Allen Park — Even before the Green Bay Packers added All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, the team’s re-worked defense under coordinator Jeff Hafley presented problems for Detroit.
In the first matchup between the teams a year ago, the Lions were reasonably efficient in inclement conditions at Lambeau, but mustered just 261 yards and 17 points from the offense in a 24-14 win fueled by Kerby Joseph’s pick-six.
Detroit looked more like itself in the second matchup, putting up 34 in a win at Ford Field. Still, the Packers made them work for every inch in that one, particularly on the ground, limiting the backfield led by Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to 3.3 yards per carry.
When you consider the Packers are now in the second year of Hafley’s system, while the Lions have a new play-caller and underwent significant changes along the offensive line, maybe Sunday’s results weren’t as surprising as they initially seemed.
Consistency was difficult to pin down, but the Lions did have four drives of nine or more plays, each at least 50 yards. The biggest problem was an inability to finish, with the first three trips into the red zone resulting in six points and a turnover. It was reminiscent of last year’s Week 2 matchup against Tampa Bay, when the Lions capitalized on just one of seven red-zone trips in the 20-16 loss.
The Lions will look to get things on track this week against the Chicago Bears. Before that, let’s dissect the film and look at what went so wrong against Green Bay.
We’re going to go through this thing drive by excruciating drive. As usual, there will be some concluding thoughts at the end of the post if you aren’t interested in the blow-by-blow.
Possession 1 (Three plays, -4 yards)
The Packers established some hallmarks of their performance on the opening drive: Clogged run lanes, smothering zone coverage taking away deeper throws, and outstanding tackling in space after forcing a checkdown.
Detroit opened with an I-formation handoff to Gibbs, a zone concept going left, looking to establish the run early. Instead, tight end Sam LaPorta failed to sustain a block on Lucas Van Ness early in the snap, resulting in a gain of just one.
Green Bay flexed its eye discipline on second-and-9. The Lions attempted to manufacture space for Gibbs on a swing pass to the right flat by having LaPorta run a crossing pattern going right to left. However, the Packers linebackers, particularly Quay Walker, didn’t bite, reading inline tight end Brock Wright's detachment to act as a lead blocker for Gibbs, leading to a quick stop.
Pocket pressure from Parsons ended the drive. On the third-down snap, he got initial knockback working against Penei Sewell before beating the right tackle to the inside and flushing quarterback Jared Goff from the pocket. That forced a checkdown to Gibbs, which was quickly swallowed up by the Packers’ forward-facing secondary, which was in a Tampa-2 zone look.