Green Bay Packers v. Lions: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

The Green Bay Packers somehow came away with a win over Detroit and this is the good, the bad and the ugly from their performance.

Right from the get-go, the Detroit Lions smacked the Green Bay Packers in the mouth with a flea-flicker on the first play and before we knew it, the Packers were down 13-0. As bad as it looked at times, even amongst all of their mistakes, Green Bay was able to pull out to victory with a last-second field goal from Mason Crosby.

With the win, the Packers move to 5-1 on the season and have a firm grasp on the NFC North as they sit alone in first place, while also being a crucial 3-0 within the division.

As always, there is plenty to unpack from each Green Bay Packers game, but perhaps even more so after Monday Night’s game. So let’s dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly from Green Bay’s week six win over the Detroit Lions.

The Good

Jamaal Williams

With Aaron Jones and Geronimo Allison struggling early on, as well as eventual injuries to Allison and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the Green Bay Packers desperately needed someone to step up on offense. After missing last week’s game in Dallas due to a concussion, Jamaal Williams had a heck of a first game back when the team really needed him.

Williams would finish the game with 104 rushing yards, including an average of 7.4 yards per carry with a long of 45 that helped set up a scoring drive. He would also catch four of five passes thrown his way for 32 yards and a touchdown.

Allen Lazard

Just as the Green Bay Packers’ offense needed Jamaal Williams, once the fourth quarter rolled around and they found themselves down by two scores, they needed someone to make some plays in the passing game and Allen Lazard gave them that boost.

Lazard finished the game with four receptions on five targets for 65 yards, including a spectacular throw and catch for a touchdown from Aaron Rodgers. It certainly appears that Rodgers really trusts Lazard and with uncertainty around the health of Geronimo Allison and Davante Adams, Lazard could continue to see his role increase in the upcoming weeks.

Aaron Rodgers

Although his final stat line wasn’t eye-popping by any means, with limited weapons on offense, Aaron Rodgers was fantastic on Monday Night. He would finish 24/39 for 277 yards with two touchdowns. Even when things seemed bleak, Rodgers did what Hall of Fame quarterbacks do. He commanded the offense, made some incredible throws, brought the Packers back from an early 13-0 deficit and then led this team on two scoring drives in their final two possessions to secure the win.

Green Bay Defense

Even though they gave up some big plays early, overall this defense was able to keep the game within reach for the eventual comeback. Sometimes it was due to their own mistakes, while other times it was because of the Green Bay offense, but this defense found themselves in some difficult situations and the game could have gotten out of hand very easily.

However, just as they’ve done all season long, they would bend but they wouldn’t break. In total, they would hold Detroit to five field goals and just one for three in the red zone. Ultimately, it was their ability to keep the Lions out of the end zone that allowed them to pull off the come from behind win.

The Bad

Aaron Jones

Although his stat sheet turned out decent, there were two major negative plays early on that could have really hurt the Green Bay Packers’ chances of winning. The first came on a fumble near midfield and later on, Jones would drop a wide-open pass that would have been a touchdown. Luckily, the Packers were still able to find the end zone on that possession. It was just a down week for Jones and I’m sure he will bounce back against Oakland.

Kevin King

Overall, Kevin King has put together a very good year but he’s had some ups and downs as well. Unfortunately, tonight there were a couple of big downs. On the flea-flicker it was his man who got free and then on the following drive, he would stumble and give up another huge completion of 58 yards.

Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford would continue to target King and he gave up a couple of other completions throughout the game as well. Fortunately, none were as devastating as the first two.

The Ugly

Way too many mistakes!

This was a game that the Green Bay Packers kept trying to give away through their own sloppy mistakes. As I mentioned above, they would give up plays of 66 yards and 58 yards on the first two drives of the game. Meanwhile, on Green Bay’s opening drive, Geronimo Allison would drop a third-down pass and on the following series, Aaron Jones would fumble.

There were a number of other drops throughout the game as well, including one by Jimmy Graham in the end zone. Darrius Shepherd would also fumble on a punt return attempt and then let a pass go off of his face mask which resulted in an interception.

Yet, amongst all of those self-inflicted wounds, the Packers were able to tie the game after being down 13-0 and then eventually win the game after being down by two scores with roughly ten minutes left in the fourth quarter while also finishing minus-three in the turnover battle.

Through all of the careless mistakes and key injuries that happened, they still came away with the win. And that’s what good teams do.