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    Lions own Packers, elements at Lambeau Field
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    Lions own Packers, elements at Lambeau Field

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    GREEN BAY – The Detroit Lions are in a much different and better position than the Green Bay Packers at the halfway point of the 2024 NFL season.

    The Lions were the best team in the NFC heading into this game and looked like it in their 24-14 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field. Anyone watching knows that the defeat was far more convincing than the result suggests.

    While it's no surprise that Dan Campbell's well-coached Lions won this game, the manner in which they did it was impressive. A Detroit team that played its home games indoors and played outdoors for the first time this season handled the bad weather — a steady rain on a 50-degree day — far better than a Packers team that was supposed to be playing at home should the elements.

    It was the Lions who took care of the ball (no turnovers) and limited their mistakes (no drops), and the Packers who made the catastrophic mistake (Jordan Love's pick-six late in the second quarter) and dropped at least six passes .

    “They played a clean game,” coach Matt LaFleur said admiringly of his Campbell's team after the game. “Much cleaner than us.”

    The final insult to LaFleur and his players after the Lions coped better with the elements for 58 minutes was listening to their Honolulu blue-clad fans gathered in the front rows behind the Lions' bench and their quarterback “Jared Goff” was serenaded with chants of “Jared Goff” as he used the final squat to run out the clock after posting a 109.3 rating (18-for-22 passing with a touchdown and a sack ).

    Detroit played like it wanted to make a statement that they are the new kings of the NFC North, and they did it convincingly, dominating the Packers on their turf and in their weather.

    “We see them twice a year, that’s what I thought,” defensive end Rashan Gary said as he took up that chant in the mostly empty Lambeau.

    The Lions are making a statement as a team to beat in the NFC

    The win clearly makes the Lions the team to beat, not just in the division but in the NFC as well. At 7-1, Detroit has a two-game lead over the 6-3 Packers in the loss list and a 2-0 record in the division. The Packers, on the other hand, are 0-2 in the division, with both losses coming at Lambeau, against the Lions and Minnesota Vikings (31-29).

    “At 0-2 in our division, we had ourselves in a corner,” safety Xavier McKinney said.

    Love's pick-six to save Kerby Joseph on a checkdown pass while the quarterback was trying to avoid a sack was obviously the backbreaker. Joseph returned the ball 27 yards for a touchdown, so instead of going down with a field goal at the end of the half that would have cut Detroit's lead to 10-6, LaFleur's team entered halftime trailing 17-3.

    But the contrast in the teams' performance under the conditions was stark, even in this great game.

    The Packers' six drops included two costly drops from receiver Dontayvion Wicks, whose 2024 season is falling apart at an alarming rate after his promising rookie year. One of his drops would have converted a third down. On the other hand, he almost failed in the end zone on a ball that was behind him but was still very easy to catch as the Packers were down 24-6 at the start of the third quarter and desperately needed a touchdown to get back in the game game to come.

    But he wasn't alone. Romeo Doubs, Chris Brooks (on a third down that ended the Packers' first drive), Bo Melton and Tucker Kraft also had throws through their hands. Given the circumstances, it would have been more forgivable if the Lions hadn't come up short on Goff's 22 attempts.

    Then there were consecutive botched shotgun snaps on a trip to the red zone late in the third quarter – one of which was mishandled by Love, the other a low snap by Elgton Jenkins. Those mistakes led to the Packers kicking a powerless field goal on a key play in the red zone late in the third quarter when they trailed by three touchdowns.

    “At the end of the day, all I can say is they took to (the elements) a little better than we did, and we all know that,” Packers receiver Christian Watson said. “We just have to find a way to get better.”

    Campbell said: “We can play anywhere. We can play in the snow. We can play in the rain. Playing in the mud. That’s just us, and we’re designed to win people.”

    The Lions take advantage of the Packers' lack of discipline

    The Packers also had twice as many penalties as the Lions (10 to 5). The two most costly were a false start by guard Sean Rhyan, who ruined a possession early in the second quarter by turning a third-and-3 into a third-and-8, and an interference call on defensive tackle Karl Brooks on the fourth -and-8. Goal from the 5 at the start of the second quarter. Detroit turned that into a 3-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown to take a 7-3 lead.

    “They’re a good team,” right tackle Zach Tom said. “I also think we are a good team, but they played with more discipline than us and that was reflected on the scoreboard. The way we played today, we would have lost to anyone.”

    It will be difficult for LaFleur and the Packers to get anything out of this performance. They trailed 24-3 early in the second half in conditions that would make coming back particularly difficult. They never got back into the game and were badly outplayed, even if the final lead (10 points) didn't look like it.

    “It’s a loss, we still have a lot of season left, it’s not the end of the world,” McKinney said. “But we’ve got to bloody get it done – we’ve got to sort this thing out. As I said, it's the little things. We have to be able to beat these good teams.”

    There is still a lot of football to be played. Last year, the Lions beat the Packers early in Lambeau (34-20), but then the Packers came back and won on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field (29-22) in one of their best performances of 2023.

    In other words, a midseason game, even a big one, is never final. But at the halfway point of 2024, one of these teams appeared to be talented, mature and well-prepared to win the NFL's biggest prize. And the other one definitely doesn't.

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