DETROIT (AP) — The Green Bay Packers got an unexpected extra chance to stop the Detroit Lions’ offense on Thursday night.
They still couldn’t do it.
With 43 seconds left in a 31-31 tie, the Lions faced fourth-and-inches from the Packers 21. They were in easy field-goal range for Jake Bates, but coach Dan Campbell decided he didn’t want to leave Green Bay any time on the clock.
He kept his offense on the field. If the Packers had gotten a stop, they would have had a chance at a shocking victory.
“That maybe surprised me a little bit, but that’s how Dan has been throughout his career,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
David Montgomery sliced through the line for a 7-yard gain. Two plays later, Bates kicked a 35-yard field as time expired to give the Lions a 34-31 win.
“They gave us an opportunity and we didn’t take it,” LaFleur said. “Hats off to them.”
Since a 2-2 start, the Packers have gone 7-2. However, both of those losses were against the NFC North rival Lions (12-1), likely putting a division title out of reach.
Green Bay’s earlier two defeats came against the other top teams in the NFC: Philadelphia and division rival Minnesota.
This time, Jordan Love led Green Bay to 24 second-half points and two four-point leads: 21-17 and 28-24. The defense just couldn’t get off the field.
The Lions had two possessions in the fourth quarter — a 70-yard touchdown drive to take a 31-28 lead and a 53-yard game-ending drive after the Packers had it. Jared Goff was 10 of 10 for 105 yards and a touchdown on those possessions.
“We gave him a ton of a time to throw at the end,” LaFleur said. “They ran a ton of screens today and it really hurt us.”
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On the first fourth-quarter drive, Goff completed passes of 11 and 14 yards. On the final possession, he had completions of 19, 11 and 16 yards.
“I’m sure there are things we could do differently,” LaFleur said. “But Jared is a great quarterback and they have great playmakers on offense. He gets them the ball and they get their yard-after-catch machine rolling.”
Love didn’t blame his teammates.
“Obviously, we’d love to see the defense get the stop at the end and give us the ball back with a chance to win or get to overtime,” he said. “But we put them in a 17-7 hole in the first half — we got off to such a slow start.”
Love completed 3 of 7 passes for 31 yards in the first half and also took a sack. He was great after the intermission — 9 of 13 for 175 yards and a touchdown — but he wasn’t happy about his performance.
“I just didn’t make enough plays early on,” he said. “They’ve got a really good offense, and I think we are just as good, but that slow start hurt us.”
The Packers could get a third shot at the Lions in the playoffs.
“That’s a long way away,” LaFleur said. “But I do think we have a really good ball team.”
