should never have to sacrifice elite talent to avoid questionable officiating. But if Jacobs’s baggage is somehow influencing how the league officiates the Packers, then the NFL has a much bigger problem than one divisional loss.
Green Bay is good enough to contend, even with all of the team’s injuries. However, until the Packers clean up their own mistakes and get a fair shake from the officials, the team risks remaining stuck in the same frustrating cycle, with championship-caliber talent and the same old frustrating results.
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