Detroit Sports Yap with Knapp: 3 Takeaways from the Detroit Lions 15-9 Win against the Green Bay Packers
The first battle between Green Bay and Detroit happened today, how did the Lions do?
It was a rough week for the Detroit Lions as star tight end TJ Hockenson was traded to the Minnesota Vikings and defensive back coach Aubrey Pleasant was fired. Injuries started to pop up more as well, with wide receiver Josh Reynolds having a back injury flare-up and starting left tackle Tayor Decker being limited with a groin injury. The good news is Decker would play, but Reynolds was out against the Packers.
Despite multiple things happening, mostly negative with the Lions this week, the team was able to do well on the field. The Lion’s defense was asked to go up against a struggling Green Bay Packer offense and they stepped up to the occasion. At halftime, the Lions were up 8-0 as the offense was able to find the endzone near the end of the quarter to get the lead. This game was just full of weird and wacky plays on both sides of the football.
While I normally go over the game with five takeaways, this week there isn’t much to discuss so you are only getting three this week. Check out my three takeaways from the game below!
1. Jared Goff is Not the Future for the Lions at Quarterback
When GM Brad Holmes came to Detroit, he traded starting quarterback Matt Stafford to the LA Rams for multiple first-round picks and Jared Goff. Goff had the excuse of a lack of weapons last season, and it was a fair argument. Despite his poor play, the front office gave him some weapons to give him another shot at being the future of the franchise. Despite being given more weapons, Goff is still struggling to showcase that he is the man for the job in Detroit.
Against Green Bay, Goff went 14/26 for 137 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Multiple times, Goff had horrible throws for incomplete passes. Four throws were almost interceptions and should have been. Another incomplete pass that was on Goff was on the first drive of the game, where the Lions went for it on fourth and one. Instead of passing to the open receiver for a gain of one to two yards, with pressure coming in fast, Goff threw it in the end zone, which was unnecessary and a horrible decision.
Goff has just had struggles with turning the football over and making poor decisions when throwing the football. The Lions will need to make a big step next season in free agency and the draft, and it starts with drafting a quarterback to become the starter next season. Detroit can trade Goff away to a QB-needy team and get either draft picks or helpful talent for the team. As for whom should Detroit draft? I am leaning toward Bryce Young being the best option for the Lions, and he knows wide receiver Jameson Williams from his days at Alabama.
2. Young Defensive Players Step Up Big
The youngest team in the NFL is Detroit, and with having a young team, you will have many mistakes as these players are learning how football is different in the NFL from college. Detroit has had some growing pains with some players this season, but today their young core was the heartbeat on defense. It was at every level, too; each position group had a young star help out and make big plays.
For starters, the number two pick, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, had a good day, finishing the game with two tackles and a big interception in the end zone to stop the Packers from getting on the board. He wasn’t the only rookie getting interceptions; safety Kerby Joseph had himself a monster game, finishing with 10 tackles, three pass deflections, and two interceptions, one in the endzone that was tipped and the other near the end zone as he read Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' eyes and jumped the route.
For the linebackers, Derrick Barnes was the young player making big plays, finishing with 12 tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection with his helmet that turned into the Joseph interception. Barnes also made a big tackle on the goal line to stop the Packers running back AJ Dillion in his tracks. This young core in Detroit is developing and starting to get better. If they can get some help in the draft and sign some veterans to help the young guys out, this defense can be more difficult to go up against.
3. Dan Campbell Continues to Tone Down Aggressiveness
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is known for being aggressive with going for it on fourth down a lot, and sometimes it’s questionable, other times it makes sense. Last week we saw Campbell tone down on it, and this week he did as well. The Lions went for it twice on fourth down, once inside the 10-yard line, which was an understandable call, but it wasn’t executed correctly. The other option was in the fourth quarter before the two-minute warning, and that was not a good idea.
Outside of those two attempts, Campbell chose to punt. There was a moment where he had at least one chance where it would have made sense, but he didn’t take it. The second fourth-down attempt was not good; in my opinion, a punt would have made more sense, but it didn’t surprise me that they didn’t want Rodgers to have a chance to beat them.
Campbell’s lack of aggression is a good thing to see. Some of the play calls make sense, but other times he just seems to be playing too risky and trying everything to win. I appreciate the effort by Campbell, but when you have a punter like Jack Fox, use him as that weapon on fourth down and help out your defense instead of putting their backs against the wall.
Conclusion
This game was a big win for the Lions. Not just for the offense after a lackluster performance, but for the defense after doing their job in creating turnovers, and those are rare against Aaron Rodgers. The Lions are now 2-6, with the chance to improve from the 3-13-1 record last season still possible. The offense needs to figure things out, as now the defense seems to be the Lions' stronghold, which was not the case earlier this year.
The Lions are only out two wide receivers, and their starting running back is limited in action; they’ve had a banged up offensive line all season, so that isn’t new, so I don’t get why they have taken a big step back recently. Detroit did what they needed to do in the end, and now they can look forward to taking on Chicago next week and seeing if they can start a winning streak.
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